Vanderbilt punter Richard Kent has big shoes to fill
Post by (christian louboutin schuhe) Aug 2010
He didn't care for the position. He didn't think that a soccer player who had joined the football team to appease his high school coach should alter the natural sweeping motion of his leg in order to kick straight on.
Fast forward four years.
Not only is Kent a first-string punter in the SEC, but the sophomore also is booming punts in preseason camp that have Vanderbilt's coaches pumping their fists.
"He hangs it up there," Coach Robbie Caldwell said. "He's been bringing rain. And you notice it's rained every day."
Kent was placed on scholarship in December. He takes over for four-year starter Brett Upson, who was the 2008 Music City Bowl MVP and averaged a career-best 43.1 yards a punt last season en route to second-team All-SEC honors.
Upson also punted a school-record 81 times last season to bail out an offense that ranked last in the SEC. Kent would rather not be on the field that often.
"It's the only position on the team where you don't want to play," said Kent, who is averaging about 45 yards in practice.
Kent's appearance and style differ from Upson. For starters, the 6-foot-2 Kent is at least 3 inches taller. Where Upson often tried to angle low punts, Kent is after high-arching kicks with distance.
"Upson was a little smaller so he had a fast leg and a little more control of himself," Kent said.
"He was a rugby-style kicker and did a little more kicking from around the side. I'm straight on. Punch it. Long leg. Big swing. Nice and high."
That's what Vanderbilt has seen from Kent thus far in camp: nice and high. And that's a bit of a relief. Kent was inconsistent in spring practice, a point that former Coach Bobby Johnson noted at the time.
Kent worked on his punting over the summer in his home of Marietta, Ga., while adding some weight to become more durable.
"So far in this camp he has done an outstanding job," special teams coach Ted Cain said. "Right now — knock on wood — he's in the groove, very consistent on not only getting it there with a lot of height, but also placing it where it needs to be.
"Brett was an outstanding punter in his own right, but what Richard does is really get the ball high. That helps our coverage teams out immensely."
Too wet: The second of two scheduled practices Wednesday was rained out. Vanderbilt will make up that practice today, going at 8:30 a.m. and again at 4 p.m.
Barden hurt: Starting tight end Brandon Barden hyper-extended his left elbow in practice and will have X-rays as a precaution. Tight end Austin Monahan already has been lost for the season with a torn ACL in camp.
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