Quest for Kicking

[RUMBA-JK]

It is often said that coaches find kickers to be headaches - they can be quirky, can get twisted up inside their heads & suddenly have a spell of kicking like Chuck Knoblauch had with simple throws.
Seems that recruiting them is equally challenging.
for those keeping track -

Delete:
Jonathan Ryker - Hammonton, NJ - appears to have Popped onto & off of the prospect list in rapid fashion -
- late this afternoon he announced that he would play football at The University of Louisville

Add:
Mitchell Wasson.- Marietta (Ga.) - Georgia's highest rated kicker (?) was visited today
Jared Smolar - Valparaiso (Valparaiso, IN) - was visited today

Smolar said that Coach Okruch told him "we are looking for a PWO to come in and win the job and that I am one of their top three targets"

so it appears that:
(1.) Ash was willing to honor the scholarship offer that Floor had extended tp Babir - but if given a clean slate - Ash is inclined to go the Preferred Walk On route .
(2.) the Ash approach - at least in this case - is to be candid & straightforward with the recruit.

 

[RobotHunter]

It is often said that coaches find kickers to be headaches - they can be quirky, can get twisted up inside their heads & suddenly have a spell of kicking like Chuck Knoblauch had with simple throws.
Seems that recruiting them is equally challenging.
for those keeping track -

Delete:
Jonathan Ryker - Hammonton, NJ - appears to have Popped onto & off of the prospect list in rapid fashion -
- late this afternoon he announced that he would play football at The University of Louisville

Add:
Mitchell Wasson.- Marietta (Ga.) - Georgia's highest rated kicker (?) was visited today
Jared Smolar - Valparaiso (Valparaiso, IN) - was visited today

Smolar said that Coach Okruch told him "we are looking for a PWO to come in and win the job and that I am one of their top three targets"

so it appears that:
(1.) Ash was willing to honor the scholarship offer that Floor had extended tp Babir - but if given a clean slate - Ash is inclined to go the Preferred Walk On route .
(2.) the Ash approach - at least in this case - is to be candid & straightforward with the recruit.

I don't think Ryker said he was playing for Louisville.

 

[RUMBA-JK]

I don't think Ryker said he was playing for Louisville.

________________________

https://twitter.com/ryker04?lang=en

Pinned Tweet
Jonathan Ryker ‏@ryker04 7h7 hours ago
Excited and thankful to be able to say that I have an opportunity to play football at The University of Louisville
________________________________

Ah - - yes 'upon further review' - he said - "... I have an opportunity to play football at ..."
so, no ,he did not say he 'committed' - but I honestly do not know the phrasing that would be appropriate in a Preferred Walk On situation - -
- or - maybe he is just saying that he has been given -
the opportunity to be a Preferred Walk On

so maybe he is still in play & possibly Ryker, Wasson & Smolar are the top three ?

 

[RUpop]

Why do ppl think Ryker is the best choice? Read up on some of those kicking combine sites and there appears to be a lot of potentially good kickers available.

 

[NorthernKnight]

We should probably just say we don't know and that the coaches will bring in a kicker if they see one that can really help the team...

Trying to read the tea leaves and draw conclusions is futile...

 

[RUMBA-JK]

Why do ppl think Ryker is the best choice? Read up on some of those kicking combine sites and there appears to be a lot of potentially good kickers available.

Agree -
a. data on kickers is sparse / not always presented in directly comparable fashion
b. even with tons of stats - hard to assess the extraneous stuff -
- - how would they deal with 10X the pressure - stadium full of deafening noise
- - how will 6' 7" leaping opponents impact their focus
- - what if they played on a dominant team in HS where their kicks virtually never decided a game.

I'm not going to venture a guess as to who is better - just find the process fascinating - and interesting that at the end of the day we may end up with what is ultimately a better choice than what we had a week ago.

 

[RU62]

Very fair points Rumba. When one gets up on the firing line in college where the defense can be 6'5" across the line and speedy db's/lb's coming in to defend the kick then things become a lot different. It's finding the player who has both the leg, trajectory and nerves of steel to stay focused and kick the ball thru the uprights. This is often why some coaches will prefer to bring in a couple of PWO's and have them earn a scholarship.

But for now who are the potential kickers already on the team and how do they look; both accurate field goal and consistent deep kickoffs.

 

[RUpop]

Outstanding post rumba. Kickers = a mystery

 

[RUich]

I would like to see us get somebody who can FINALLY kick the ball off and into the end zones of an opposing team. Overall, our kicking has been less than stellar for way too long.

 

[miketd1]

Honestly, the overall talent level isn't at the point where having a six-hundred star kicker is going to make much of a difference in the W/L column.

 

[RUtom]

If we could survive next season with a walk-on, there's a really good kid out of Bridgewater for 2017. He was 2nd team all state this year. Trains with my son with STS camps.

 

[RU Diesel07110]

In a few more years the frosh at St Joes- Angelo the Shoe.. Lenny the Shoes kid

 

[imbazza2]

It is often said that coaches find kickers to be headaches - they can be quirky, can get twisted up inside their heads & suddenly have a spell of kicking like Chuck Knoblauch had with simple throws.
Seems that recruiting them is equally challenging.
for those keeping track -

Delete:
Jonathan Ryker - Hammonton, NJ - appears to have Popped onto & off of the prospect list in rapid fashion -
- late this afternoon he announced that he would play football at The University of Louisville

Add:
Mitchell Wasson.- Marietta (Ga.) - Georgia's highest rated kicker (?) was visited today
Jared Smolar - Valparaiso (Valparaiso, IN) - was visited today

Smolar said that Coach Okruch told him "we are looking for a PWO to come in and win the job and that I am one of their top three targets"

so it appears that:
(1.) Ash was willing to honor the scholarship offer that Floor had extended tp Babir - but if given a clean slate - Ash is inclined to go the Preferred Walk On route .
(2.) the Ash approach - at least in this case - is to be candid & straightforward with the recruit.

It sound like he spent too much time listening to Schiano (don't wait a schollie on a kicker)
He only offer a kicker a scholarship ever 4 years