2021 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 2021, Lucas Havrisik (65.5) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Matt Araiza (65.1) and Sean Koetting (64.8). 128 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 30 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 62.2.

College rule: a kickoff touchback, or a fair catch inside the 25, starts the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback is 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 2021 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Lucas Havrisik	Arizona	65.5	52	87%	7	+4.4
2	Matt Araiza	San Diego State	65.1	67	84%	11	+11.6
3	Sean Koetting	Missouri	64.8	60	92%	4	+0.7
4	Peyton Henry	Washington	64.8	30	77%	7	+4.9
5	Vito Calvaruso	Arkansas	64.8	74	86%	10	+11.5
6	Avery Atkins	LSU	64.7	61	85%	9	+9.1
7	James McCourt	Illinois	64.6	47	85%	7	+10.2
8	Jordan Stout	Penn State	64.6	59	95%	3	+10.2
9	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	64.5	79	89%	9	+10.0
10	Matt Coghlin	Michigan State	64.4	54	81%	10	+11.1
11	Julian Diaz	Nevada	64.3	80	68%	26	+13.1
12	B.T. Potter	Clemson	64.3	64	77%	15	+14.3
13	Jared Smolar	Indiana	64.1	43	65%	15	−1.0
14	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	64.1	66	83%	11	+7.4
15	Trenton Gill	NC State	64.0	70	71%	20	+7.7
16	Cole Becker	Colorado	63.9	49	61%	19	−3.0
17	Alex Stadthaus	USC	63.9	31	65%	11	+5.4
18	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	63.9	59	63%	22	+6.6
19	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	63.8	44	84%	7	+3.0
20	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	63.8	65	69%	20	+12.4
21	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	63.6	47	70%	14	+7.2
22	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	63.6	66	71%	17	+1.5
23	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	63.6	63	63%	23	+3.7
24	John Parker Romo	Virginia Tech	63.6	54	54%	25	+1.6
25	Jake Camarda	Georgia	63.6	88	82%	15	+18.4
26	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	63.5	71	52%	32	+7.9
27	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	63.5	79	80%	16	+4.4
28	Parker Grothaus	Florida State	63.4	60	60%	24	−3.5
29	Andrew Mevis	Iowa State	63.4	65	74%	17	+4.4
30	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	63.3	61	57%	25	+1.5
31	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	63.3	60	72%	17	−12.9
32	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	63.2	97	52%	47	+16.2
33	Scott Goodman	Mississippi State	63.1	44	59%	16	+6.9
34	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	63.1	31	65%	11	+1.5
35	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	63.1	42	67%	13	+9.4
36	Caleb Shudak	Iowa	63.1	69	64%	25	+11.3
37	Brendan Hall	SMU	63.1	82	62%	30	+11.3
38	Pierson Cooke	Vanderbilt	63.1	31	42%	18	+2.6
39	Cameron Dicker	Texas	63.1	69	71%	20	+3.0
40	Justin Duenkel	Virginia	63.0	35	69%	11	+6.7
41	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	63.0	62	65%	22	+9.0
42	Gabe Brkic	Oklahoma	63.0	82	57%	35	+2.7
43	Griffin Kell	TCU	62.9	57	58%	24	−7.9
44	RJ Lopez	UCLA	62.9	81	63%	30	+6.0
45	Anders Carlson	Auburn	62.9	69	65%	22	+6.1
46	Jake Bates	Texas State	62.9	54	59%	22	+4.3
47	Camden Lewis	Oregon	62.9	77	51%	37	−0.2
48	Alex Barbir	Liberty	62.8	48	56%	21	+5.1
49	Joshua Karty	Stanford	62.7	43	77%	9	+4.9
50	Jordan Noyes	Utah	62.7	59	54%	27	+6.6
51	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	62.7	45	49%	23	−13.4
52	Jake Moody	Michigan	62.6	97	81%	15	+20.3
53	Alex Bales	Cincinnati	62.5	81	63%	29	+10.9
54	Cesar Silva	Fresno State	62.5	48	33%	32	−1.2
55	Bubba Baxa	Houston	62.5	77	60%	31	+2.8
56	Casey Glover	Tulane	62.5	40	57%	17	−1.1
57	Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	62.4	87	45%	48	−0.7
58	Logan Tyler	Arizona State	62.4	64	69%	19	−1.5
59	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	62.4	102	58%	43	+3.2
60	Tabor Allen	Kansas	62.3	51	73%	14	+10.7
61	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	62.3	69	48%	35	+1.2
62	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	62.3	57	61%	22	+2.3
