COLLEGE EXPOSURE
TKC COLLEGE REFERRAL PROCESS
- Attend a kicking camp
- Go through standardized charting workout
- Receive your objective and subjective evaluation
- If you are a qualified prospect, coach Filipovic refers you to colleges in need
College Exposure Facts for Specialists
1. Kicker recruiting process goes through kicking camps/coaches. This was not the case fifteen years ago. But these days, kicker who does not work with a well-connected kicking coach, gets overlooked. College coaches are busy. Instead of going through hundreds of highlight videos, they prefer to simply contact a kicking coach and ask for top prospects. It saves them time and it ensures that kickers who they are recruiting are pre-approved.
2. Regardless of how many camps you attend, and how much money you spend on your kicking coach, you still need to be very good in order to get a scholarship. You have to prove your skills by kicking well in games and at college camps that you attend. This is usually a truth that is not brought up often in the kicking industry. Rankings and stars are given to athletes who keep going to numerous events and keep spending the money on that specific organization. High ranking does not lead to a scholarship. Don’t take my word for it. Do some digging. Go to a page of a large ranking kicking organization. Look through their top 50 athletes in a class that just graduated. You will probably find about dozen scholarshipped athletes. Then scroll down toward the bottom of the list. You will find athletes who are not even ranked in the top 100 who received scholarships. Those would be the talented kickers who chose not to spend money on going to endless showcases and competitions to maintain their high ranking. But still, their skills prevailed, and college coaches found them. In summary, your skills are what matters the most.
3. If you are a late bloomer, you may have to walk-on and earn a scholarship. I often see athletes who are on the verge of becoming great kickers. But it doesn’t happen early enough to warrant a scholarship offer. Colleges are looking for a complete package when they decide to offer a scholarship – strong leg with solid mechanics. Walking-on (being invited to join a team without getting athletic money) is a good way to get your foot in the door. Once you are on a team, if you outkick the other guys, you win a scholarship. One word of caution about walking on: do not go to a school that scholashipped a kicker out of your graduating class, or the class right before you. They will favor the scholarshipped kicker and it will not be a fair competition for the starting job.
4. Every kicking coach has different strenghts and does things a bit differently. Unlike mega camps that see thousands of athletes, we see only about 500 athletes annually. This means that we do not have as many college prospects to offer to schools. But the positive side is that athletes who are good enough to kick in college find themselves on our short list of kickers that we send to college coaches. As an athlete, you should attend both mega camps, where you will see how you stack up against a large field of kickers; and smaller events like ours where you will get coached, advised, and accurately evaluated. We know all of our athletes very well and we make personal referrals to college coaches.
Emails received from College Coaches
“Thanks for the e-mails.
We have been in contact with a few of your prospects and will be pursuing them further.
Thanks again.”
– Matt Yoches
Grand Valley Football
1 Campus Dr. Allendale, MI 49401
(616) XXX – XXXX
gvsulakers.com
“Filip-
Thanks for the e-mail and video. Looks like he hits the ball pretty well.
GO CATS!”
– Nolan R. Jones
Director of Football Operations
Northwestern University
Nicolet Football Center
1501 Central Street
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-XXXX Office
(847) 491-XXXX Fax
www.nusports.com
*The Kicking Coach Alum Hunter Niswander, Class of 2013 K/P, accepted a scholarship to Northwestern in June 2012. Currently punting for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Hi Filip,
I was wondering if I could give you a call sometime and we could discuss potential kickers and punters. We will be taking a scholarship punter and kicker this year. What is the best number to reach you at?
Thanks,”
– Tom Burpee
Special Teams Coordinator / TE Coach
Eastern Michigan University
XXXXXXXX@emich.edu
616-XXX-XXXX