2023 College Kickoff Return Yards Allowed Leaders

Total return yards gained against a specialist's kickoffs. It reflects his kick and his coverage team.

Lower is better, but volume matters. In 2023, Jack Drake (610) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of CJ Kolodziey (602) and Nathan Dibert (577). 186 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 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Jack Drake	Ball State	610	46	57.2	28%	33	−10.6
2	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	602	50	61.1	36%	32	−1.1
3	Nathan Dibert	LSU	577	93	60.6	54%	35	+2.8
4	Will Stone	Texas	549	91	63.6	52%	43	+6.9
5	Jack Sauder	Bowling Green	547	63	58.5	16%	53	−4.5
6	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	541	83	63.8	69%	25	+11.0
7	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	539	59	63.3	51%	29	+6.8
8	Andre Meono	UNLV	488	82	60.9	34%	54	+6.2
9	Jonah Delange	UAB	480	65	56.9	22%	51	−16.3
10	Jake Seibert	Northern Illinois	463	46	57.9	17%	36	−3.1
11	Dante Jackson	Akron	444	40	59.3	25%	30	−1.1
12	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	418	81	61.5	51%	40	−15.3
13	Michael Slaba	Tulsa	411	42	60.7	24%	32	+4.5
14	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	410	89	62.2	58%	37	+0.3
15	Casey Glover	Tulane	408	70	62.6	51%	30	+11.2
16	Michael Hughes	App State	389	82	60.4	41%	47	+14.5
17	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	388	72	58.8	43%	41	+3.6
18	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	386	67	58.0	16%	56	0.0
19	Jack Browning	San Diego State	380	37	63.0	43%	21	+2.3
20	Michael Denning	Toledo	373	45	56.9	27%	33	+3.8
21	Grady Gross	Washington	372	89	62.5	54%	40	+14.1
22	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	370	53	60.9	47%	28	+1.2
23	Andrew Glass	Kent State	349	41	60.0	27%	29	−4.9
24	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	340	55	59.1	38%	34	−7.2
25	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	338	41	59.7	32%	28	−3.8
26	David Olano	Illinois	336	43	63.5	47%	23	+2.1
27	Lucas Matias	Florida International	334	46	61.8	39%	28	−9.3
28	Matt Ganyard	Virginia	315	55	59.9	36%	35	−0.4
29	Ryan Kingston	Eastern Michigan	295	31	59.2	19%	25	+2.8
30	Michael Luckhurst	California	279	57	59.8	19%	45	+3.1
31	Chris Freeman	Indiana	277	50	61.1	48%	26	−2.4
32	Collin Rogers	SMU	271	99	62.6	54%	46	−2.6
33	Matthew Velasco	Texas State	268	26	63.3	42%	15	−3.8
34	Mateen Bhaghani	California	268	12	53.8	8%	10	−10.1
35	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	265	78	62.4	56%	31	+9.2
36	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	261	53	62.5	64%	19	−6.6
37	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	254	74	63.3	74%	18	+2.4
38	Jace Feely	Colorado	245	43	62.7	56%	19	+4.6
39	Will Ferrin	BYU	242	55	62.5	62%	21	+8.9
40	Collin Smith	NC State	239	57	61.7	58%	24	+0.6
41	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	238	54	63.6	65%	19	+4.8
42	Charlie Ham	Duke	236	44	60.5	45%	23	+3.8
43	Denis Lynch	USC	231	57	60.7	28%	41	−1.3
44	Joe McFadden	UConn	225	44	60.0	43%	25	−0.3
45	Griffin Kell	TCU	225	69	62.6	67%	23	−4.7
46	Andres Borregales	Miami	222	70	62.1	67%	18	+4.7
47	Tabor Allen	Kansas	216	76	62.1	75%	19	+5.6
48	Will Reichard	Alabama	213	82	63.7	57%	33	+13.7
49	Liam Boyd	North Carolina	212	63	60.6	75%	13	−5.6
50	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	210	54	62.6	43%	30	+3.1
51	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	209	42	62.5	69%	13	−2.3
52	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	208	61	61.2	30%	43	+3.0
53	Liam Connor	Boston College	208	17	62.5	24%	13	+3.3
54	Cole Becker	Utah	203	33	62.1	48%	16	−2.2
55	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	200	70	63.8	74%	18	+10.5
56	Tristan Alvano	Nebraska	198	32	61.6	44%	17	−0.2
57	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	197	63	61.3	43%	36	0.0
58	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	194	75	63.3	57%	32	+9.4
59	Colton Boomer	UCF	192	68	62.0	56%	30	−21.9
