2021 College Kickoff Returns Allowed Leaders

Kickoffs the receiving team brought out of the end zone. More returns mean more chances for a big return, but also more chances to be tackled short.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2021, Nathanael Snyder (57) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Andrew Glass (56) and Michael Hughes (55). 291 kickoff specialists qualify.

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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Nathanael Snyder	Louisiana	57	69	57.2	17%	+0.3
2	Andrew Glass	Kent State	56	68	46.4	13%	−36.4
3	Michael Hughes	App State	55	85	61.7	35%	+15.0
4	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	50	64	56.1	22%	−16.1
5	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	49	84	58.1	42%	−8.9
6	Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	48	87	62.4	45%	−0.7
7	Jonathan Doerer	Notre Dame	48	80	62.0	39%	+8.8
8	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	48	69	61.0	30%	+7.8
9	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	47	97	63.2	52%	+16.2
10	Kieran Colahan	Coastal Carolina	47	65	59.9	28%	+6.5
11	Caden Costa	Ole Miss	44	72	61.3	35%	+6.1
12	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	44	65	56.8	32%	−24.2
13	Joseph Petrino	Maryland	44	58	60.5	24%	−8.2
14	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	43	102	62.4	58%	+3.2
15	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	41	77	62.1	47%	−0.2
16	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	41	58	58.1	29%	−6.4
17	Cole Talley	Army	40	61	58.9	34%	−16.8
18	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	40	59	60.7	32%	−29.4
19	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	39	85	61.6	53%	+2.4
20	Jonathan Terry	Colorado State	39	60	61.8	35%	+0.9
21	Christian VanSickle	Rice	39	47	58.1	17%	−8.8
22	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	39	42	58.0	7%	−12.8
23	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	38	67	57.1	42%	−4.9
24	Camden Lewis	Oregon	37	77	62.9	51%	−0.2
25	Cesar Barajas	Louisiana Tech	37	48	61.3	23%	−9.5
26	Evan Staley	West Virginia	37	47	58.5	21%	−19.1
27	Gabe Brkic	Oklahoma	35	82	63.0	57%	+2.7
28	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	35	69	62.3	48%	+1.2
29	Lucas Dunker Jr.	Washington State	35	58	62.2	40%	−3.7
30	Toby Wilson	Tennessee	34	71	60.8	49%	+13.4
31	Dario Longhetto	California	34	53	60.8	36%	+3.8
32	Evan Warren	Navy	34	49	56.3	29%	−10.4
33	Charlie Ham	Duke	33	55	59.7	40%	+2.0
34	Andre Szmyt	Syracuse	33	45	60.6	27%	+6.4
35	Rory Bell	Temple	33	44	59.4	25%	−10.3
36	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	32	71	63.5	52%	+7.9
37	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	32	68	62.1	53%	+8.1
38	Noah Grant	Memphis	32	68	60.3	51%	+0.3
39	Danny Longman	Boston College	32	56	59.6	43%	−4.9
40	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	32	54	62.1	41%	+2.0
41	Cesar Silva	Fresno State	32	48	62.5	33%	−1.2
42	Joe McFadden	UConn	32	41	59.3	22%	−6.9
43	Bubba Baxa	Houston	31	77	62.5	60%	+2.8
44	Aaron Shahriari	Florida Atlantic	31	58	61.5	47%	+5.3
45	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	31	44	60.9	30%	−15.1
