Will Batson, who recently graduated as a punter from University of North Alabama, was a late starter in the college recruiting process. He now realizes that was a mistake. But now, with that lesson in hand, he is not hesitating in his efforts to be recruited into the NFL.I met Will two years ago when I was Coach Zauner’s assistant. And I have been fortunate to have forged a close relationship with him as he, and his teammate Kenny Spencer, have been chasing their dreams of making it to the NFL.
This is a story that should be of particular interest for high school kicking specialists looking to make it to college; or for college kicking specialists that are aspiring to the NFL.
This is Will Batson’s ‘On A Specialist’s Path’.
As I have learned from writing ‘On A Specialist’s Path’ most kickers or punters don’t grow up dreaming of being NFL kicking specialists; they are usually soccer players that a football coach borrows -or steals- from the soccer team.
This was no different at Brooks High School in Killen, Alabama where Will attended High School.
“Going into my junior year in high school, the head football coach had heard that I used to play soccer” Will said. “They had recently lost their kicker so he asked me to go out and kick a few balls for him. Afterwards he said to me, "looks like you're going to kick for us this year."
Will was both flattered and intrigued, and so he embarked on his ‘Specialist’s Path’ of being a kicker, and looked to perfect his new craft.
“After a few spring practices and a few good punts and field goals, I realized that this would be a fun challenge for me to tackle,” he said. “And I decided it was something that I would do my best to perfect.”
Will hadn’t learned to kick the ‘perfect punt’ by the time he was ready to be recruited for college, but with his big 6’3 215 pound frame, he certainly had the ‘size’ and enough ‘talent’ to play college football.
But talent is not always the determining factor when it comes to College Football recruiting for kickers and punters.
“I only attended kicking camps at Auburn and Alabama,” Will said. “If I had to do it over again I would have gone to more of these One Day Showcases at these different schools.”
However, even without going to more of the bigger camps around the country, Will was driven to succeed and found success in his efforts to be recruited by sending out a highlight tape to prospective schools.
“I got walk on offers from UAB, Southern Miss, and Vanderbilt from sending out my highlight tape,” Will said.
Will was also a great baseball player. And with a 92 MPH fastball he was looking for the option to do both sports. Although not common, this is not unheard of. Stephen Gostkowski (pictured below), New England Patriots kicker, played on the baseball team at the University of Memphis.
Will finally found his home at the University of North Alabama as punter and a pitcher, but after his sophomore year he had to focus his attention strictly to punting.“My sophomore year I had a slap lesion,” Will said. “this slowed my velocity from 92 MPH to more around mid 80’s.”
Now, with his focus totally on kicking, Will started to see the possibility that playing professional football might be in his future.
“During my senior season, I felt like I had the leg to play college ball, and I would always envision myself making a big time kick/play at the collegiate level,” Will said. “As I improved my skills, the greater my dreams became. During my junior year of college I felt like I could play professional ball.”
Will worked very hard and spent a great deal of time taking his skills to the level necessary to play in the NFL. And after garnering Division II All American honors, he realized the next step was to be ‘seen’ by NFL teams. And for this, he enlisted the help from some well connected kicking consultants.
He and teammate Kenny Spencer went to Scottsdale, Arizona in February to train with Coach Zauner, and immediately afterwards went to College Senior Combines with both Zauner (Pictured below) in Arizona and Louie Aguiar in Las Vegas.
Will has decided long ago he was not going to make the same mistake in trying to be signed with an NFL team that he made in trying to get recruited for college. He realizes it takes talent AND ‘exposure’ to get an opportunity to play professional football.“Will constantly had been telling me about these combines and showcases,” his teammate Kenny Spencer said. “He has been so prepared for this process and his determination has really helped me with the whole thing.”
Will performed very well at both Zauner and Aguiar’s combines and was invited for a tryout with the Chicago Bears. He is hedging his NFL bet by also trying to sign with one of the UFL teams. He says he is prepared for the long haul in his efforts to play professional football.
“I’ve spent countless hours practicing, and I'm still learning how to master punting the football,” he said. “I worked with my kicking coach at UNA (Mike King), and I've been working with other kicking instructors across the country including Coach Zauner and Coach Aguiar.”
Will says he will continue to ‘work’ until he achieves his goals. And if I know Will, that’s exactly what he’ll do.
So I expect that one day, perhaps in the ‘not too distant future’ we might just see Will Batson playing for an NFL team, kicking the ‘perfect’ punt.
And why not? It is Will Batson’s Specialist’s Path!
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