63	Lucas Dunker Jr.	Washington State	62.2	58	40%	35	−3.7
64	Andres Borregales	Miami	62.2	71	63%	26	+5.9
65	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	62.1	40	50%	20	+6.4
66	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	62.1	54	41%	32	+2.0
67	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	62.1	68	53%	32	+8.1
68	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	62.1	77	47%	41	−0.2
69	Brice Honaker	Air Force	62.1	45	44%	25	+2.4
70	Jonathan Cruz	Charlotte	62.1	60	73%	16	−10.1
71	Chance Poore	Kentucky	62.1	69	75%	15	+2.4
72	Will Reichard	Alabama	62.0	93	73%	24	+12.9
73	Jonathan Doerer	Notre Dame	62.0	80	39%	48	+8.8
74	Jonathan Terry	Colorado State	61.8	60	35%	39	+0.9
75	Taren Schive	San José State	61.8	44	52%	21	+3.5
76	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	61.8	56	64%	20	+3.4
77	Andrew Sanders	Marshall	61.8	56	46%	30	−25.8
78	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	61.8	50	40%	30	+0.5
79	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	61.8	51	45%	28	+4.1
80	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	61.7	67	61%	26	−1.6
81	Michael Hughes	App State	61.7	85	35%	55	+15.0
82	Brooks Buce	Troy	61.6	31	52%	15	−3.0
83	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	61.6	46	50%	23	−1.6
84	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	61.6	85	53%	39	+2.4
85	Aaron Shahriari	Florida Atlantic	61.5	58	47%	31	+5.3
86	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	61.4	32	59%	13	+0.1
87	Diego Guajardo	South Alabama	61.4	49	45%	26	−0.4
88	Caden Costa	Ole Miss	61.3	72	35%	44	+6.1
89	Cesar Barajas	Louisiana Tech	61.3	48	23%	37	−9.5
90	Ben Freehill	Purdue	61.2	33	48%	17	+4.7
91	Daniel Obarski	UCF	61.1	65	55%	29	−0.5
92	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	61.0	58	50%	27	+4.9
93	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	61.0	59	58%	25	−8.7
94	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	61.0	69	30%	48	+7.8
95	Chad Ryland	Eastern Michigan	60.9	60	55%	27	−15.9
96	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	60.9	44	30%	31	−15.1
97	Dario Longhetto	California	60.8	53	36%	34	+3.8
98	Toby Wilson	Tennessee	60.8	71	49%	34	+13.4
99	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	60.7	59	32%	40	−29.4
100	Andre Szmyt	Syracuse	60.6	45	27%	33	+6.4
101	Joseph Petrino	Maryland	60.5	58	24%	44	−8.2
102	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	60.4	37	30%	26	−2.2
103	Jacob Lewis	Ball State	60.3	37	30%	26	−5.2
104	Noah Grant	Memphis	60.3	68	51%	32	+0.3
105	Noah Ruggles	Ohio State	60.0	92	67%	28	+19.3
106	Kieran Colahan	Coastal Carolina	59.9	65	28%	47	+6.5
107	Jace Christmann	Florida	59.9	45	47%	23	+6.7
108	Charlie Ham	Duke	59.7	55	40%	33	+2.0
109	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	59.6	41	46%	22	−0.4
110	John Hoyland	Wyoming	59.6	57	47%	30	−15.8
111	Danny Longman	Boston College	59.6	56	43%	32	−4.9
112	Rory Bell	Temple	59.4	44	25%	33	−10.3
113	Charlie Kuhbander	Northwestern	59.4	36	22%	28	+4.7
114	Joe McFadden	UConn	59.3	41	22%	32	−6.9
115	Cole Talley	Army	58.9	61	34%	40	−16.8
116	Jerry Fitschen	Akron	58.9	42	40%	25	−21.4
117	Evan Staley	West Virginia	58.5	47	21%	37	−19.1
118	Christian VanSickle	Rice	58.1	47	17%	39	−8.8
119	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	58.1	58	29%	41	−6.4
120	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	58.1	84	42%	49	−8.9
121	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	58.0	42	7%	39	−12.8
122	Nathanael Snyder	Louisiana	57.2	69	17%	57	+0.3
123	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	57.1	67	42%	38	−4.9
124	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	56.8	65	32%	44	−24.2
125	Evan Warren	Navy	56.3	49	29%	34	−10.4
126	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	56.1	64	22%	50	−16.1
127	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	52.9	35	11%	31	−9.5
128	Andrew Glass	Kent State	46.4	68	13%	56	−36.4

All 2021 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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