Question about our kickers

[HammerOfTheDogs]

I never played college football, although at Meridian High we were the South Panola of our day. However, one of the main things I notice about college football players is this-they are usually better than high school players.

Then why can't we get a kicker to boot the ball through the end zone? I remember watching Andrew Gambrell at Meridian High. He kicked from the 40, but his big thing wasn't whether he could make it to the End Zone, it was whether he could kick it through the goal posts. Then, after walks on at State, he can barely pooch it to the 30 yard line. WHAT'S THE DEAL?

I'm pretty sure Blake McAdams could boom some 60-70 yarders in high school. Now, he's lucky to boom a driving 35 yard spiral, with 2.5 second hangtime to boot.

Is it that they use thinner footballs in college? Is it the coaching?

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

I never played college football, although at Meridian High we were the South Panola of our day. However, one of the main things I notice about college football players is this-they are usually better than high school players.

Then why can't we get a kicker to boot the ball through the end zone? I remember watching Andrew Gambrell at Meridian High. He kicked from the 40, but his big thing wasn't whether he could make it to the End Zone, it was whether he could kick it through the goal posts. Then, after walks on at State, he can barely pooch it to the 30 yard line. WHAT'S THE DEAL?

I'm pretty sure Blake McAdams could boom some 60-70 yarders in high school. Now, he's lucky to boom a driving 35 yard spiral, with 2.5 second hangtime to boot.

Is it that they use thinner footballs in college? Is it the coaching?

 

[beachbumdawg]

I dont think any of them has lost leg strength....i have to believe it is all technique on the punting aspect anyway....(i lost the kicking job to a portuguese exchange student who had never seen a football before, and he started kicking about game 4 of a 10 game schedule (no playoffs that year) and parlayed that into a scholarship at PRCC and ultimately got a soccor scholarship after his PRCC stint).....i mean hell i averaged 43 yds per punt but had a horrible net avg (of like 25-30) due to poor hangtiime and poor special teams....but mcadams is not alone...look at the punting stats for the NFL there are some pretty ****** punters out ther

 

[FlabLoser]

He kicked from the 40 in high school. And as you say in high school, it wasn't about him getting touchbacks, it was about him kicking it through the uprights. Then he gets to college and he's just an average kicker. He didn't have the distance kicking off in college that he did in high school.

 

[Shmuley]

and, according to a friend of mine who went, he spoke about Erica Richards during a segment my friend labeled, "Handy excuses for why we suck like a Hoover." Croom said during one practice before the run-up to the La Tech debacle, Richards kicked 7 balls over fifty yards in the air with an average hangtime of 4.7 seconds. Richards also kicked off everything 5 yards deep. Every time. Croom said he told the jock washer who he elevated to ST coach that, "we ain't gotta worry about the kicking game now." Croom said, "I mean right before we go to La Tech, [Richards] goes and tells Stringer that he can't go." Other than saying Richards had a "hip strain" Croom did not elaborate further and my guy said nobody asked when Richards might be back. My guy said that he noticed something in Croom's speech pattern that he had not fully appreciated before last night. There's a touch of exaggeration at times.

The other excuses were what you would expect. The gun incident, and injuries - especially Sherrod, and Pegues forgetting to go to class.

 

[MaxwellSmart]

these days but back when I played, the kickoff tee was about 3 or 4 inches tall. I had a friend who was trying out at kicker, he said he couldn't reach the endzone without the tall tee.

 

[saddawg]

I read somewhere that JA has a kid with a freak leg?

Of course we will watch him kick over our heads for some other team.

 

[dawgstudent]

per my wife. He did go to the LSU game this weekend.

This is from his mother who my wife saw at an antique store yesterday.

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[Porkchop.sixpack]

from Prep who did much better in high school than we are doing right now. However, he might be afflicted with the problem outlined in this thread that nobody has suggested a cause for, other than tee height.

 

[Spotdawg]

that other schools are crawling all over him and we have yet to show up for a game. Uh huhhh. we are wearing this state out with our overall recruiting effort. All we have to do is remember the kicker for UAB who singlehandedly put more points on the board than the offense did. HE WAS FROM JXN PREP!! And we didn't recruit him. At the time Croom said laughingly.... "how did he get away from us?...we will have to pay more attention to the private schools. "(loosely quoted from memory.)

