2012 College Average Kickoff Distance Leaders

The average length of a specialist's kickoffs in yards, from the kicking spot to where the ball was caught or crossed the goal line. Onside kicks are left out.

A touchback counts the full distance to the goal line, so a deep kick and a kick into the end zone score the same. In 2012, Brandon McManus (64.4) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Will Johnson (64.3) and Cody Parkey (64.2). 119 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 30 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 61.2.

College rule from 2012 to 2017: a kickoff touchback started the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback was a good result for the kicking team. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Final 2012 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Brandon McManus	Temple	64.4	49	76%	12	+5.5
2	Will Johnson	Texas State	64.3	32	56%	13	+2.2
3	Cody Parkey	Auburn	64.2	41	66%	13	+5.4
4	Zach Hocker	Arkansas	64.1	54	67%	16	+5.5
5	Niklas Sade	NC State	64.0	55	64%	20	+10.3
6	Cairo Santos	Tulane	64.0	41	59%	13	−5.2
7	Jeff Locke	UCLA	63.9	77	74%	20	+6.5
8	Jaron Bentrude	Utah State	63.7	57	40%	34	+10.8
9	Jordan Williamson	Stanford	63.7	66	41%	35	+13.5
10	Pat O'Donnell	Cincinnati	63.6	59	49%	29	+8.6
11	Justin Sorensen	BYU	63.6	48	44%	27	+7.2
12	Chris Boswell	Rice	63.6	66	62%	24	+8.6
13	Marvin Kloss	South Florida	63.6	51	65%	15	+1.9
14	Kyle French	Wisconsin	63.5	44	57%	17	+6.0
15	Paulo Henriques	Memphis	63.4	45	64%	12	+1.5
16	Taylor Bertolet	Texas A&M	63.3	92	63%	34	+6.8
17	Greg Rivara	New Mexico	63.3	48	42%	24	−2.1
18	Ty Long	UAB	63.3	60	52%	26	−5.5
19	Edwin Arceo	Iowa State	63.2	59	39%	36	−1.0
20	Spencer Benton	Clemson	63.2	64	50%	32	+10.6
21	Zach Olen	North Texas	63.2	46	46%	22	−0.8
22	Cade Foster	Alabama	63.1	89	44%	50	+13.5
23	Seamus McMorrow	San Diego State	63.0	65	48%	32	+2.1
24	Dustin Hopkins	Florida State	63.0	88	43%	48	+17.4
25	Kevin Muma	Michigan State	63.0	48	46%	24	−0.1
26	Quinn Sharp	Oklahoma State	63.0	82	72%	22	−3.9
27	Mike Loftus	SMU	62.9	60	40%	34	+4.0
28	Jamie Lindley	Georgia	62.9	49	45%	26	+4.3
29	Michael Bowlin	Washington State	62.8	43	37%	25	+6.9
30	Eric Osteen	Army	62.8	48	54%	20	+2.1
31	Caleb Sturgis	Florida	62.8	58	43%	30	+11.5
32	Mike Meyer	Iowa	62.7	47	40%	28	+4.2
33	Warren Harvey	East Carolina	62.7	63	35%	39	+0.6
34	Ross Martin	Duke	62.6	63	37%	37	+1.7
35	Adam Yates	South Carolina	62.6	53	55%	19	−3.0
36	Nick Marsh	Utah	62.6	50	38%	31	+14.6
37	Chad Christen	UConn	62.5	39	36%	25	+4.3
38	Kyle Brindza	Notre Dame	62.5	63	35%	41	+1.0
39	Brett Maher	Nebraska	62.4	80	64%	26	+9.7
40	Jordan Wettstein	Minnesota	62.4	41	46%	22	+10.9
41	Jaden Oberkrom	TCU	62.4	56	45%	31	+9.6
42	Jack Griffin	Florida International	62.3	55	51%	23	+1.1
43	Patrick O'Hara	Oklahoma	62.1	44	39%	26	+7.3
44	Sean Galvin	UCF	62.0	80	35%	48	+10.8
45	Ryan Norton	Syracuse	61.8	58	43%	33	+8.7
46	Sam Ficken	Penn State	61.8	62	40%	36	+1.9
47	Richie Leone	Houston	61.7	67	36%	39	−2.9
48	Cole Way	Tulsa	61.7	73	48%	37	+13.7
49	Mitch Anderson	Florida Atlantic	61.7	39	28%	28	+5.9
50	David Harman	Central Michigan	61.7	42	26%	25	+0.6
51	Mitch Ewald	Indiana	61.6	64	45%	32	−6.0
52	Brooks Abbott	Virginia Tech	61.6	33	21%	25	−3.6
53	Bryson Rose	Ole Miss	61.6	41	44%	21	+0.9
54	Matt Weller	Ohio	61.4	58	34%	37	+4.7