46	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	31	35	52.9	11%	−9.5
47	Brendan Hall	SMU	30	82	63.1	62%	+11.3
48	RJ Lopez	UCLA	30	81	62.9	63%	+6.0
49	John Hoyland	Wyoming	30	57	59.6	47%	−15.8
50	Andrew Sanders	Marshall	30	56	61.8	46%	−25.8
51	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	30	50	61.8	40%	+0.5
52	Alex Bales	Cincinnati	29	81	62.5	63%	+10.9
53	Daniel Obarski	UCF	29	65	61.1	55%	−0.5
54	Noah Ruggles	Ohio State	28	92	60.0	67%	+19.3
55	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	28	51	61.8	45%	+4.1
56	Charlie Kuhbander	Northwestern	28	36	59.4	22%	+4.7
57	Chad Ryland	Eastern Michigan	27	60	60.9	55%	−15.9
58	Jordan Noyes	Utah	27	59	62.7	54%	+6.6
59	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	27	58	61.0	50%	+4.9
60	Julian Diaz	Nevada	26	80	64.3	68%	+13.1
61	Andres Borregales	Miami	26	71	62.2	63%	+5.9
62	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	26	67	61.7	61%	−1.6
63	Diego Guajardo	South Alabama	26	49	61.4	45%	−0.4
64	Jacob Lewis	Ball State	26	37	60.3	30%	−5.2
65	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	26	37	60.4	30%	−2.2
66	Caleb Shudak	Iowa	25	69	63.1	64%	+11.3
67	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	25	61	63.3	57%	+1.5
68	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	25	59	61.0	58%	−8.7
69	John Parker Romo	Virginia Tech	25	54	63.6	54%	+1.6
70	Brice Honaker	Air Force	25	45	62.1	44%	+2.4
71	Jerry Fitschen	Akron	25	42	58.9	40%	−21.4
72	Will Reichard	Alabama	24	93	62.0	73%	+12.9
73	Parker Grothaus	Florida State	24	60	63.4	60%	−3.5
74	Griffin Kell	TCU	24	57	62.9	58%	−7.9
75	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	23	63	63.6	63%	+3.7
76	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	23	46	61.6	50%	−1.6
77	Jace Christmann	Florida	23	45	59.9	47%	+6.7
78	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	23	45	62.7	49%	−13.4
79	Anders Carlson	Auburn	22	69	62.9	65%	+6.1
80	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	22	62	63.0	65%	+9.0
81	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	22	59	63.9	63%	+6.6
82	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	22	57	62.3	61%	+2.3
83	Jake Bates	Texas State	22	54	62.9	59%	+4.3
84	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	22	41	59.6	46%	−0.4
85	Noel Ruiz	Georgia State	22	29	61.8	24%	−12.2
86	Alex Barbir	Liberty	21	48	62.8	56%	+5.1
87	Taren Schive	San José State	21	44	61.8	52%	+3.5
88	Trenton Gill	NC State	20	70	64.0	71%	+7.7
89	Cameron Dicker	Texas	20	69	63.1	71%	+3.0
90	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	20	65	63.8	69%	+12.4
91	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	20	56	61.8	64%	+3.4
92	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	20	40	62.1	50%	+6.4
93	Britton Williams	Georgia Southern	20	25	61.2	16%	−0.2
94	Collin Larsh	Wisconsin	20	25	57.4	20%	−1.5
95	Kyle Coale	Troy	20	22	51.0	9%	−1.8
96	Logan Tyler	Arizona State	19	64	62.4	69%	−1.5
97	Cole Becker	Colorado	19	49	63.9	61%	−3.0
98	Abraham Montano	Fresno State	19	24	60.4	21%	−0.9
99	Jacob Barnes	Louisiana Tech	19	19	44.4	0%	−4.9
100	Pierson Cooke	Vanderbilt	18	31	63.1	42%	+2.6
101	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	17	66	63.6	71%	+1.5
