Michael Husted-College Senior Pro Camp

During my Path to Pro Football I have learned quite a bit about how to get signed to an NFL team. Being a rookie kicker, free agent kicker and also a kicking coach gives me a unique perspective on the free agent process.

The most important thing I have learned during this phase of my life is "you only get one chance to make a first impression!" This applies to kicking and in life and I highly recommend any graduating senior kicking specialist to attend Michael Husted's College Senior Pro Camp.

When I graduated from the U. of Tennessee I had all sorts of ideas of what the NFL was like for a rookie kicker, but I had more questions than answers. What I truly learned is that the NFL is not a place for "on the job training". You don't go to an NFL team expecting to be coached or development. It is important to go to a camp like Husted's to get the proper training and information.

Michael Husted is one of the best in the business and after being an NFL kicker for 9 years he knows what it takes to make it in the league and he knows the best path for YOU to get there.

For potential punters he has former NFL star punter Darren Bennett (pictured below). He was one of the first Aussie punters in the NFL and is the founder of the Aussie Drop Punt. Learning from someone like him will certainly be a treat for potential NFL punters!

Over two days at Coach Husted's Camp you will:

• Be Put Through an NFL Style Workout
• Be Analyzed by State of the Art Biomechanics Testing
• Learn how to Properly Train Physically with Coach Ryan Flaherty
• Guidance on Agent Selection
• Secrets and Tips on How to Position Yourself with NFL Teams

Here is the link for more information on the camp Husted's College Senior Pro Camp .

As I look back on my time as a graduating senior in college I wish I had the opportunity to have learned what NFL Special Teams Coaches were looking for and how I could make myself more marketable as an NFL kicker.

The truth is that there will probably be approximately 12-14 kickers in NFL camp next year and probably no more than 2-3 rookie kickers that make an NFL team. The big question is "what are you going to do to maximize that opportunity?"

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Best Kicker in Tennessee-Henrique Ribeiro

Over the past few years I have been all over the state doing kicking lessons in Tennessee and during that time I have not seen a more talented kicker than Chattanooga Baylor's Henrique Ribeiro.

Moving here from Brazil, Henrique has exploded on the kicking scene this season. He showed incredible leg strength and accuracy this year and won the Tennessee Mr. Football Kicker of the Year Award.

I had heard about Henrique from quite a few people across the state and about two months ago I decided to drive to Chattanooga and see what all the fuss was about.

During my visit to Baylor, I spoke with Henrique for about 20 minutes before practice and was very impressed with his demeanor. Having a Masters in Sport Psychology, I was very impressed with how he handled himself and the way he went about his kicking.  He had just been named a finalist for the Mr. Football Award but he was still very humble and appreciative of the honor.

After our conversation I attended practice and watched him go through warm ups and practice. He started his warm ups from the extra point area and preceded to go all the way back to 55 yard field goals. He had plenty of room to spare on his kicks and he definitely had that "pop" that I look for when evaluating a kicker's college potential.

Henrique and I stayed in touch over the next two months and just this week I conducted private kicking lessons with Henrique and his talented sophomore teammated Rafael Gaglianone.

During the lessons I challenged both kickers to try a few new techniques and they learned them very quickly. Both kickers are natural athletes and had a willingness to learn. These are two of my favorite traits in kickers!

Henrique is a big kid with a natural gift to strike a ball. In my opinion he has the most pure "talent" of any kicker in the entire state including a few other kickers that have committed to other top universities.

Even with the incredible year that Henrique has had he is still a little behind in the recruiting scene. Most top football kickers in the state of Tennessee went to numerous kicking camps this Summer to gain exposure, but unfortunately Henrique was not aware of these camps.

It is important to be prepared for the recruiting process, but I believe because of his unique talent, he still has an excellent chance to get a scholarship offer. A major university would be lucky to have him!

This is a kicker that certainly has high Division I potential and some day (with some hard work) we might even be watching him play on Sundays!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

State of SEC Kicking

The 2011 All SEC Team was announced just recently and after watching SEC football all season and doing some research on the stats of these kickers I believe that the most talented kickers in the SEC are actually a couple of younger kicking specialists. One thing that I believe is not valued enough by the media is a kicker's value as a kickoff specialist.

