2023 College Kickoff Specialist Rankings

Every college football kickoff specialist with enough work in the 2023 regular season (at least 30), ranked by kickoff points added. Each kickoff's expected-points result compared with the league-average kickoff, added up over the season. Onside kicks are left out. It credits the kicker and the coverage team together.

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 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

2023 College Leaders

Kickoff Touchback Percentage

Noah Rauschenberg (North Texas): 92% 71 of 77
Brady Denaburg (Syracuse): 88% 46 of 52
Tyler Loop (Arizona): 87% 66 of 76
Robert Gunn III (Clemson): 86% 55 of 64
Cam Little (Arkansas): 85% 53 of 62

Full Kickoff Touchback Percentage leaderboard

Average Kickoff Return Allowed

Tristian Vandenberg (Memphis): 0.0 41 returns
Caleb Krockover (Purdue): 0.0 24 returns
Chase Carter (Utah): 0.0 20 returns
Atticus Sappington (Oregon State): 0.0 19 returns
Nathan Kirkwood (Navy): 0.0 15 returns

Full Average Kickoff Return Allowed leaderboard

Kickoff Points Added

Michael Hughes (App State): +14.5 82 kickoffs
Grady Gross (Washington): +14.1 89 kickoffs
Will Reichard (Alabama): +13.7 82 kickoffs
Reagan Tubbs (Air Force): +13.6 57 kickoffs
Jared Zirkel (Georgia): +12.8 95 kickoffs

Full Kickoff Points Added leaderboard

Average Kickoff Distance

Joshua Karty (Stanford): 64.8 50 kickoffs
Nick Barr-Mira (Mississippi State): 64.7 30 kickoffs
Dragan Kesich (Minnesota): 64.7 56 kickoffs
Noah Rauschenberg (North Texas): 64.5 77 kickoffs
Caden Davis (Ole Miss): 64.4 70 kickoffs

Full Average Kickoff Distance leaderboard

Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage

Collin Rogers (SMU): 0.0% 0 of 99
Nathan Dibert (LSU): 0.0% 0 of 93
Will Stone (Texas): 0.0% 0 of 91
Camden Lewis (Oregon): 0.0% 0 of 89
Grady Gross (Washington): 0.0% 0 of 89

Full Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage leaderboard

30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed

Max Morgan (Liberty): 0.0% 0 of 58
Brendan Farrell (South Florida): 0.0% 0 of 47
Michael Hayes II (West Virginia): 0.0% 0 of 43
Tristian Vandenberg (Memphis): 0.0% 0 of 41
Grady Gross (Washington): 0.0% 0 of 40

Full 30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed leaderboard

All 2023 College Kickoff Specialist Leaderboards

Kickoffs by Points Added

134 kickoff specialists qualify.

