Kicking with an NFL Pro Bowl Kicker

On Saturday February 18th I was asked to come to Orlando, FL as a kicking demonstrator/coach for the National Camp Series Super Camp. During my time as a demonstrator at the camp I was able to kick with former NFL Pro Bowl kicker Shayne Graham. I was able to learn a lot about myself during the workout and also what it takes to be a professional by working out with Shayne.

As I continue on my path to play for an NFL team I am always trying to kick against top competition. The more times you are tested as a kicker the better you get under pressure. After kicking with Chargers kicker Nick Novak last September, I already have had some experience kicking with someone of Shayne's caliber so there wasn't much of an "awe" factor.

What I was most impressed with from Shayne was his consistency. He has played in the NFL for over 10 years and knows how to make kicks. I can see why he is on every NFL "short list". He was signed last year by the Redskins and Cowboys during the preseason and played during the regular season for the Dolphins and Ravens.

During the time we kicked together we both made almost all of our kicks and we backed all the way up to 58 yards. It was a great day of kicking and I appreciate Shayne being so gracious. He gave me a few words of advice on being a free agent kicker. He said to not worry about the politics of getting signed to a team and just worry about getting better as a kicker.

We ended the day by kicking some kickoffs. I had a really good day on my kickoffs and was pleased at the hang time and distance I had on a warm and sunny day in Florida. Most of my kicks were going deep in the back of the end zone without using very much effort.

Overall it was a great day of kicking.  I want to thank Michael Husted for the opportunity to demonstrate and I also want to thank Shayne for being so gracious. I hope one day I can accomplish some of the things Shayne has accomplished in the NFL!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com 

Ribeiro & Foster Excel at NCS Super Camp

Michael Husted with Tennessee Kickers and James Wilhoit

This weekend was a busy weekend for Tennessee football kickers Henrique Ribeiro and Hayes Foster as they excelled at the 6th annual National Camp Series Super Camp in Orlando, FL.

Anyone who reads my blogs knows that I think Henrique is an undiscovered talent and he certainly did nothing to change my perception this weekend. Henrique won the kickoff competition for the college division and another one of my kicking students, Hayes Foster, placed third in the kickoff competition for the freshman division. You can see both Ribeiro and Foster in the picture (above) along with myself and the founder of the National Camp Series Michael Husted.

Henrique Ribeiro kicking field goals off the ground

One of the main explanations for Henrique not getting a scholarship was his inability to attend any of the summer kicking camps. The university camps in the Summer are important because it gives a college coach the chance to evaluate a kicker in person to see if he can make the transition to kicking off the ground. Also, it gives a coach a chance to see how a kicker does in competition. Kickers need to thrive under pressure and the great ones do!

Henrique was not told much about the recruiting process last year and so he missed out on the opportunity to attend those camps. I suggested that he attend this camp in Orlando and during the camp he proved why he was named the Mr. Football Kicker of the Year in Tennessee this past season.

He charted 8 of 10 on field goals at the camp with a long of 52 yards even though this was his first time to kick on college field goal posts. His kickoffs were even more impressive as he averaged 73 yards a kick with 3.8 hang time. He is still a little bit raw on his kickoff steps or he would have kicked the ball even farther. He has so much upside and has a great attitude. My heart goes out to him and I fully believe he will be starting for a college no later than 2013.

On a side note Henrique kicked 49 of 53 kickoffs last season and was using a half inch tee! He didn't know much about kicking and he was using the Toe-Tal-Kickoff Tee . If you use this previous link you will see that this 1 inch kickoff tee breaks apart and Henrique was only using the half inch insert. This explains coaches complaining about his hang time. At the Super Camp this weekend he kicked numerous kickoffs of 4 second hang time or higher.

Pictured (L to R) Tom Foster, Hayes Foster, and James Wilhoit

Hayes Foster also performed well this weekend for the freshman division. He kicked for the freshman team at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro and participated alot with the varsity team. He actually kicked off once during the team's second round playoff loss to Mt. Juliet.

He charted well on field goals at the camp and excelled at kickoffs. His best kickoff was a towering 71 yard kick with  3.76 hang time. I have explained to Hayes that his best football is ahead of him though. He has some mechanical adjustments that need to be made that can take him from good to great. I am excited to see his progress as a kicker. I have seen him grow up so much over the past year and I expect that to continue.