60	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	192	63	63.5	63%	23	+8.8
61	Michael James	Texas State	183	38	58.0	18%	31	−2.4
62	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	183	59	61.8	63%	19	+1.8
63	Clune Van Andel	Arkansas State	182	43	59.3	16%	36	+1.1
64	Connor Gibbs	Southern Miss	179	57	60.7	25%	42	+0.3
65	Alex McPherson	Auburn	174	63	61.7	52%	29	−0.3
66	Tyler Black	Wake Forest	169	43	63.2	72%	12	+3.6
67	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	168	60	63.1	68%	18	−4.1
68	Matthew Killam	Nevada	168	42	63.1	64%	15	+4.5
69	Jack Stone	Baylor	167	40	62.4	35%	26	+3.4
70	Alex Kasee	Ohio	166	56	55.2	20%	45	−11.9
71	John Hoyland	Wyoming	166	60	63.3	53%	28	−2.3
72	Dario Longhetto	Arizona State	156	45	62.5	53%	21	+7.1
73	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	156	15	59.0	33%	10	+1.1
74	Tim Horn	Rice	154	23	60.4	35%	15	−0.9
75	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	150	62	63.7	61%	24	+8.8
76	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	150	27	59.7	26%	19	−1.8
77	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	150	44	63.5	61%	17	−0.9
78	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	149	47	57.4	40%	27	−0.7
79	Blake Glessner	UCLA	149	52	62.9	50%	24	+7.8
80	Ozlo Rigby	Old Dominion	148	37	61.7	19%	30	−10.8
81	Cole Talley	Army	146	51	63.9	73%	14	−1.1
82	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	143	49	61.9	41%	29	+3.7
83	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	142	57	58.5	56%	24	−1.8
84	Kenyon Bowyer	Eastern Michigan	138	16	49.9	13%	14	−4.8
85	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	136	66	62.8	50%	33	+8.0
86	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	133	37	59.8	32%	25	−4.2
87	Spencer Shrader	Notre Dame	123	80	63.5	64%	28	+5.9
88	Cristiano Palazzo	Colorado	120	15	54.6	27%	11	−6.9
89	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	117	77	62.0	64%	28	+7.6
90	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	115	64	64.4	86%	8	+5.0
91	Tommy Doman	Michigan	114	88	63.6	70%	26	+11.3
92	Jack Olsen	Northwestern	114	16	53.8	19%	13	−2.3
93	Jack Martin	Houston	111	52	61.6	42%	30	−4.6
94	Colton Theaker	Washington State	111	69	63.9	68%	22	+6.3
95	Enock Gota	Rice	110	42	63.7	64%	15	+0.2
96	Luke Pawlak	Toledo	109	29	56.7	28%	21	+0.9
97	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	107	67	63.1	75%	17	+2.6
98	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	107	25	60.9	44%	14	+1.8
99	Taren Schive	San José State	103	66	53.8	23%	51	−1.0
100	Connor Madden	James Madison	103	71	62.8	52%	34	+5.5
101	Tate Sandell	UTSA	99	70	62.8	57%	30	+4.0
102	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	97	30	64.7	83%	5	+2.7
103	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	96	64	63.1	67%	21	+4.0
104	Rory Bell	Cincinnati	96	30	61.2	43%	17	−3.9
105	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	93	30	62.3	37%	19	+3.9
106	Cameron Carson	Massachusetts	93	7	53.7	14%	6	−5.8
107	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	92	70	64.4	84%	11	+9.6
108	Max Morgan	Liberty	89	84	59.2	31%	58	−0.9
109	Conor Talty	Alabama	87	6	60.8	17%	5	−0.5
110	Brendan Farrell	South Florida	85	67	59.8	30%	47	−4.1
111	Zach Long	Troy	84	76	63.6	62%	29	+1.9
112	Mason Shipley	Texas State	84	15	44.5	0%	15	−8.6
113	Ryan Coe	North Carolina	84	12	64.0	75%	3	−20.2
114	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	83	57	61.9	49%	29	+13.6
115	Chase Meyer	Tulsa	83	10	58.8	0%	10	+1.3
116	Tyler Loop	Arizona	83	76	63.8	87%	10	+5.7
117	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	82	87	60.9	41%	50	−9.6
118	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	82	16	62.0	13%	14	+0.8
119	Harrison Mevis	Missouri	81	77	62.2	58%	31	+6.3
120	Derek McCormick	UL Monroe	77	36	62.0	64%	13	−4.5
121	Camden Lewis	Oregon	76	89	63.2	72%	25	+4.6
122	Trey Smack	Florida	73	69	63.2	81%	13	+7.8
123	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	70	46	60.2	41%	26	−4.7
124	Alex Raynor	Kentucky	70	10	58.4	40%	6	−4.0
