Southern Miss w/ Corey Acosta

Corey Acosta (Christian Brothers High School) came to me two years ago about receiving some One on One Kicking Lessons. I had just recently been released by the Baltimore Ravens and was not looking to be a full time kicking coach but I started working with Corey on his fundamentals.

Corey was like a sponge and took in every bit of knowledge I gave him. He went from being the kickoff specialist his Junior year to being one of the top kickers in the nation and received a full scholarship to University of Southern Mississippi (picture of Corey on National Signing Day shown above).

This past weekend Corey and his father, John, invited me to come see Southern Miss first hand and see where he will spend the next four years of college. I was excited to come see the campus and meet up with some of Corey's coaches including Larry Fedora (pictured above), head coach at Southern Miss.

Coach Fedora and I have known each other since 2001 when he recruited me at Middle Tennessee State University. My dad and I spent a day at MTSU and Coach Fedora was the Offensive Coordinator and was handling my recruitment. After spending a day with him I looked at me dad and said "I think I want to go to school here". He had that kind of charisma but of course that wore off and I went to my dream school the University of Tennessee.

It is funny how small the world is sometimes because when Corey started getting recruited by Southern Miss I was reminded of the strong impression that Coach Fedora had made on me and I told Corey to have him call me. Coach Fedora and I talked for about 20 minutes and I told him that he should offer Corey a scholarship and not long after that he did just that. I couldn't be happier that Corey will be playing for such a great coach.

On the trip we were able to check out the campus and the facilities and they were top notch. I especially like the water tower that was hanging directly over the practice field and the field itself. The field is a very thin field turf that will make for a great surface to kick field goals and a fast surface for kickoffs. As you can see in the picture (above) the football offices and large display screen are brand new and very impressive.

An added bonus on the trip was getting to see Ray Guy. I had attended a few of his camps when I was in high school and was a counselor a few times at his camps in Atlanta. It was really great seeing who most believe to be the best punter in NFL history. He still looks to be in great shape and seems to be loving life. He offered up some great advice to Corey and it is great knowing that Corey will have access to a football legend anytime he needs it.

Corey and I got a few lessons in over the weekend also and he is really working hard at being ready for his first career game against South Carolina on September 2nd. All in all it was a great weekend and I am looking forward to Corey starting his career at Southern Miss.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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