Varsity kicker Cooper Evans, a junior, kicks off to start the second half of the Gladiators’ 14-28 loss to North Oconee High School on Aug. 5, 2022. In light of his recent kicking success at Clarke Central High School, Evans has been attending several camps to help him get recruited at the collegiate level. “These guys (who host the camps) have been in the kicking world for a while, so special teams coaches and kicking coaches in the college world trust their expertise and realize that they know most everything about kicking,” Evans said. “(If) you perform well in these camps and get ranked (highly) in your class or rated high on the star chart as a football player, you get more recognition from college coaches.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
Varsity kicker Cooper Evans, a junior, explains how being a kicker is different from playing any other position on the football team.
Sports Editor Wyatt Meyer: What goes through your mind when you’re about to take a kick?
Varsity kicker and junior Cooper Evans: (I) always assess the situation and the conditions we’re in. If it’s windy, we’ll look at the flags on the goalposts. A ball is normally never in the middle of the field when I’m kicking the field goal in (a) game, so (I) adjust the tee, get my holder lined up correctly and then really just try to relax as much as (I) can.
WM: How important is routine as a kicker?
CE: For every kicker, your steps have to be dialed in where they’re the same every single time so you’ll have the highest consistency. That’s for all three: field goals, kickoffs and punts – all your steps have to be as consistent as they can be. Once your steps are locked in and they fit your body type, your muscle mass, (you have a routine).
WM: What’s the hardest part of being a kicker for you?
CE: The hardest part of being a kicker is when you go out to kick a field goal, you (know) can execute it, but then you just lose focus and miss the kick. (You feel) like, “That could have put a lot more confidence in our team to finish the game, could have put us up some points.” The hardest part is when you miss and then you have to teach yourself to bounce back and not let the one you miss affect your next kick.
Varsity kicker Cooper Evans poses during the Gladiators’ 40-0 win against Cedar Shoals High School on Aug. 18, 2022. One of the things that Evans has worked on is his mentality, which he says is one of the most important aspects of being a kicker. “I’ve had good people around me as I’ve developed as a player and a kicker in general. People just told me, ‘Keep a level head,'” Evans said. “Next-play mentality is something they stress to the team a lot for all positions, but (that mentality applies to) kickers too because you get that one opportunity, and if you mess up, you’ve got to go do it again.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
WM: Who were the coaches that helped develop that mentality?
CE: (Head varsity football) coach (David) Perno and (varsity quarterback coach) Rickey Bustle. I worked with him over the summer and these are for the school, but I’ve had a private trainer, (CEO of The Kickers’ Zone Marc Nolan), that I’ve been doing lessons with since eighth grade. He’s produced a lot of quality (Division I) kickers, so I really just believed in his system and trusted his system and it’s gotten me to the point where I’m pretty solid, but I have room to grow.
“I have a job and my one job is to execute it, so it’s expected when I do it, but frowned upon when I don’t. I’ll get one shot in a game and if I miss, we might not get another opportunity.”
— Cooper Evans,
Varsity kicker and junior
WM: What did he teach you about kicking that you didn’t know before?
CE: Well, for my first lesson, I was a noob. I was not a good kicker, and he’s basically started me from a huge soccer background (when I was younger) and basically changed my soccer form and straightened it up more for me so I can be a better kicker. Once I finally started to believe in the drill work we were doing and practice it on my own, I grew a lot.
WM: Kicker seems like an isolating position on the team. You’re not really connected to the rest of the plays, is that true?
CE:I definitely have a way different role than everyone else in the team. I’m on the field – (in) the entire game – for probably two minutes, including punts, kickoffs and the return. But for me, I have a job and my one job is to execute it, so it’s expected when I do it, but frowned upon when I don’t. I’ll get one shot in a game and if I miss, we might not get another opportunity.
Varsity kicker Cooper Evans punts the ball away during the Gladiators’ 40-0 Classic City Championship win over Cedar Shoals High School on Aug. 18, 2022. Evans has been attending several recruiting and ranking camps that he hopes will put him in a position to kick in college. “Since peewee football, I’ve always wanted to play college football,” Evans said. “I would love to go to a school (where) I fit in at and can contribute to the team as much as I can.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
WM: How do you stay connected to the rest of the team even when you’re playing such a specialized position?
CE: I try to put a ball count on my kicks, (which) helps me from a mental standpoint. (If) I’m having a bad day, I’m missing a couple of kicks, but I hit my ball count, I just have to stop. Then, I go back (with) Coach Bustle (and) I’ll catch balls with (varsity quarterbacks and seniors) Lucian (Anderson III) and Jackson (Hall) (or) be a dummy for the running backs and linebackers. That’s (my way of) staying connected to the team, but I think our coaches in this program have set it up where all the players have been close since C-Team football (in) seventh and eighth grade, so I think me being a kicker doesn’t even affect the team as a whole.
WM: You’ve talked about building the importance of chemistry with your holder and snapper. How do you do that?
CE: There are certain drills to help your long snapper out and certain drills to help your holder out, but I think overall, you just need reps. The more reps you get, the more comfortable everybody will get and I think our coaches have given us a bunch of opportunities coming into the season and during practice where we just (got reps). We’ve all been friends off the field, so we’ve always had a good bond, so once we got the chemistry down with the kicking, it was like everything just clicked.
WM: Do you have a favorite kick you’ve ever made at CCHS?
CE: (My favorite is) probably last year against Buford (High School) in the first game of the season. I was a sophomore and it was my first season starting on varsity – (in) ninth grade I rode the bench because there was a senior kicker. I remember I just had this feeling in my legs when I was lined up to kick that I’d never felt before. I was really nervous and my holder, (Class of 2022 alumnus) Renardo Faust, just looked at me and told me to calm down. I had a bunch of faith in him and he calmed me down. The score was 0-0 in the second quarter – it was a big kick to take the lead. We made it and it was basically effortless, a great in-game kick. I executed my steps and leg swing very well, (but) almost the best part about it was a sigh of relief (when) I realized, “Oh, I do this in practice all the time, the game is not much different. There’s just a couple more eyes looking at me.”
