2023 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 2023, Joshua Karty (64.8) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Nick Barr-Mira (64.7) and Dragan Kesich (64.7). 134 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 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

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

All 2023 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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