Guess who was recruiting Jackson area schools at the time..... Give up? Woody.

A very good source at Madison Central says they have not seen the fat bastard in a very long time. We are talking years and not months.

No excuse. That alone should be reason for immediate dismissal of he and Croom.

 

[Xenomorph]

*

 

[saddawg]

theory.

State has to recruit and win with Mississippi players.

Looking back at our successful years we had a lot of home kids playing.

I know we have to get some out of staters, but we should work Miss. as hard as we can.

If you are gonna take a chance on a tweener, go with the home kid.

 

[Spotdawg]

to go to State. Glad we didn't get him, 'cause we might have screwed up his professional career.

There are a couple of very capable kickers in the Jackson Metro area right now...including the surefire kid at MRA... and we should come up with at least one of them.

Dammit.. it just makes my stomach hurt. Special Teams? At least Jackie knew the importance of them and personally coached them. More than once we pulled a game outta our *** with ST performance. Now? Not so much. And in typical Croom performance, there is absolutely NO URGENCY to get it corrected.

Where's the Levbid?

 

[dawgfan77]

Rumor is even if we talked to him he wouldn't give us the time of day, comes from a UM family and is going there barring something unforseen. I cannot blame the staff for not recruiting a guy we have no chance with. Watch out for the kicke at GCCC.

 

[Spotdawg]

his family and he being UM fans.....but, we at least should give him a courtesy call. You never can tell when we might end up on the receiving end of a UM screw-up.....God knows we have ignored so many that were State fans through and through. Maybe he wants a change of scene.

Just like sales...you just don't pass up a possible good account because you don't think it will produce.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyBulldog]

He wasn't all that interested in MSU. He wanted to go to OM to play football and baseball. I am not sure he could've played both at MSU. Plus, he was dating Jill Rosamond at the time who's brother is Micheal Rosamond the former OM baseball player. She was headed to OM and, if they had kept the offer, he was too. Plus, he sucked his senior year. He wasn't even starting midway through the season and OM pulled his offer. He missed numerous field goals and got benched. The guy behind him was almost as good, held the job the remainder of the year and he walked on at MSU. He failed out though, first test grade in college was literally a 7.

 

[AlCoDog]

No reason we shouldn't atleast try. He worked out with Scott Westerfield this summer(and Johnathan Nichols)<a href="http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/SPORTS06/808210357/-1/archive">

</a>http://clarionledger.com/...TS06/808210357/-1/archive

 

[disappointeddawg]

John Michael Marlin was the same way at Tupelo. He rarely ever missed a field goal in high school. We all know his performance in college. I'm thinking the fact that he got his girlfriend pregnant and what comes with that messed with his head some. Can't remember how he did on kickoffs but I imagine he had no problem getting to the endzone (in HS).</p>

 

[Conman90]

I saw Ritter Friday night at the Pillow game and every kickoff went through the endzone by at least 3 to 5 yards. He booted a 52 yarder on his first field goal with room to spare. Me and the guy I was sitting with commented that he will play college ball somewhere. He is listed as 6'4" in the media guide and also plays WR. But with a leg like his he will go somewhere and kick. Of course, if he came to State, then he would barely make 40 yarders and his kickoffs would never make it past the 10.

 

[Eureka Dog]

when comparing high-school to college (and, subsequently, to the professional environment) .

Most of these are obvious.

1. True leg strength and endurance... How much does the kicker practice in high school vs. college. Does he get a "tired leg" easily.
2. On kickoffs: consider the kick-off location (both yard-line and distance from sideline); also, college coaches often demand kicks toward the "coffin corner" (but not out of bounds) where most HS coaches are happy with the ball being kicked deep. In college, kickers are often instructed to kick away from a particular returner, which, if the returner switches sides right before the kicker begins his runup to the ball, can cause the kicker to have to adjust his approach to the ball during the runup.
3. On punts, college coaches place more emphasis on hang-time than do HS coaches. Some guys forfeit distance for hang-time and vice-versa.
4. Types of tees allowed, if any
5. Types of surface the kicker is used to kicking on, i.e. did his HS have an artificial turf field, but the college field is natural grass
6. Differences in ball construction - dimensions, air-pressure, leather vs. composite
7. Age of the ball - Older balls, having been used more, compress differently than new balls. When I was in high school, older balls showed up in games a good bit.
8. Shoes - Does the college (due to a contract require the kicker to wear a brand of shoe that he really isn't comfortable with?

