Will Reichard explains chemistry between kicker and holder

The relationship between kickers and holders is a unique one on the football field, and one Alabama kicker Will Reichard continues to work at with holder James Burnip. Despite using the backup quarterback in recent seasons, namely Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones before their breakout performances, the shift to a punter came last season and appears to continue into 2022.

During player availability this week, Will Reichard broke down how the relationship between a kicker and holder must develop to create success.

“Definitely, it’s very important for sure,” said Reichard. “Just being able to trust that he’s going to get the ball down and tilt it the right way. It’s very important that we work together a lot, just to get our chemistry down. I think that’s really important, and I think James (Burnip) has done a really good job so far. We’re going to keep getting better so that won’t be an issue.”

Reichard enters his senior season with a chance to return to his 2020 form, which put him on the national stage as one of college football’s best kickers. His perfect season of 14 field goals and 84 extra points did not carry into 2021 despite him setting a new career-high in points with 137.

Nick Saban on Alabama spring practice

Last year, Alabama had a younger team, and Nick Saban knew that coming into spring practice. After some NFL Draft departures, he’s working to get this year’s roster ready for the fall, as well — and that’s why spring practice is so vital.

“I think spring practice is always important because you’re always trying to develop the young players on your team,” Saban told reporters after Alabama’s Pro Day. “Our circumstance here doesn’t seem to ever change. We’d have had nine starters back on offense and nine starters back on defense. Last year was kind of a young, developing team. You have six guys go out for the draft, so now you’ve got five starters back and seven on defense.

“So you’re still trying to develop young players who need to be able to step up and maybe play a little earlier than maybe you anticipated they would because of those circumstances. I think that’s always the case, and I think that’s always something that’s really, really important to us especially in the spring, especially with young players. I think it’s even more important that they can self-assess so that they understand what do they need to do after spring, over the summer and in fall camp to even take the next step in their development so that they have a better chance to be successful in the fall.”