Any news on bringing in a kicker? Surely there's a juco guy out there who can make PATs and a 45 yarder!
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Any news on bringing in a kicker? Surely there's a juco guy out there who can make PATs and a 45 yarder!
This would be my only major concern for next year, the kicking game. Couple this with special teams. We have to address this, we don't have to hold our breaths on extra points and field goals.
I thought Starkville Hogj had this bad ass kicker we were going to get this year. What happens to him?
Yeah, way past frustrated with the lack of a consistent 45 yard capable kicker. Cannot understand for a moment that you do not address this major weakness of ST in general and kicker specifically the last couple of years. Not angry just don't understand how they do nothing to fix the issue. We all see it. We all hold our breath when they trot out to attempt the routine. It's f'ng epically ridiculous.
I totally agree! You can't tell me there's not a capable juco kicker who would love to kick in the SEC!
Paul has said "we'll know more in the spring" when asked about kickers. that says to me there's a walkon possibility.
We all just need to accept the fact that Mullen doesn't believe STs are a priority and an important part of the game. We've got 6 years of evidence at this point. You would think someone like JWS could talk some sense into him on the subject, but it's apparent it can't be done. Otherwise why do we continue to leave Mullen's bff Sallach on the field instead of moving him to an administrative position and using his spot to get a legit ST coach? Sure, Mullen may get pissed in the moment when our STs take a dump on the field and cost us a game, but he doesn't do anything to address the problem. He just continues to trot out the same shitty KR/PR guys, same weak legged Ks who make up for it by being inaccurate, etc. The only thing we do well on STs is punt and cover.
And say what you will about Knox being the "ST Coordinator," but it was always a farce designed to a) take heat off Mullen with the fans for our shitastic STs by giving him someone to blame and b) give Knox an extra title to get him a little extra money. I saw all I needed to during the SEC Network launch when they had video of Mullen still actively "coaching" our kickers. That was always a title only move, as I suspected the moment it was announced.
I'll continue beating the drum for legitimate changes in our approach to STs in hopes that eventually it will change, but I won't hold my breath on it. Mullen is a stubborn bastard and clearly thinks the key to winning is scoring more points on offense and giving up fewer points on D, without realizing that we'd score more points if we had Ks who were accurate from 40 and in and KR/PR guys who were legit threats and didn't cost us field position. It's harder to score when your offense is having to constantly drive a long field. Mullen may give lip service to STs, but all the evidence is that he doesn't really believe in them. Until he does believe in STs, I'm afraid 10 wins will be our hard ceiling.
NFL History - Points Leaders
1 Morten Andersen 2,544
2 Gary Anderson 2,434
3 Jason Hanson 2,150
4 ADAM VINATIERI 2,146
5 John Carney 2,062
6 Matt Stover 2,004
7 George Blanda 2,002
8 Jason Elam 1,983
9 John Kasay 1,970
10 Norm Johnson 1,736
11 DAVID AKERS 1,721
12 Nick Lowery 1,711
13 Jan Stenerud 1,699
14 Ryan Longwell 1,687
15 Lou Groza 1,608
16 Eddie Murray 1,594
17 Al Del Greco 1,584
18 SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI 1,574
19 Olindo Mare 1,555
20 PHIL DAWSON 1,519
What pos. did these guys play?
Even our kicker was the leading scorer on the team last year.
Total points:
Evan Sobiesk 92 points
Dak Prescott 90 points
Josh Robinson 72 points
It's important.
I think we're waiting on Bell's scholarship to open before we offer another kicker a scholarship. Cook is also on scholarship..... just sucks that our 2 scholarship kickers are both punters.
Is it that hard to go pick up a kid in Australia? Seems like everyone is doing that these days
Donald Gray could also be a factor. And I haven't given up on Smokey Graham, either. The problem is we've had guys in the program that are capable, but Mullen refuses to give them a chance. And he does so to try to boost someone's NFL value or to play favorites with upperclassmen. Look no further than Perkins, Tubby, and RoJo. None of them were ever a return threat, but we were forced to live with them their entire careers.
It isn't about a lack of talent for most of our STs. It's about Mullen not believing they are important and not knowing what the hell he's doing with them. Our schemes are bloody awful. Who else employs a "lead blocker" on KR and thereby wastes the chance to put two return threats back deep? As bad as Holloway was at PR, I still think he has value on KR. The only part of STs that is a "talent" issue is Kicker. Everything else boils down to Mullen's disregard and incompetence in that area.
And I'll add this: If the NCAA allows an extra coach next year, I will be PISSED if we don't use it for a true ST guy. As a fan base we should raise absolute hell if Mullen uses it for anything else.
There are JUCO's available, but most schools are offering scholarships. As much as a kid may want to PAY $20,000+ per year to kick for MSU, he can accept offers from most D1 schools and have everything paid! Not every school uses their 3 special teams scholarships for a long snapper and 2 punters.
this guy has a preferred walkon spot allegedly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PL_...ature=youtu.be
To have 2 guys that only punt on scholarshjp at the same time is totally freakin' ridiculous. And I had no idea we have a long snapper on football scholarship. That's just goofy as well. We should have one punter and one FG kicker on scholly with one of those guys being able to handle kickoff duties as well and that's it.