Rk	Player	Team	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Michael Hughes	App State	82	60.4	41%	47	+14.5
2	Grady Gross	Washington	89	62.5	54%	40	+14.1
3	Will Reichard	Alabama	82	63.7	57%	33	+13.7
4	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	57	61.9	49%	29	+13.6
5	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	95	62.7	66%	26	+12.8
6	Tommy Doman	Michigan	88	63.6	70%	26	+11.3
7	Casey Glover	Tulane	70	62.6	51%	30	+11.2
8	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	83	63.8	69%	25	+11.0
9	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	70	63.8	74%	18	+10.5
10	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	70	64.4	84%	11	+9.6
11	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	75	63.3	57%	32	+9.4
12	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	78	62.4	56%	31	+9.2
13	Will Ferrin	BYU	55	62.5	62%	21	+8.9
14	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	63	63.5	63%	23	+8.8
15	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	62	63.7	61%	24	+8.8
16	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	66	62.8	50%	33	+8.0
17	Joshua Karty	Stanford	50	64.8	80%	10	+7.9
18	Blake Glessner	UCLA	52	62.9	50%	24	+7.8
19	Trey Smack	Florida	69	63.2	81%	13	+7.8
20	Drew Stevens	Iowa	53	63.8	75%	13	+7.6
21	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	77	62.0	64%	28	+7.6
22	Dario Longhetto	Arizona State	45	62.5	53%	21	+7.1
23	Will Stone	Texas	91	63.6	52%	43	+6.9
24	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	59	63.3	51%	29	+6.8
25	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	61	63.8	82%	11	+6.5
26	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	52	63.6	71%	15	+6.4
27	Colton Theaker	Washington State	69	63.9	68%	22	+6.3
28	Harrison Mevis	Missouri	77	62.2	58%	31	+6.3
29	Andre Meono	UNLV	82	60.9	34%	54	+6.2
30	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	58	61.3	36%	37	+6.2
31	Spencer Shrader	Notre Dame	80	63.5	64%	28	+5.9
32	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	66	63.4	62%	25	+5.8
33	Tyler Loop	Arizona	76	63.8	87%	10	+5.7
34	Tabor Allen	Kansas	76	62.1	75%	19	+5.6
35	Connor Madden	James Madison	71	62.8	52%	34	+5.5
36	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	59	63.9	73%	16	+5.5
37	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	64	64.4	86%	8	+5.0
38	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	54	63.6	65%	19	+4.8
39	Andres Borregales	Miami	70	62.1	67%	18	+4.7
40	Camden Lewis	Oregon	89	63.2	72%	25	+4.6
41	Jace Feely	Colorado	43	62.7	56%	19	+4.6
42	Michael Slaba	Tulsa	42	60.7	24%	32	+4.5
43	Matthew Killam	Nevada	42	63.1	64%	15	+4.5
44	Cam Little	Arkansas	62	64.2	85%	9	+4.2
45	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	64	63.1	67%	21	+4.0
46	Tate Sandell	UTSA	70	62.8	57%	30	+4.0
47	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	30	62.3	37%	19	+3.9
48	Charlie Ham	Duke	44	60.5	45%	23	+3.8
49	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	30	62.8	47%	16	+3.8
50	Michael Denning	Toledo	45	56.9	27%	33	+3.8
51	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	49	61.9	41%	29	+3.7
52	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	72	58.8	43%	41	+3.6
53	Tyler Black	Wake Forest	43	63.2	72%	12	+3.6
54	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	52	63.4	88%	6	+3.5
55	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	54	60.8	67%	17	+3.5
56	Jack Stone	Baylor	40	62.4	35%	26	+3.4
57	Chance Poore	Kentucky	56	62.0	64%	17	+3.2
58	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	42	63.5	67%	14	+3.2
59	Michael Luckhurst	California	57	59.8	19%	45	+3.1
60	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	54	62.6	43%	30	+3.1
61	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	61	61.2	30%	43	+3.0
62	Nathan Dibert	LSU	93	60.6	54%	35	+2.8
63	Ryan Kingston	Eastern Michigan	31	59.2	19%	25	+2.8
64	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	30	64.7	83%	5	+2.7
65	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	67	63.1	75%	17	+2.6
66	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	74	63.3	74%	18	+2.4
67	Alen Karajic	Jacksonville State	64	63.3	58%	27	+2.4
68	Jack Browning	San Diego State	37	63.0	43%	21	+2.3
69	David Olano	Illinois	43	63.5	47%	23	+2.1
70	Zach Long	Troy	76	63.6	62%	29	+1.9
71	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	59	61.8	63%	19	+1.8