This year the frontrunner for the All SEC award would have been Georgia's kicker Blair Walsh (pictured above), but the first and second team kickers actually went to Caleb Sturgis (Florida) and Drew Alleman (LSU).

Going into his senior season I felt that Blair Walsh had a legitimate chance to get drafted, but after a shaky senior season he might be lucky to get a priority free agent spot. Caleb Sturgis really benefited from Walsh's misfortune and he took his place as the top kicker in the SEC.

Sturgis had a fantastic season and deserved the first team honors after making 21-25 field goal attempts including a long of 55 yards. He was the unanimous 1st team selection and he really had a very nice year after recovering from an injury in 2010.

The kicker that I believe got snubbed from being on the All SEC team was Zach Hocker from Arkansas. He was 18-24 on field goals but where he truly shined was his kickoffs. Arkansas was a high scoring team and Hocker hit a whopping 36 touchbacks on his kickoffs this year!

Drew Alleman (LSU) had a great season but only 2 of his 18 field goal attempts were from past 42 yards and James Hairston handled the team's kickoffs this season. Alleman helped his team all season, but was just not given the same responsibilities as Hocker from Arkansas.

A kicker to be aware of for the next few years will be Auburn's Cody Parkey. I believe that he and Hocker have legitimate chances to be NFL kickers when they graduate in a few years.

Parkey was just a freshman this season but he kicked 34 kickoffs for touchbacks with a team that didn't score as much as teams like LSU and Arkansas. His field goals can improve but the majority of his misses were from outside 40 yards except for one 32 yard miss against Samford.

The future is certainly bright in the kicking game for teams like LSU, Auburn, and Arkansas. Teams like Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi State will be looking for improved production by either improvement in their current kickers or by an influx of new talent.

It will be interesting to see next year how the State of SEC Kicking has changed in just a year!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Season is Over But Real Work Is Just Beginning

I know that most high school and college football kickers in Tennessee are taking a big sigh of relief that the long football season is over. Everyone has their typical aches and pains and it can also be mentally exhausting dealing with the pressure each week during the football season. It is now time to take a break from being a kicker right??? Well that is not exactly the case....

The football kicking landscape has changed so much over the past 10 years. When I was a high school senior in 2001 most kickers were smaller soccer guys that just had a natural kicking motion, but the landscape of kicking training and weight lifting have changed kickers forever.

I like what Bobby Knight was quoted as saying " The key is not the "will to win" - everybody has that.  It is the will to prepare to win that is important."  Kickers are preparing that much harder in the offseason for the possibility of a scholarship.

The average size of an SEC starting kicker/kickoff specialist is 5'11 1/2 and 193 lbs. That is nothing compared to the average position player in the SEC but there is certainly a trend of bigger kickers. NFL kickers are even bigger and the emphasis on the weight room has dramatically increased.

U. of Tennessee's current kicking commitment George Bullock (pictured below) is approximately 6'1 195 lbs. and Kentucky commitment Landon Foster is 6'2 180 lbs. This extra size and weight gives them more leverage into their kick and helps them add additional distance on their kicks and punts.

I have witnessed George Bullock's hard work personally over the years I trained him and I saw that he rarely missed a workout with the team. This has certainly paid dividends as he has one of the strongest legs in the 2012 kicking class.

Outside of weight training there are other things that can be done to help a kicker's chances of earning a scholarship like additional technique training. Kicking off the ground can be a tough transition for a lot of kicker's that have improper technique.

Coming out of high school I didn't have any private kicking training and it took me close to 6-8 months to learn how to successfully kick off the ground. Most of the kickers that I have trained for 2 years or more will not have much of a transition at all when losing the tee because they are using a fundamentally sound technique.

This coming Summer high school kickers in Tennessee will be looking to gain a scholarship by their performance at university camps and showcase camps. It is important for these kickers to understand that they will not have the use of a tee at the camps. There success will solely be on their ability to kick off the ground and to kick off with a one inch kickoff tee.

In closing, you don't have to be the size of Sebastian Janikowski to get a kicking scholarship out of high school, but high school kickers do have to understand that from December-March is an important time to focus on lifting weights and building explosion in their lower body and core muscles.

Very few (if any) kickers who are looking for a scholarship have the ability to not kick a football or lift all offseason and then try to pick it up in May. The football kicking landscape is changing and it is important to make sure you are not left behind!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com