102	Andrew Mevis	Iowa State	17	65	63.4	74%	+4.4
103	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	17	60	63.3	72%	−12.9
104	Casey Glover	Tulane	17	40	62.5	57%	−1.1
105	Ben Freehill	Purdue	17	33	61.2	48%	+4.7
106	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	17	26	61.9	35%	+3.2
107	Chris Howard	Florida	17	24	63.4	29%	+2.8
108	Jonathan Hagee	Ball State	17	22	59.3	23%	−5.8
109	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	16	79	63.5	80%	+4.4
110	Jonathan Cruz	Charlotte	16	60	62.1	73%	−10.1
111	Scott Goodman	Mississippi State	16	44	63.1	59%	+6.9
112	Valentino Ambrosio	Rutgers	16	29	60.4	38%	+3.1
113	Jake Moody	Michigan	15	97	62.6	81%	+20.3
114	Jake Camarda	Georgia	15	88	63.6	82%	+18.4
115	Chance Poore	Kentucky	15	69	62.1	75%	+2.4
116	B.T. Potter	Clemson	15	64	64.3	77%	+14.3
117	Jared Smolar	Indiana	15	43	64.1	65%	−1.0
118	Brooks Buce	Troy	15	31	61.6	52%	−3.0
119	Tabor Allen	Kansas	14	51	62.3	73%	+10.7
120	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	14	47	63.6	70%	+7.2
121	Guy Fava	Rutgers	14	24	59.7	42%	+2.7
122	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	13	42	63.1	67%	+9.4
123	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	13	32	61.4	59%	+0.1
124	Lucas Matias	Florida International	13	27	61.8	52%	−11.4
125	Nick Rice	Old Dominion	13	17	58.8	24%	+0.3
126	Casey Legg	West Virginia	13	13	40.8	0%	−4.3
127	Matt Araiza	San Diego State	11	67	65.1	84%	+11.6
128	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	11	66	64.1	83%	+7.4
129	Justin Duenkel	Virginia	11	35	63.0	69%	+6.7
130	Alex Stadthaus	USC	11	31	63.9	65%	+5.4
131	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	11	31	63.1	65%	+1.5
132	Tim Horn	Washington	11	19	63.1	42%	+3.4
133	Justen Smith	BYU	11	18	62.4	39%	−4.3
134	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	11	16	62.3	31%	−1.7
135	Vito Calvaruso	Arkansas	10	74	64.8	86%	+11.5
136	Matt Coghlin	Michigan State	10	54	64.4	81%	+11.1
137	Stephen Rusnak	Michigan State	10	15	57.3	27%	+0.6
138	Avery Musick	Marshall	10	13	59.9	23%	−1.1
139	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	9	79	64.5	89%	+10.0
140	Avery Atkins	LSU	9	61	64.7	85%	+9.1
141	Joshua Karty	Stanford	9	43	62.7	77%	+4.9
142	Jadon Redding	Utah	9	19	63.6	53%	+5.3
143	Tommy Heatherly	Florida International	9	15	59.3	40%	−0.8
144	Kanon Woodill	Northern Illinois	9	9	51.6	0%	+0.5
145	Jason Stricker	Liberty	8	25	63.0	68%	+4.4
146	Alex Raynor	Georgia Southern	8	14	61.7	43%	+1.4
147	Zack Long	Tulsa	8	14	56.3	36%	+3.3
148	Dalton Witherspoon	Houston	8	9	41.4	11%	−4.9
149	Lucas Havrisik	Arizona	7	52	65.5	87%	+4.4
150	James McCourt	Illinois	7	47	64.6	85%	+10.2
151	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	7	44	63.8	84%	+3.0
152	Peyton Henry	Washington	7	30	64.8	77%	+4.9
153	Quinn Maretzki	Army	7	8	61.0	13%	−8.8
154	Z.Long	Arkansas State	7	7	54.3	0%	−1.8
155	Parker Lewis	USC	6	27	64.4	78%	+3.4
156	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	6	9	59.0	33%	+0.7
157	Will Ferrin	Boise State	6	9	62.0	33%	+3.1
158	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	6	8	63.9	25%	+3.8
159	Cole Smith	Cincinnati	6	7	61.6	0%	−0.3
160	Andre Meono	Fresno State	6	6	58.5	0%	+1.0
161	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	6	6	53.8	0%	−3.3