 

[engineerdog]

I am going to defend our special teams coach a little (not very much, as I still think he may be in over his head). Prior to last season, Stringer coached tight ends only. Croom then also gave him the special teams, replacing Amos Jones. Stringer told Croom "I can handle the coverages, returns, assignments, etc. However, I know nothing about actually kicking the ball. I can't troubleshoot kickers on technique" Croom said "No problem, we will work that out". The problem is that evidently nobody on staff knows how to teach actual kicking and punting. They depend on the player to already know how to do it.

Also, many criticize Stringer for things like Bonner's fumble against La Tech. It is not Stringer's responsibility to teach Bonner how to properly carry a football, the position coach does. That responsibility falls on Felker (Bonner was not carrying it correctly). An example is you don't always blame the offensive coordinator if the right guard has no clue about how to properly block someone. The offensive line coach should be teaching that in the individual drills. Now in fairness, Stringer could be blamed for allowing someone like Bonner to return the kick, but Croom mandates who the returners are going to be, not Stringer. Croom also mandates what personnel Stringer can use on special teams. (Stringer: "I'll take Pegues, Fitzhugh, and Glanton". Croom: "Nope. You'll take Kyles, Bowser, and Brown". Stringer: "Gee, thanks Walrus")

After saying all of this, I still think Stringer is probably in over his head. Our kickoff returns look like something out of 5th grade. However, every special teams error doesn't necessarily fall on him. That is just not how it works. Some of the errors are due to personnel or things which are taught by position coaches during individual drills.

Fire away.

 

[Rebheaded Stranger]

Am I right?

 

[Brutius]

I think high school is 23 or so feet wide and college is only 18. That has nothing to do with kick distance, but it makes a huge difference for actually making it if you have the distance.

 

[TheStone70]

around 2001-2002 that could boot the piss out of it. He kicked a a 54 yd field goal his senior year and could boom punts. I watched him miss a 65 yarder wide in practice. He had the distance for 70+. He ended up signing with Alcorn State because they would give him a scholarship and he also got minority there. He got looked at by Southern and maybe State.</p>

 

[TroyMcClure]

was the best kicker in the state I have seen in a LONG time. He didn't use a tee late in his senior year. Still bombed it. Tied the MHSAA record wih a 59 yarder in one game his senior year that was negated by a penalty. </p>

State showed little interest. He was shaggin' balls in practice, never allowed to compete against Carlson, and quit when Richards (who sucks) was signed. </p>

 

[TroyMcClure]

He was the quitest, most polite guy I have ever seen, but an absolute MACHINE in the weight room. He was 6'2" or 6'3" around 215lbs. Watched him max. bench 310lbs. Meaner than hell on the field too. Had alot of respect with the other players. He worked out with the linebackers. I watched him almost sever Blake McAdams's head in a form tackling drill. Which..in hindsight, would have been a blessing.

Wish the kid would have stuck around for defense.

 

[DawgU]

My daughter met a guy last week on campus. He said he was a freshman kicker; might have said he was red-shirted. Zach Warden? Who's he?

 

[beachbumdawg]

nfm

 

[Rebheaded Stranger]

yuku

 

[omaha08]

Jacob wound up going to delta state then transferring to state without a scholarship....... eventually quit. Great guy, is now in a band in case you were wondering

 

[TroyMcClure]

So a band is more appealing than MSU football...yeah I'd buy that! Thanks for the update. Hate to hear he's not playin.

 

[omaha08]

Hey at least Carlson looked pretty good kicking an onsides kick.......... If booby doesn't get the offsides call, we would have had the ball. Maybe Adam has found his calling, cause it certainly isn't kicking off

 

[TroyMcClure]

he is doing this team a disservice by sticking around. I'm hoping I see a personal, public apology for the last four years on the jumbotron before his last game at DWS.

And, fyi, for all of you wondering out there...Reid Stringer doesn't piss without asking Croom. If Croom told him to put alumni on the return team, he'd start looking up where are they now websites.</p>