The story of Tennessee kicker Devin Mathis is one of opportunity and fate. He went from partying at the frat house to being the starting kicker at the University of Tennessee and kicking in front of 100,000 people.Every specialist has a path and sometimes there are opportunities that present themselves, but it is every specialist’s job to seize it when one comes their way.
This story gives hope to all walk on kicking specialists hoping for a chance to play for their “dream school”.
This is Devin Mathis On ‘A Specialists Path’.
For Devin soccer had always been a passion for him but as he was closing out his high school career at Baylor High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee he decided he would use his expertise for kicking a ball to play another sport.
“Kicking was a very natural transition for me as I spent the better part of the first sixteen years of my life playing soccer,” Devin said.
“As I outgrew soccer and needed a sport in my life, football became the obvious choice. I missed the competitive atmosphere of athletics and found that I was still able to compete as a kicker, and so this became my new focus.”
Devin worked hard to be a kicker and found that his natural ability to strike a ball came in handy on the football team. One of the major perks of playing football was the friendships he forged with his teammates.
“I realized that I wanted to be a kicker because I missed the team environment once I quit playing club soccer,” Devin said. “I missed the relationships with teammates, the travel and the competition.
As high school came to an end Devin decided to attend the University of Tennessee as a regular student, but found that he missed the team environment that athletics brought to his life.“I actually came to the University of Tennessee with no intention of ever playing organized athletics, and thought that I would pass through college faster without doing so,” Devin said.
“However, one day in the spring of my freshman year, I came to the realization that I still wanted to compete. I went to the all the games that fall and would watch the players, thinking that I knew that I had the potential to play at the collegiate level. One day, I decided that I had had enough wondering and decided to try to walk on.”
In 2006 Devin decided to come out for the football team and Coach Fulmer really took an interest in the young walk on kicker from Chattanooga.
“Coach Fulmer showed me the scope of the game,” Devin said. “Walking off the field one day early in my first season with the team, Coach Fulmer pulled me aside and said that I wasn’t unlike another walk-on kicker named Alex Walls from earlier in the decade.”
“The fact that he noticed me blew me away; I was surprised he knew my name. He said that if I applied myself that I could work my way up the roster and eventually get in the game just like Walls did. He showed me the importance of walk-ons in the grand scheme of things as I dressed for every home game, as well as the bowl game, that fall.”
Devin competed with Daniel Lincoln for the starting kicker job in 2007 but Lincoln was able to hold on to the job and went on to garner All American honors that season. Devin accepted his role as the reserve kicker but always hoped that he would be given an opportunity to compete for the starting job.
After finishing out the 2008 season with the team, Coach Fulmer was fired and Lane Kiffin was hired as the new head coach. Devin was lost in the shuffle with the staff change and decided that he should focus on his academics and be a regular student again.
“In January of 2009, I left the team for the entire spring of my junior year to study abroad and finish my second major,” Devin said.“That summer I came back from my semester abroad, looking forward to being a regular student again in the fall. I really enjoyed watching the games from the stands with my friends, but couldn’t help but wonder if I could improve on the performance of our kicking game at the time.”
Tennessee had struggled with their field goal kicking during the season and had numerous field goals blocked because of low trajectory by the kicker.
Devin just so happened to be rooming with two of Tennessee’s best players and they started to try and convince him to give kicking one more shot.
“After jabs and comments from my roommates at the time, Jonathan Crompton and Wes Brown, and after a particularly questionable performance, I decided that I would give it another try,” Devin said. “I decided that I would walk on again to see if I could prove to myself that I can perform at that level.”
Coach Eddie Gran allowed Devin to come to practice after a few days he was out on the practice field getting reps with the second team.
He continued to prove that he had great height on his kicks and he was even starting to open the eyes of the head coach.
After getting another kick blocked in the Ole Miss game the staff was looking at all their options and Devin impressed in practice.
He was able to dress out for the Vanderbilt game the next week and about 4 hours before the game he found out he was going to be the starting kicker!
“I only had time to call my mom and a few of my friends to tell them to watch the game,” Devin said.
Devin kicked in the game and was the starting kicker for the final three games of the season including hitting all his extra points and nailing two field goals.
“Kicking in Neyland Stadium was the most incredible thing that I have ever experienced,” Devin said. “I had been on the sidelines for games before, but I had never run through the “T” knowing that I would be in the game.
“I will never forget the way the stadium looks during an SEC home game in one of the biggest, most exciting stadiums in the country. I found that Neyland can be a tricky place to kick. I also found that I loved the rush that you feel on the field with over 100,000 people and camera flashes cheering you on, and the adrenaline that you feel once you’re back on the sidelines.”
Devin felt the adrenaline rush of kicking in front of 100,000 people and he is not ready to give up that feeling just yet as he is planning to compete for the job after finishing up an internship this past spring.
His story gives hope to all those former soccer players in the stands that say “I think I can kick better than that guy”. Sometimes those guys are actually right!
Very Good Story.
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