162	Matthew Killam	Nevada	6	6	58.0	0%	−1.2
163	Brandon Ruiz	Mississippi State	5	17	62.6	71%	+1.2
164	Everett Ornstein	UTSA	5	10	63.7	50%	−2.0
165	Dominic DiMaccio	Ohio State	5	8	58.1	38%	+0.6
166	A.Glass	Akron	5	6	40.0	0%	−1.1
167	Mac Brown	Ole Miss	5	6	61.0	17%	−0.1
168	Stephen Johnson	Ohio	5	6	53.2	17%	−3.5
169	Sean Koetting	Missouri	4	60	64.8	92%	+0.7
170	Noah Seiden	Tulane	4	9	63.1	56%	−4.2
171	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	4	8	63.8	50%	+1.3
172	Ryan O'Hara	UNLV	4	8	54.0	50%	+0.3
173	S.Payne	Florida International	4	7	61.7	43%	−10.3
174	Brady Pohl	Oklahoma State	4	6	63.2	33%	+1.9
175	A.Szmyt	Ohio	4	5	62.8	20%	+0.1
176	B.Bourgeois	Louisiana Tech	4	5	57.8	0%	−5.6
177	Ben Fee	Navy	4	5	49.2	20%	−5.3
178	Ben Patton	Auburn	4	5	58.8	20%	−0.1
179	D.Gutierrez	Hawai'i	4	5	56.0	0%	+2.6
180	D.Sojat	Georgia Southern	4	5	55.8	20%	−1.5
181	D.Whelan	Tulsa	4	5	58.6	20%	−2.0
182	Marshall Meeder	Central Michigan	4	5	57.2	20%	−4.0
183	Mitchell Fineran	Purdue	4	5	59.6	20%	−1.9
184	Cale Nation	Ole Miss	4	4	55.3	0%	+0.6
185	Collin Riccitelli	Rice	4	4	54.5	0%	−1.4
186	Evan Morris	Michigan State	4	4	55.8	0%	+0.2
187	J.Richardson	Georgia Tech	4	4	55.3	0%	−2.1
188	Jordan Stout	Penn State	3	59	64.6	95%	+10.2
189	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	3	9	61.6	67%	−0.2
190	Aaron Beckham	North Texas	3	6	63.5	50%	−5.4
191	D.Brown	Texas Tech	3	6	61.0	50%	+2.7
192	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	3	6	63.2	50%	−1.7
193	T.Brown	TCU	3	6	60.5	33%	−0.7
194	T.Keltner	Vanderbilt	3	6	64.3	50%	+2.9
195	A.Mevis	UNLV	3	5	62.0	40%	−5.3
196	Tucker Day	Mississippi State	3	5	62.4	40%	−0.8
197	C.Williams	Hawai'i	3	4	50.5	25%	−0.9
198	D.Guajardo	Louisiana	3	4	62.3	0%	−0.7
199	Gavin Peddie	Western Michigan	3	4	54.0	25%	−1.1
200	Harrison Beattie	Maryland	3	4	62.0	25%	−1.4
201	Ryan Chalifoux	Louisville	3	4	44.5	0%	−0.6
202	Stephen Ruiz	Boston College	3	4	62.3	25%	+0.8
203	Andrew Boyle	Washington State	3	3	60.7	0%	−0.1
204	C.Barajas	Southern Miss	3	3	52.0	0%	−1.5
205	C.Reed	San José State	3	3	53.7	0%	+1.0
206	Jack Brooks	South Alabama	3	3	46.7	0%	−2.0
207	S.Harrison	UNLV	3	3	60.7	0%	−1.8
208	S.Payne	Old Dominion	3	3	58.0	0%	−2.4
209	Sharod Johnson	Syracuse	3	3	63.0	0%	+0.9
210	J.Fitschen	Bowling Green	2	6	63.0	67%	−3.5
211	D.Soos	Middle Tennessee	2	5	63.2	40%	−0.8
212	G.Nicholson	Central Michigan	2	5	63.8	60%	+2.1
213	B.Auburn	Rice	2	4	64.5	25%	+1.7
214	I.Mora	Old Dominion	2	4	65.0	50%	−6.7
215	J.Rolston	Miami (OH)	2	4	64.0	50%	+0.3
216	James Williams	Syracuse	2	4	62.0	50%	+1.5
217	Kyle Ramsey	Houston	2	4	64.3	50%	+1.2
218	L.Matias	Middle Tennessee	2	4	64.3	50%	+1.0
219	Nick Sciba	Wake Forest	2	4	47.3	50%	−1.6
220	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	2	3	64.0	33%	+0.7
221	Chase Gabriel	Florida International	2	3	64.3	33%	−5.5
222	Chris Freeman	Indiana	2	3	62.3	33%	−0.8
223	D.Guajardo	Texas State	2	3	63.0	33%	−4.3
224	D.Soos	Wake Forest	2	3	64.0	33%	−0.2
225	M.Hayes	Arkansas State	2	3	65.0	33%	+1.1
226	M.Lawler	Akron	2	3	64.0	33%	−6.0
227	Trey Finison	Northwestern	2	3	59.0	33%	+1.1
228	A.Olivo	Marshall	2	2	51.5	0%	+0.3
229	A.Smith	TCU	2	2	63.5	0%	+0.3