James Wilhoit & Mr. Football Kicker of the Year Henrique Ribeiro

In closing, it was a great weekend for Tennessee football kickers and as a Tennessee football kicking coach it makes me very proud to have these two young men be representatives of me as a coach.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Best Kicker in Tennessee Still Not Getting Respect

Yesterday I made the drive from Nashville to do kicking lessons in Chattanooga, TN with Baylor School  senior kicker Henrique Ribeiro and talented sophomore kicker Rafael Gaglianone. Henrique won the Tennessee Mr. Football Kicker of the Year Award this year. During the season he kicked field goals of 57, 52, and 50 yards, but has still not gotten a scholarship offer. How does something like this happen? I tried to figure out what was lacking for Henrique.Was it Height? Weight? Did he do something wrong? I have been trying to get to the bottom of this...

Lets do an exercise here...

Kicker #1: In 2011 he was 67 of 70 on extra points & 17 of 25 on field goals with a long of 50 yards.

Kicker #2: In 2011 he was 47 of 50 on extra points & 7 of 10 on field goals with a long of 51 yards.

Kicker #3 In 2011 he was 40 of 41 on extra points & 8 of 11 on field goals with a long of 57 yards

Of these 3 kickers which one has the best resume?

The answer is clearly Kicker #3, which is Henrique Ribeiro. The other two kickers are Adam Griffith and George Bullock, who just signed scholarship papers to Alabama and Tennessee respectively.

Obviously stats are not the entire part of the equation for a kicker and so this story is incomplete. Kickers are evaluated heavily by their performance in camps and also by their effectiveness on kickoffs.

The knock on Henrique has been that his kickoffs lacked the necessary hang time and he didn't attend any kicking camps. I love the quote by Maya Angelou that says "I did the best I could at the time and when I knew better I did better." There was no way for Henrique to have been aware of these issues that coaches had with him.

Henrique was never told to kick the ball higher because he was helping his team by kicking the ball in the endzone. Also, he was a transfer from Brazil and had never even heard of a kicking camp before. How was he suppose to know that some camp was going to be the determining factor in his college kicking chances?

Yesterday was the third lesson I have done with Henrique. I work with kickers at Southern Miss, MTSU, Arkansas St. and I have worked with Tennessee's current kicker Michael Palardy and current signee George Bullock. Also, as a kicker myself I have competed against some of the best kickers in the world and I know talent when I see it. Henrique Ribeiro is a kicker that deserves a college scholarship.

I came to Chattanooga yesterday to prepare Henrique for the National Camp Series Super Camp in Orlando, Florida. This camp has some of the best kicking talent in the country and there will be many top kicking coaches in attendance including the founder of the National Camp Series, former NFL kicker Michael Husted. Henrique is now trying to get out to the camps and get the exposure he didn't get last Summer.

During the lesson yesterday I worked with Henrique on his field goals and kickoffs. He has made a seamless transition to kicking off the ground as you can see in this 30 yard field goal (video below). Also, after about 20-25 minutes he was kicking his kickoffs with the hang time that college coaches said that he "lacked". Hang time can be developed by using the proper technique and Henrique can easily hit kickoffs with 4 second hang time.

In closing, Henrique Ribeiro may have to take the long road to get a college scholarship. He may walk on to a campus near you and pay his own way for a year but it won't be that way for long. This is a kicker you will see on Saturday afternoons as you enjoy watching College Football with your friends. He will be hitting big field goals and towering kickoffs. Maybe then Henrique will finally get the respect he has earned!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Weekend Group Lessons

 As a kicking coach in Tennessee I am always striving to become better at understanding the needs of my clients. After a busy year of private kicking lessons in Tennessee I have decided to offer a new service to my business; Weekend Group Lessons.

These weekend lessons will consist of kicking instruction, group competition, and an online video evaluation. During a three hour session, kickers will get a chance to kick, observe, and compete against other kickers of their skill level.

As I have continued my training toward PRO football I have seen how important the competition element is in kicking training. A kicker needs time to learn how to kick with the proper technique and once they have mastered that skill on their own it is important to try their kicking out under pressure.

During my time out in San Diego with former NFL kicker Michael Husted I competed against some of the best free agent kickers in the country. This competition helped prepare me for success at my last two combines. Kicking is a job that requires just the kicker and the ball, but you have go compete to become the best kicker you possibly can be.

I will be conducting these kicking lessons from March-May in Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis. The groups will be no more than 10 kickers and they will be split into two smaller groups for the drills and competitions.

After the lessons are complete each kicker will be able to go to their own online account and view some of their field goals and kickoffs. I will give written feedback on each kick so that each kicker will be able to visualize what they excel at and what they need to continue to work on.

