2015 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 2015, Ka'imi Fairbairn (64.6) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Zane Gonzalez (64.5) and Taylor Symmank (64.5). 128 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 30 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 61.8.

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 2015 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Ka'imi Fairbairn	UCLA	64.6	79	71%	23	+6.7
2	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona State	64.5	77	75%	19	+6.1
3	Taylor Symmank	Texas Tech	64.5	36	72%	10	+5.4
4	Jake Elliott	Memphis	64.3	95	76%	23	+15.2
5	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	64.3	62	73%	16	+5.8
6	Austin Hardin	Florida	64.2	44	66%	15	−0.7
7	Drew Oehrle	Air Force	64.0	32	72%	9	+5.5
8	Chad Hedlund	SMU	64.0	59	68%	19	+5.5
9	Nathan Noble	Ole Miss	64.0	86	55%	39	+16.6
10	Jason Sanders	New Mexico	63.9	66	70%	20	+9.4
11	Jay Mattox	UTEP	63.8	50	52%	24	+7.7
12	Nick Rose	Texas	63.8	60	77%	14	+2.4
13	Jake Thompson	Utah State	63.7	64	58%	27	+3.7
14	Younghoe Koo	Georgia Southern	63.6	57	68%	18	+10.4
15	Jack Fox	Rice	63.6	41	46%	22	−1.5
16	Joey Slye	Virginia Tech	63.5	62	66%	21	+4.3
17	Matt Wogan	Oregon	63.5	91	62%	35	+10.6
18	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	63.5	83	61%	32	+3.4
19	Marshall Koehn	Iowa	63.5	78	59%	32	+11.2
20	Braxton Davis	Colorado State	63.4	63	41%	37	+3.5
21	Nick Hodgson	Oklahoma	63.4	98	51%	48	+9.4
22	Adam Griffith	Alabama	63.3	79	52%	35	+16.8
23	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	63.3	56	66%	19	−8.5
24	Trevor Simms	Tulane	63.3	51	43%	29	−3.9
25	Daniel Portillo	UTSA	63.3	41	39%	25	+1.9
26	Dylan Sims	Virginia	63.3	60	50%	30	0.0
27	Harrison Butker	Georgia Tech	63.2	60	68%	18	−0.5
28	Landon Ard	South Carolina	63.2	59	71%	17	+7.0
29	Chris Blewitt	Pittsburgh	63.2	64	64%	23	+6.0
30	Joey Julius	Penn State	63.2	49	43%	28	+2.3
31	Chris Graham	Colorado	63.1	57	30%	40	+5.2
32	Austin Brasher	BYU	63.0	69	43%	38	+6.5
33	Donny Hageman	San Diego State	63.0	79	29%	56	+3.6
34	John Wallace	Louisville	62.9	68	40%	41	+3.7
35	Greg Joseph	Florida Atlantic	62.9	61	52%	28	+6.1
36	Roberto Aguayo	Florida State	62.9	77	55%	35	+14.2
37	Corey Fatony	Missouri	62.8	43	42%	25	−1.9
38	Nick Weiler	North Carolina	62.7	97	52%	47	+5.3
39	Andrew Gantz	Cincinnati	62.7	83	36%	53	−1.7
40	Wil Lutz	Georgia State	62.6	61	54%	27	−9.9
41	Eric Keena	North Texas	62.6	32	44%	18	−5.2
42	Jon Semerene	Miami	62.6	59	39%	36	+7.3
43	Taylor Bertolet	Texas A&M	62.5	66	47%	35	+9.0
44	Brad Craddock	Maryland	62.5	37	38%	23	+0.3
45	Ty Cummings	Houston	62.5	93	29%	66	+11.4
46	Marshall Morgan	Georgia	62.5	56	30%	38	−3.8
47	Amoreto Curraj	Marshall	62.5	72	57%	31	+12.8
48	Nick O'Toole	West Virginia	62.4	66	26%	48	+5.8
49	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	62.4	43	37%	27	−1.3
50	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	62.3	72	40%	43	+12.7
51	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State	62.3	86	43%	49	+12.2
52	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	62.3	67	34%	44	+1.7
53	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	62.3	44	45%	24	−0.9
54	Zach Matics	App State	62.1	76	51%	37	−3.8
55	Caleb Pratt	East Carolina	62.1	59	53%	28	−1.8
56	Luke Strebel	Air Force	62.1	42	57%	18	−0.8
57	Devon Bell	Mississippi State	62.1	72	43%	41	+11.2
58	Kenny Allen	Michigan	62.1	67	49%	33	+13.1
59	Alex Wood	USC	62.0	65	15%	55	+8.3
60	Ryan Norton	Syracuse	61.9	58	36%	37	+2.6