230	Aidan Martin	Mississippi State	2	2	58.5	0%	−0.9
231	Anthony Beck II	Georgia Southern	2	2	56.5	0%	−1.2
232	Brent Cimaglia	Georgia Tech	2	2	58.5	0%	−1.7
233	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	2	2	35.5	0%	+0.9
234	Connor Coles	Utah State	2	2	43.0	0%	−0.1
235	D.Gutierrez	Iowa State	2	2	60.5	0%	+0.8
236	G.Garcia	New Mexico	2	2	64.0	0%	+0.3
237	Jack Olsen	Northwestern	2	2	61.0	0%	−1.4
238	T.Mattson	Tulsa	1	7	64.1	86%	+2.3
239	J.Romo	Middle Tennessee	1	5	64.0	40%	−1.2
240	Jack Martin	Alabama	1	5	64.0	80%	0.0
241	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	1	5	61.4	80%	+0.8
242	E.Mooney	Missouri	1	4	63.8	75%	+0.6
243	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	1	4	63.3	75%	+1.5
244	Kolton McGhee	West Virginia	1	4	64.5	75%	+0.9
245	L.Matias	Western Kentucky	1	4	64.0	75%	+1.4
246	A.Schmoke	Eastern Michigan	1	3	54.7	67%	+2.0
247	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	1	3	64.3	67%	−3.1
248	C.Kintner	Coastal Carolina	1	3	65.0	67%	−2.2
249	Cade York	LSU	1	3	47.3	67%	−2.3
250	Evan McGuire	Auburn	1	3	64.3	67%	+1.3
251	G.Kell	Oklahoma State	1	3	63.7	33%	−0.3
252	Jess Gmez	Eastern Michigan	1	3	64.0	67%	−6.7
253	K.Halvorsen	UNLV	1	3	65.0	67%	−2.0
254	M.Hayes	Georgia Southern	1	3	62.7	33%	+1.2
255	Nick Lopez	California	1	3	61.0	67%	+1.0
256	Blake Grupe	Arkansas State	1	2	40.0	50%	−1.9
257	Cash Peterman	BYU	1	2	65.0	50%	+0.9
258	Cory Smigel	Akron	1	2	40.5	50%	−1.8
259	Jude Kelley	Georgia Tech	1	2	63.0	50%	+1.2
260	T.Schive	USC	1	2	62.0	50%	+0.6
261	Taiten Winkel	Kansas State	1	2	62.5	50%	−1.2
262	A.Clark	Miami	1	1	56.0	0%	+0.2
263	A.Usry	Virginia Tech	1	1	48.0	0%	+0.2
264	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	1	1	39.0	0%	−1.4
265	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	1	1	60.0	0%	+0.2
266	B.Williams	Georgia State	1	1	62.0	0%	+0.2
267	Blake Mazza	SMU	1	1	58.0	0%	−0.6
268	Charles Campbell	Indiana	1	1	56.0	0%	0.0
269	Charlie Mendes	Rice	1	1	47.0	0%	−1.2
270	Grayson Atkins	North Carolina	1	1	62.0	0%	+0.7
271	J.Barnes	Southern Miss	1	1	47.0	0%	−0.1
272	J.Wieland	Syracuse	1	1	48.0	0%	+1.0
273	Jack Browning	San Diego State	1	1	62.0	0%	−3.2
274	Jackson Hubbard	Duke	1	1	63.0	0%	+0.2
275	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	1	1	61.0	0%	−0.7
276	Jevon Bigelow	Fresno State	1	1	60.0	0%	−1.0
277	Kirk Christodoulou	Pittsburgh	1	1	63.0	0%	−0.2
278	Kyle Ulbrich	Middle Tennessee	1	1	30.0	0%	−2.1
279	Massimo Biscardi	Coastal Carolina	1	1	58.0	0%	−0.4
280	Matt Quinn	UAB	1	1	44.0	0%	−0.9
281	Matthew Trickett	Minnesota	1	1	40.0	0%	+0.9
282	N.Sciba	Old Dominion	1	1	63.0	0%	−0.4
283	NCC	Marshall	1	1	24.0	0%	+0.2
284	Noah Botsford	Temple	1	1	50.0	0%	−0.7
285	Parker White	South Carolina	1	1	55.0	0%	−0.4
286	Riley Riethman	Navy	1	1	63.0	0%	−1.7
287	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	1	1	62.0	0%	+0.2
288	S.Payne	Virginia Tech	1	1	65.0	0%	−1.2
289	Will Hart	San José State	1	1	37.0	0%	−1.3
290	Xavier Subotsch	App State	1	1	49.0	0%	−1.1
291	Z.Heffner	Buffalo	1	1	56.0	0%	+0.2

All 2021 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

More 2021 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2021 College rankings

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