This group lessons will be a great way to sharpen your skills before some of the big kicking camps in the Summer. There is a lot of kicking talent in the state of Tennessee and I believe that if you can fare well at these competitions than you can compete against some of the best kickers in the country.

I look forward to seeing each kicker thrive in competition. Kicking under pressure is like lifting weights, the more you do it the better you get at it. I am excited to offer these weekend kicking lessons to help take football kickers in Tennessee to the next level!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Chasing the Dream-NFL Regional Combine

The difficult thing about being a football kicking coach in Tennessee is the weather. Obviously I don't live in Wisconsin or New York where there are extremely harsh winters, but the conditions are not always ideal for kicking year round. This year I was able to make great use of those two months by focusing on my training as a potential NFL kicker by attending the Aguiar & Husted Qualifying Combine in Las Vegas and by just recently attending the NFL Regional Combine in Los Angeles.

After coming off a very successful performance at the Aguiar & Husted camp I set my sights on a trip to Los Angeles for the NFL Regional Combines. This combine was run independently for quite a few years, but it was just recently purchased by the NFL. The association with the NFL has increased the resources and prestige of this combine and has made it an attractive competition for potential free agent kickers.

The key to kicking combines is to understand the structure of the combine and to prepare accordingly. Everyone runs a workout a little bit different and it is important to be physically and mentally prepared. You have to be able improvise and adjust! There was no better example of this then this recent combine in Los Angeles.

The kicker's were scheduled to perform at 12:30 PM  but the combine officials called me at 10 AM and they had decided to move the workout up to 11 AM. Frantically I got dressed, rushed to the field, and tried to eat a snack on the way. Most people have routines before a workout but my routine went out the window a long time ago.

Once I got to the field I filled out the proper paperwork and tried to compose myself. So much of kicking is psychological and it is important to be calm and collected under pressure. We went through a quick warm up and then it was time to perform. I would have preferred to have longer to warm up, but it was time to trust my technique. I have been working 5-6 days a week following Coach Renner's Training Program and I can tell the training is paying off.

The workout went very well as I was able to kick all of my kickoffs with 4 second hang time with great distance. I also was able to connect on almost all of my field goals including kicks from 50 & 55 yards.

The moral of the story is that you learn from every situation you go through. I have had hours to prepare and warm up before and not performed well. The bottom line is that you have to TRUST your kicking technique and just have fun kicking.

By the way...I just recently learned that my performance in Los Angeles got me an invite to the Detroit Lions' Ford Field and a chance to kick in front of approximately 26 NFL teams on March 30th!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

Tennessee Kickers-National Signing Day 2012

 National Signing Day came and went this year and it was another very successful year for kickers in the state of Tennessee. Numerous kickers from across the state either got scholarships or opportunities for success at the next level.

Being a kicking coach in Tennessee I know that getting a scholarship as a kicker is quite a feat and I want to congratulate George Bullock (Tennessee) and Landon Foster (Kentucky) for their accomplishments.

I have known George (pictured above) since 8th grade and I have watched how hard he has worked to get this opportunity. He spent countless hours working on his craft plus his parents invested money into going to kicking camps for exposure.

I have no doubt that he will step in and compete for a starting job. It will be interesting to see how he transitions to being a college kicker. I have always preferred that kickers would redshirt their first year at a university because of the mental demands.

My biggest suggestion to George is to avoid the message boards and newspapers and to just to enjoy the game. Handling the pressure and understanding the job of being the kicker at Tennessee is probably the hardest part. I am hoping that Tennessee's kicking game drastically improves from what we saw this past year.

 I met Landon Foster (pictured above) last Summer and I could see right away that he had big time talent. He is a very bright and articulate guy and I believe that Coach Phillips at Kentucky has made a very good decision signing Landon. He is the top combination K/P prospect in the state and gives Kentucky a lot of flexibility in their kicking game
.

Another kicker I want to congratulate is Maryville High School's Evan Toby. Evan has committed to Austin Peay University! I trained Even this past Summer in preparation for taking over for Mr. Football Award winner Zach Sharp. Evan stepped in admirably and leveraged the opportunity to play at Austin Peay.

I believe that Evan has the chance to provide great depth his first year for Austin Peay and then certainly take the starting spot after current kicker Stephen Stansell graduates.

Overall it was a great day in the state for Tennessee football kickers and being a kicking coach in Tennessee I am proud that these guys are continuing to gain opportunities to do what they love to do!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com