72	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	56	59.8	46%	30	+1.5
73	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	34	63.4	47%	18	+1.4
74	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	53	60.9	47%	28	+1.2
75	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	30	62.7	53%	14	+1.2
76	Clune Van Andel	Arkansas State	43	59.3	16%	36	+1.1
77	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	56	60.1	27%	41	+0.6
78	Collin Smith	NC State	57	61.7	58%	24	+0.6
79	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	89	62.2	58%	37	+0.3
80	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	52	63.2	63%	19	+0.3
81	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	53	62.2	64%	19	+0.3
82	Connor Gibbs	Southern Miss	57	60.7	25%	42	+0.3
83	Enock Gota	Rice	42	63.7	64%	15	+0.2
84	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	56	64.7	84%	9	+0.1
85	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	63	61.3	43%	36	0.0
86	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	67	58.0	16%	56	0.0
87	Tristan Alvano	Nebraska	32	61.6	44%	17	−0.2
88	Alex McPherson	Auburn	63	61.7	52%	29	−0.3
89	Joe McFadden	UConn	44	60.0	43%	25	−0.3
90	Matt Ganyard	Virginia	55	59.9	36%	35	−0.4
91	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	47	57.4	40%	27	−0.7
92	Chris Van Eekeren	Temple	34	60.9	32%	23	−0.7
93	Max Morgan	Liberty	84	59.2	31%	58	−0.9
94	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	44	63.5	61%	17	−0.9
95	Taren Schive	San José State	66	53.8	23%	51	−1.0
96	Dante Jackson	Akron	40	59.3	25%	30	−1.1
97	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	50	61.1	36%	32	−1.1
98	Cole Talley	Army	51	63.9	73%	14	−1.1
99	Denis Lynch	USC	57	60.7	28%	41	−1.3
100	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	57	58.5	56%	24	−1.8
101	Cole Becker	Utah	33	62.1	48%	16	−2.2
102	John Hoyland	Wyoming	60	63.3	53%	28	−2.3
103	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	42	62.5	69%	13	−2.3
104	Chris Freeman	Indiana	50	61.1	48%	26	−2.4
105	Michael James	Texas State	38	58.0	18%	31	−2.4
106	Collin Rogers	SMU	99	62.6	54%	46	−2.6
107	Jake Seibert	Northern Illinois	46	57.9	17%	36	−3.1
108	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	41	59.7	32%	28	−3.8
109	Rory Bell	Cincinnati	30	61.2	43%	17	−3.9
110	Brendan Farrell	South Florida	67	59.8	30%	47	−4.1
111	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	60	63.1	68%	18	−4.1
112	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	37	59.8	32%	25	−4.2
113	Noah Rauschenberg	North Texas	77	64.5	92%	6	−4.4
114	Jack Sauder	Bowling Green	63	58.5	16%	53	−4.5
115	Derek McCormick	UL Monroe	36	62.0	64%	13	−4.5
116	Jack Martin	Houston	52	61.6	42%	30	−4.6
117	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	46	60.2	41%	26	−4.7
118	Griffin Kell	TCU	69	62.6	67%	23	−4.7
119	Andrew Glass	Kent State	41	60.0	27%	29	−4.9
120	Liam Boyd	North Carolina	63	60.6	75%	13	−5.6
121	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	53	62.5	64%	19	−6.6
122	Kyle Cunanan	Charlotte	45	60.3	47%	24	−7.0
123	Jack Howes	Maryland	66	63.2	64%	24	−7.1
124	Caleb Krockover	Purdue	35	60.5	31%	24	−7.1
125	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	55	59.1	38%	34	−7.2
126	Henry Helms	Northwestern	30	54.6	3%	29	−7.9
127	Lucas Matias	Florida International	46	61.8	39%	28	−9.3
128	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	87	60.9	41%	50	−9.6
129	Jack Drake	Ball State	46	57.2	28%	33	−10.6
130	Ozlo Rigby	Old Dominion	37	61.7	19%	30	−10.8
131	Alex Kasee	Ohio	56	55.2	20%	45	−11.9
132	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	81	61.5	51%	40	−15.3
133	Jonah Delange	UAB	65	56.9	22%	51	−16.3
134	Colton Boomer	UCF	68	62.0	56%	30	−21.9

Points compare each kickoff's expected-points result with the league-average kickoff (for college, expected points come from where the receiving team started its first play). Onside kicks are listed separately and left out of points. Average distance is measured from the kicking spot to where the ball was caught or reached the goal line; a touchback counts the full distance. Returns exclude touchbacks, out-of-bounds kicks and fair catches. Minimum 30 kickoffs.

Kickoff Specialist Rankings in Other Seasons

2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011

Other 2023 College Rankings

Loading the interactive stats…