Coach Zauner's College Sr Combine

This past past weekend 63 college seniors attended Coach Zauner's College Senior Specialists Combine in Phoenix, Arizona. The results of the workout and the videos of the top performers will be posted shortly to Coach Zauner's website www.coachzauner.com. There are approximately 22 specialists that Coach Zauner will be recommending to the NFL.

It was a very interesting weekend and using the words of Coach Zauner we had to "improvise and adjust" as there were scattered thunderstorms throughout the day of the workout , but we were able to get the workout in by working around the weather and turning on the lights to the stadium.

Personally, I had a very hectic weekend as I assisted with the video, gave my Sports Psychology presentation on 'Preparing for the NFL', and coached all the kickers on Sunday.

There were three specialists from Tennessee represented at the workout Craig Camay: Kicker from University of Tenn-Chattanooga (pictured above), John Gregory: Punter Tusculum University, and Morgan Cox: Long Snapper University of Tennessee. All three specialists represented themselves very well.

Of the 63 specialists who attended the workout we had some sleepers and also some familiar names like Joshua Shene (pictured above), who was a 4 year starting kicker at Ole Miss. The kicker class was probably the deepest as we had approximately 12 of 29 kickers that were represented on the DVD sent to the NFL.

The great thing about being Coach Zauner's assistant for the past year and a half has been developing relationships with quite a few talented specialists from across the country. Kenny Spencer and Will Batson (pictured above) were the starting kicker and punter for North Alabama this year and have visited Arizona for One on One Lessons with Coach Zauner the past two years and I have really enjoyed watching them improve over the past two years as both specialists performed well at the workout.

Coach Zauner's College Senior Combine was a special event to me because of the fact that I was not invited to the NFL Combine coming out of college. I was very dissappointed that I wasn't invited and I would have loved to have been able to go to a combine like this one and be able to compete against the best. I believe that this workout had better overall talent than the actual NFL Combine and I am proud to be a part of an event that helps get exposure to so many specialists.

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Signing Day for Wilhoit Specialists

Today is National Signing Day for high school football players all over the country. For kicking specialists it is sometimes a very uncertain time. Kicking scholarships are usually only given out once every four years at each specific university, which makes getting a scholarship a very big accomplishment.

I am very happy to announce that at least 4 specialists that I have worked with have committed or signed scholarships to play College Football and they are; Corey Acosta (Southern Miss), Brian Davis (Arkansas State), Andrew Fletcher (Louisville), and Tyler Emmetts (Cumberland).


Corey Acosta (Christian Brothers High School) is one of the first kickers that I coached during my coaching career. I met Corey through a mutual friend and said he was interested in working with me because he had followed my career at Tennessee. I remember when I first saw him kick that he had a naturally powerful leg and a willingness to learn.

Over the next few years I have continued to develop a great relationship with Corey and his family. I have seen him continue to improve and I have spent many hours on the field working with him and had many conversations on the phone and through email regarding the recruiting process.

Corey took the initiative this summer to go to over 15 college camps for exposure! He logged some serious miles in the car and in the air and he was very fortunate to have a family that was willing to give him so much support. I am really happy for the Acosta family for Corey's achievement of a full scholarship at Southern Miss.

Brian Davis (Brentwood High School) signed with Arkansas State today. This past year I sent Brian a message on facebook asking him if he would be interested in getting some One on One Kicking Lessons. The first time I ask Brian he said that he was interested but we were never able to work out a time to do a lesson. If you know me than you know that I am somewhat persistent and so I kept contacting Brian until he finally agreed to do lessons.

I expected Brian to be a good high school kicker, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was one of the best kept secrets in the entire country as far as kicking specialists. Brian was an excellent kicker and after making a few corrections with his field goals we really focused in on his kickoffs.

Brian proceeded to win the Auburn Kicking Camp and this winter he won a kicking camp in Texas where he out kicked over 70 to 80 other senior kickers. Brian's success during his high school season and during the camps led to a full ride at Arkansas State. Congratulations to Brian and his family.

Next up is Andrew Fletcher (Montgomery Bell Academy High School), who is headed to the University of Louisville. Andrew has had one of the best careers on Tennessee High School Football history. Andrew set a State Championship record with 5 field goals in one game. This past year Andrew was a Mr. Football Kicker of the Year Finalist with one of the highlights of the season being a 43 yard field goal with 41 seconds left to defeat nationally ranked Ensworth High School.

Andrew and I have worked numerous times over the Summer and also earlier this January. I am very proud of Andrew and all his accomplishments and couldn't be more pleased that he found a great opportunity at a great program like Louisville.

Finally there is Tyler Emmetts (Mt. Juliet High School), who is headed to Cumberland University to handle their field goals, punting, and kickoffs. Tyler and I worked together earlier this Summer and I saw a kid that had extreme upside. He is a big kid that has a cannon for a leg.

Tyler was able to have a standout season this year and was named 6A All State as a punter. After the season Tyler had quite a few scholarship offers to choose from and decided on Cumberland University. I was glad to help guide Tyler and his parents through the recruiting process and I think they made a great decision. Recruiting is all about finding the right fit for a person as a player and as a student. I am very happy for Tyler and his parents, Leslie and William, for Tyler receiving a full scholarship at Cumberland.

Signing day is a great time for so many high school specialists and it is the culmination of years of hard work. I would like to congratulate all four of these guys for their accomplishments. I look forward to working with them in the future on their transition to major College Football!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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