61	Tyler Tate	Bowling Green	61.9	85	48%	44	−4.4
62	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	61.9	53	47%	27	−1.6
63	Tyler Rausa	Boise State	61.9	86	59%	35	+3.9
64	Paul Griggs	Purdue	61.8	52	33%	35	−7.2
65	Jed Solomon	Troy	61.8	61	59%	25	+7.8
66	Garrett Swanson	Fresno State	61.8	54	46%	29	+4.1
67	Jake Bailey	Stanford	61.8	64	17%	51	+4.5
68	Nicolai Bornand	UNLV	61.7	65	35%	42	−2.2
69	Jaden Oberkrom	TCU	61.7	87	63%	30	+7.9
70	Parker Davidson	New Mexico State	61.7	67	49%	34	−13.0
71	Clayton Hatfield	Texas Tech	61.7	64	45%	32	−1.5
72	Jack Willoughby	Ohio State	61.6	76	33%	49	+15.3
73	Blake Brewer	Charlotte	61.6	49	27%	36	−1.9
74	Donald Delahaye	UCF	61.5	32	34%	21	−3.2
75	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	61.5	65	54%	30	−0.9
76	Aaron Medley	Tennessee	61.5	80	39%	48	+16.4
77	Austin MacGinnis	Kentucky	61.5	37	38%	23	+0.1
78	Lane Saling	Arkansas	61.5	66	17%	55	+12.9
79	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	61.4	78	23%	59	−1.5
80	Brendan Renius	Eastern Michigan	61.3	57	49%	29	−5.0
81	Austin Grebe	Navy	61.2	72	25%	54	+5.5
82	Daniel Grochowski	Army	61.1	51	41%	30	+1.7
83	Brent Zuzo	Nevada	61.1	60	42%	34	−9.0
84	Jackson Maples	NC State	61.0	69	55%	31	−1.9
85	Blake Lucas	Massachusetts	61.0	53	32%	36	−9.0
86	Matthew Wyman	Kansas	60.9	42	48%	22	−2.3
87	Anthony Melchiori	Kent State	60.9	30	20%	24	−0.5
88	Canon Rooker	Middle Tennessee	60.8	72	25%	54	−10.3
89	Ian Patterson	Kansas State	60.8	58	26%	43	+3.3
90	Ron Coluzzi	Central Michigan	60.8	59	36%	38	−8.1
91	Casey Skowron	Arizona	60.7	79	41%	47	−2.0
92	Cameron Gamble	LSU	60.6	35	14%	30	+6.3
93	Kaleb Patterson	Miami (OH)	60.4	30	17%	25	+5.1
94	Austin Lopez	San José State	60.4	39	49%	20	−8.4
95	Andy Phillips	Utah	60.3	75	25%	56	+0.6
96	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	60.0	40	35%	26	+2.1
97	Drew Brown	Nebraska	60.0	69	42%	40	−0.4
98	Andrew Endicott	Wisconsin	60.0	36	25%	27	+7.2
99	Kevin Cronin	Michigan State	59.9	74	28%	53	−1.4
100	Taylor Zalewski	Illinois	59.9	58	34%	38	−2.0
101	Tyler Mayes	Temple	59.8	73	23%	56	+8.2
102	Ben Grogan	Oklahoma State	59.7	84	26%	62	−4.3
103	Cole Netten	Iowa State	59.6	36	22%	28	+2.7
104	Austin Taylor	Florida International	59.6	54	31%	37	−0.6
105	Chris Gough	Rutgers	59.5	55	20%	44	+1.2
106	Spencer Evans	Baylor	59.5	97	34%	61	−13.4
107	Ammon Lakip	Clemson	59.3	72	39%	43	−4.7
108	Jonathan Barnes	Louisiana Tech	59.2	78	24%	59	−13.8
109	Samuel Vucelich	Toledo	59.1	34	9%	31	−3.7
110	Ross Martin	Duke	59.0	65	31%	45	+8.1
111	Stephen Brauchle	Southern Miss	59.0	90	16%	76	−1.3
112	Christian Hagan	Northern Illinois	58.9	49	24%	37	+5.7
113	Tyler Grassman	Buffalo	58.8	63	33%	42	−17.1
114	Josiah Yazdani	Ohio	58.6	65	11%	58	+1.4
115	Trent Domingue	LSU	58.4	31	23%	24	−5.8
116	Preston Soper	Tulsa	58.2	76	16%	64	−17.9
117	Hayden Lekacz	Vanderbilt	57.8	45	22%	35	−2.9
118	Robert Stein	Akron	57.7	57	28%	41	0.0
119	Josh Rode	Toledo	57.4	36	3%	35	−3.3
120	Matt Micucci	Northwestern	57.4	31	23%	24	−2.0
121	Ryan Nuss	Western Kentucky	57.0	64	13%	56	−4.5
122	Craig Ford	UL Monroe	56.7	56	11%	49	+0.3
123	Stevie Artigue	Louisiana	56.6	50	14%	42	−9.7
124	Matt Anderson	California	56.4	76	20%	60	−12.9
125	Josh Orne	Northern Illinois	56.3	30	10%	26	−1.6
126	Garrett Owens	Oregon State	56.3	46	15%	37	−10.8
127	Erik Powell	Washington State	56.1	71	25%	53	−6.6
128	Michael Hill	South Florida	55.1	53	4%	51	−7.2

All 2015 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2014 2013 2012 2011

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