125	Kanon Woodill	Northern Illinois	69	13	57.4	23%	10	−0.7
126	Evan Warren	Navy	68	27	56.4	15%	23	−6.8
127	Connor Bryan	Tulsa	68	8	47.5	13%	7	−2.9
128	Isaiah Hankins	Baylor	64	20	59.0	15%	17	−0.7
129	Gianni Spetic	Ohio	64	3	61.7	0%	3	−0.7
130	Chris Van Eekeren	Temple	63	34	60.9	32%	23	−0.7
131	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	63	5	55.2	0%	5	+0.2
132	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	57	20	61.6	45%	11	+4.5
133	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	57	5	59.0	20%	4	−0.4
134	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	55	95	62.7	66%	26	+12.8
135	Cam Little	Arkansas	55	62	64.2	85%	9	+4.2
136	Luke Akers	Northwestern	55	11	62.7	45%	6	−2.3
137	Noe Ruelas	UConn	55	5	64.2	20%	4	+1.7
138	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	54	56	59.8	46%	30	+1.5
139	Ethan Sanchez	Old Dominion	53	19	61.9	58%	8	+0.3
140	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	51	59	63.9	73%	16	+5.5
141	Jose Pizano	UNLV	50	5	61.2	0%	5	−3.2
142	Will Hryszko	Kent State	50	4	59.0	0%	4	−0.7
143	Ben Freehill	Purdue	48	17	55.5	29%	12	−8.3
144	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	47	61	63.8	82%	11	+6.5
145	Ryan Marks	Utah State	47	7	61.4	0%	7	+1.0
146	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	47	5	64.0	60%	2	+0.4
147	Damian Ramos	LSU	46	3	60.7	0%	3	+0.5
148	Jordan Noyes	Colorado State	46	15	64.5	80%	3	+1.9
149	Joshua Karty	Stanford	45	50	64.8	80%	10	+7.9
150	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	44	58	61.3	36%	37	+6.2
151	Alan Anaya	Bowling Green	44	2	62.5	0%	2	+0.3
152	Bryce Olson	Air Force	44	1	65.0	0%	1	−1.6
153	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	43	66	63.4	62%	25	+5.8
154	Chance Poore	Kentucky	41	56	62.0	64%	17	+3.2
155	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	40	4	58.5	25%	2	+0.8
156	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	37	52	63.6	71%	15	+6.4
157	Dominic Zvada	Arkansas State	36	16	48.1	6%	15	−6.6
158	Jack Howes	Maryland	34	66	63.2	64%	24	−7.1
159	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	34	2	59.5	0%	2	−4.5
160	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	33	30	62.8	47%	16	+3.8
161	Kyle Cunanan	Charlotte	32	45	60.3	47%	24	−7.0
162	Isaac Kone	Georgia State	28	24	63.7	63%	9	+3.0
163	Alen Karajic	Jacksonville State	27	64	63.3	58%	27	+2.4
164	Blair Zepeda	Texas A&M	27	21	62.4	48%	11	0.0
165	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	26	42	63.5	67%	14	+3.2
166	Colby Sessums	Sam Houston	26	9	62.9	33%	6	−0.1
167	Grant Meadors	Oregon	25	8	62.8	50%	4	+1.5
168	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	25	2	64.5	0%	2	+0.2
169	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	25	1	58.0	0%	1	−1.4
170	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	22	34	63.4	47%	18	+1.4
171	Brendan Franke	Georgia Southern	22	13	53.9	54%	6	0.0
172	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	22	9	64.4	44%	5	+2.1
173	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	21	56	64.7	84%	9	+0.1
174	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	20	54	60.8	67%	17	+3.5
175	RJ Lopez	UCLA	20	8	65.9	63%	3	−0.3
176	Ethan Moczulski	Texas A&M	20	3	63.3	33%	2	+0.7
177	Blake Craig	Missouri	18	4	63.0	0%	4	+0.8
178	Andrew Stein	Southern Miss	18	1	59.0	0%	1	−0.2
179	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	18	1	58.0	0%	1	−1.2
180	Noah Rauschenberg	North Texas	17	77	64.5	92%	6	−4.4
181	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	15	1	69.0	0%	1	0.0
182	Henry Helms	Northwestern	14	30	54.6	3%	29	−7.9
183	Carson Holmer	Ball State	13	1	52.0	0%	1	0.0
184	Colton Corrao	Air Force	12	1	63.0	0%	1	+0.7
185	Camden Wise	James Madison	3	7	42.1	0%	7	−3.2
186	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	2	52	63.2	63%	19	+0.3

All 2023 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

More 2023 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2023 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…