College Specialists Improving Technique

This has been a very busy and fun Summer for me as I have worked with over 130 kickers and punters across the Southeast. Many of those kicking specialists have been college kickers and punters. I have been impressed with the college talent I have seen in the Southeast!

I worked with talented specialists at MTSU, Austin Peay, Carson Newman, Tennessee Tech, Southern Miss, Arkansas State, and Millsapps College in Mississippi.

I have also worked with a few talented free agent kickers that are looking to make it on an NFL, CFL, or UFL team.

Alan Gendreau (pictured above) is returning for his junior year after being a semi finalist for the Lou Groza in 2009 when he made 18 of 22 field goals.

I really liked his demeanor and approach to kicking. I expect that he will continue the accuracy he achieved this past season and be much improved on his kickoffs this year.

Next up is Austin Peay kicker Stephen Stansell. Stephen will be entering his sophomore season at Austin Peay and has unbelievable ability.

When I first worked with him earlier this Summer in Chattanooga, I saw that he crunched a lot on his kicks, which limited his movement through the ball. After working a few lessons he was able to kick through the ball much easier.

Stephen not only has the ability to be a top college kicker but a chance to get to an NFL Training Camp in the future. He hit some 65 yard field goals when we worked together and numerous touchbacks on kickoffs.

Carlos Lopez (pictured above) from Carson Newman is one of the most talented kickers I worked with all Summer.

Carlos came to me last year after having a disappointing season in 2008 where he hit only 1 of 4 field goal attempts.

We worked together last year and I was able to teach him some good fundamentals that helped him to make 11 of 12 field goals last season. You can read more about his story on my On A Specialists Path blog from earlier in the Summer.

http://jameswilhoitkickingcoach.blogspot.com/2010/06/carlos-lopez-on-specialists-path.html

Carlos decided to go to a college competition camp this Summer and competed against 80 other college kickers from BCS schools like Florida State and Virginia. He did phenomenal and placed 5th overall averaging 73 yards on his kickoffs with hang times ranging from 3.9 to 4.2.

I believe that if Carlos can take every game one at a time and stay within himself that he will have an even better season this year.

I look forward to working with Carlos and the rest of the specialists from Carson Newman on August 16th.

Corey Acosta is entering his freshman season at Southern Miss. Most specialists who have done lessons with me know who Corey is because I like to show pictures and video of Corey's technique.

Corey has worked very hard this Summer on improving his kickoffs and is consistently kicking off with great distance and hang time.

He will be battling for the starting field goal and kickoff jobs at Southern Miss this year and I look forward to working with him over at Southern Miss in a few days.

Brian Davis will be entering his freshman season over at Arkansas State this year and is one of the best ball strikers I have seen.

We worked together numerous times earlier this year and also this Summer to polish up his technique. Brian will be competing for the punting and kicking jobs at Arkansas State this year.

I look forward to working with Brian and his teammate Matthew Baltensperger over at Arkansas State in the coming days.

Nick Campbell is the punter at Tennessee Tech and I am expecting some big things from him this year. He has pretty good mechanics and has been working hard this offseason to have breakout year.

Nick and I have worked quite a bit on his punting technique and I was very impressed when I worked with him earlier this Summer. He hit lots of nose over punts and some hang times around 4.8 to 5 seconds.

I am planning to go visit both Nick and kicker Tim Donegan before their season starts at Tech.

Also, I am hoping to go to the Austin Peay vs TN Tech game this season as I will be able to watch the guys I have worked with in action.

Nate Toulson is vying to be the starting punter at MTSU. He was a tight end in high school and you can definitely tell that he isn't your average punter.

I worked with him on locking the ball out a little quicker and eliminating some movements that were a little inconsistent. I believe that Nate is going to have a very good year this year with the Blue Raiders.

I look forward to watching Nate and Alan play this season at MTSU.

Finally there is Taylor Russolino at Millsapps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Taylor drove from his home in Louisiana to come work with me and I was certainly impressed with his talent.

He hit some 55 and 57 yard One Step kicks! I will say that there was a good wind at his back but he hit a 55 yard One Step Kick the next day when the wind slowed down.

Taylor also went to the same competition camp that Carlos Lopez went to and placed in the top 10 out of the 80 participants.

I look forward to working with Taylor again in a few days over at Millsapps College.

Overall it was a great Summer and I am very impressed with the young talent that there is at the college level.

I think that in the next few years a couple of these kicking specialists will have the chance to compete at the professional level...

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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