55	Michael Palardy	Tennessee	61.3	70	33%	41	+3.0
56	Garrett Swanson	Fresno State	61.3	73	23%	52	+4.7
57	Jeremiah Detmer	Toledo	61.3	72	28%	48	+5.7
58	Andre Heidari	USC	61.2	33	27%	24	+1.4
59	Trevor Romaine	Oregon State	61.2	69	42%	36	+4.3
60	Jimmy Newman	Wake Forest	61.2	37	57%	14	+2.6
61	Colin Amerau	Navy	61.1	52	29%	37	−1.9
62	Anthony Cantele	Kansas State	61.1	85	34%	53	+4.8
63	Alex Garoutte	Arizona State	61.0	74	43%	38	+8.3
64	David Scully	Georgia Tech	61.0	56	29%	39	+0.9
65	Freddy Cortez	Kent State	61.0	73	38%	43	+1.6
66	Carlos Lopez	Middle Tennessee	60.9	60	12%	49	−5.8
67	Trey Farquhar	Idaho	60.9	36	28%	25	−4.6
68	Carey Spear	Vanderbilt	60.9	60	33%	39	+4.5
69	Casey Barth	North Carolina	60.9	68	22%	51	+7.9
70	Craig McMahon	USC	60.8	34	47%	17	−0.8
71	Steven Valadez	UTEP	60.8	37	49%	18	+1.8
72	Harrison Waid	San José State	60.8	74	26%	47	−3.9
73	James Hairston	LSU	60.8	68	28%	47	+12.0
74	Briceton Cannada	Air Force	60.7	53	45%	28	−1.7
75	Drew Basil	Ohio State	60.7	69	19%	55	+3.6
76	Vincenzo D'Amato	California	60.7	51	29%	34	−2.4
77	Devon Bell	Mississippi State	60.6	55	20%	42	+10.7
78	Scott Secor	Ball State	60.6	75	25%	52	+11.7
79	Corey Smith	West Virginia	60.6	47	28%	34	−6.0
80	Nick Rose	Texas	60.6	67	34%	42	−5.7
81	Taylor Zalewski	Illinois	60.4	40	50%	19	−5.0
82	Matt Wile	Michigan	60.3	62	34%	40	−4.8
83	Ian Frye	Virginia	60.3	40	40%	24	−8.8
84	Nate Freese	Boston College	60.2	45	36%	28	−0.5
85	Jake Wieclaw	Miami	60.2	64	14%	53	+7.8
86	Jared Roberts	Colorado State	60.2	45	36%	27	−5.5
87	John Wallace	Louisville	60.1	48	6%	43	−8.9
88	Justin Martin	Wyoming	60.1	53	42%	29	−7.0
89	Tyler Hadden	Hawai'i	60.0	48	19%	38	+3.5
90	Trevor Harman	Boise State	59.9	50	16%	42	+6.3
91	Chase Lansford	UNLV	59.6	40	25%	24	−11.9
92	Alejandro Maldonado	Oregon	59.5	91	13%	79	−7.0
93	Colin Ditsworth	Nevada	59.5	62	31%	42	−10.6
94	Brad Craddock	Maryland	59.5	46	9%	40	−4.7
95	Steve Flaherty	Northwestern	59.4	65	18%	49	+2.0
96	John Bonano	Arizona	59.2	70	46%	35	−1.1
97	Michel Chapuseaux	South Alabama	59.0	41	27%	26	−7.7
98	Kramer Fyfe	Texas Tech	58.8	68	31%	46	−5.8
99	Kevin Harper	Pittsburgh	58.7	62	19%	47	−0.4
100	Travis Coons	Washington	58.4	52	19%	40	−7.5
101	Thomas Meadows	Purdue	58.4	62	15%	50	−9.6
102	Justin Manton	UL Monroe	58.4	51	25%	36	−7.4
103	Matt Nelson	Louisiana Tech	58.3	94	20%	67	−2.4
104	Anthony Farinella	Bowling Green	58.2	42	14%	35	−9.8
105	Kody Fulkerson	Eastern Michigan	58.1	46	7%	35	−2.5
106	Brett Baer	Louisiana	58.1	33	18%	26	+1.8
107	Tyler Wedel	Northern Illinois	58.0	63	27%	43	+2.3
108	Tyler Bitancurt	West Virginia	57.7	31	10%	27	−7.2
109	Jesse Roy	Western Kentucky	57.6	46	7%	36	−4.0
110	Aaron Jones	Baylor	57.6	83	40%	46	−11.7
111	Jed Solomon	Troy	57.1	39	28%	25	−12.8
112	Andrew Haldeman	Western Michigan	57.1	41	17%	31	−7.7
113	Justin Haig	Marshall	56.6	65	6%	55	−15.1
114	Anthony DiPaula	Rutgers	56.4	30	7%	24	−4.3
115	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State	55.9	41	24%	26	−4.8
116	Nick Prolago	Kansas	55.8	32	13%	26	−3.7
117	Mason Krysinski	Miami (OH)	55.8	50	28%	33	−17.7
118	Corey Acosta	Southern Miss	53.9	36	14%	29	−15.8
119	Patrick Clarke	Buffalo	51.8	44	25%	30	−19.9

All 2012 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2011

More 2012 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2012 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…