2023 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 2023, Max Morgan (58) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Thomas Leo (56) and Andre Meono (54). 252 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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Max Morgan	Liberty	58	84	59.2	31%	−0.9
2	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	56	67	58.0	16%	0.0
3	Andre Meono	UNLV	54	82	60.9	34%	+6.2
4	Jack Sauder	Bowling Green	53	63	58.5	16%	−4.5
5	Taren Schive	San José State	51	66	53.8	23%	−1.0
6	Jonah Delange	UAB	51	65	56.9	22%	−16.3
7	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	50	87	60.9	41%	−9.6
8	Michael Hughes	App State	47	82	60.4	41%	+14.5
9	Brendan Farrell	South Florida	47	67	59.8	30%	−4.1
10	Collin Rogers	SMU	46	99	62.6	54%	−2.6
11	Michael Luckhurst	California	45	57	59.8	19%	+3.1
12	Alex Kasee	Ohio	45	56	55.2	20%	−11.9
13	Will Stone	Texas	43	91	63.6	52%	+6.9
14	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	43	61	61.2	30%	+3.0
15	Connor Gibbs	Southern Miss	42	57	60.7	25%	+0.3
16	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	41	72	58.8	43%	+3.6
17	Denis Lynch	USC	41	57	60.7	28%	−1.3
18	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	41	56	60.1	27%	+0.6
19	Grady Gross	Washington	40	89	62.5	54%	+14.1
20	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	40	81	61.5	51%	−15.3
21	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	37	89	62.2	58%	+0.3
22	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	37	58	61.3	36%	+6.2
23	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	36	63	61.3	43%	0.0
24	Jake Seibert	Northern Illinois	36	46	57.9	17%	−3.1
25	Clune Van Andel	Arkansas State	36	43	59.3	16%	+1.1
26	Nathan Dibert	LSU	35	93	60.6	54%	+2.8
27	Matt Ganyard	Virginia	35	55	59.9	36%	−0.4
28	Connor Madden	James Madison	34	71	62.8	52%	+5.5
29	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	34	55	59.1	38%	−7.2
30	Will Reichard	Alabama	33	82	63.7	57%	+13.7
31	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	33	66	62.8	50%	+8.0
32	Jack Drake	Ball State	33	46	57.2	28%	−10.6
33	Michael Denning	Toledo	33	45	56.9	27%	+3.8
34	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	32	75	63.3	57%	+9.4
35	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	32	50	61.1	36%	−1.1
36	Michael Slaba	Tulsa	32	42	60.7	24%	+4.5
37	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	31	78	62.4	56%	+9.2
38	Harrison Mevis	Missouri	31	77	62.2	58%	+6.3
39	Michael James	Texas State	31	38	58.0	18%	−2.4
40	Casey Glover	Tulane	30	70	62.6	51%	+11.2
41	Tate Sandell	UTSA	30	70	62.8	57%	+4.0
42	Colton Boomer	UCF	30	68	62.0	56%	−21.9
43	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	30	56	59.8	46%	+1.5
44	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	30	54	62.6	43%	+3.1
45	Jack Martin	Houston	30	52	61.6	42%	−4.6
46	Dante Jackson	Akron	30	40	59.3	25%	−1.1
47	Ozlo Rigby	Old Dominion	30	37	61.7	19%	−10.8
48	Zach Long	Troy	29	76	63.6	62%	+1.9
49	Alex McPherson	Auburn	29	63	61.7	52%	−0.3
50	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	29	59	63.3	51%	+6.8
51	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	29	57	61.9	49%	+13.6
52	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	29	49	61.9	41%	+3.7
53	Andrew Glass	Kent State	29	41	60.0	27%	−4.9
54	Henry Helms	Northwestern	29	30	54.6	3%	−7.9
55	Spencer Shrader	Notre Dame	28	80	63.5	64%	+5.9
56	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	28	77	62.0	64%	+7.6
57	John Hoyland	Wyoming	28	60	63.3	53%	−2.3
58	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	28	53	60.9	47%	+1.2
59	Lucas Matias	Florida International	28	46	61.8	39%	−9.3
60	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	28	41	59.7	32%	−3.8
61	Alen Karajic	Jacksonville State	27	64	63.3	58%	+2.4
62	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	27	47	57.4	40%	−0.7
63	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	26	95	62.7	66%	+12.8
64	Tommy Doman	Michigan	26	88	63.6	70%	+11.3
65	Chris Freeman	Indiana	26	50	61.1	48%	−2.4
66	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	26	46	60.2	41%	−4.7
67	Jack Stone	Baylor	26	40	62.4	35%	+3.4
68	Camden Lewis	Oregon	25	89	63.2	72%	+4.6
69	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	25	83	63.8	69%	+11.0
70	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	25	66	63.4	62%	+5.8
71	Joe McFadden	UConn	25	44	60.0	43%	−0.3
72	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	25	37	59.8	32%	−4.2
73	Ryan Kingston	Eastern Michigan	25	31	59.2	19%	+2.8
74	Jack Howes	Maryland	24	66	63.2	64%	−7.1
75	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	24	62	63.7	61%	+8.8
76	Collin Smith	NC State	24	57	61.7	58%	+0.6
77	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	24	57	58.5	56%	−1.8
78	Blake Glessner	UCLA	24	52	62.9	50%	+7.8
79	Kyle Cunanan	Charlotte	24	45	60.3	47%	−7.0
80	Caleb Krockover	Purdue	24	35	60.5	31%	−7.1
81	Griffin Kell	TCU	23	69	62.6	67%	−4.7
82	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	23	63	63.5	63%	+8.8
83	Charlie Ham	Duke	23	44	60.5	45%	+3.8
84	David Olano	Illinois	23	43	63.5	47%	+2.1
85	Chris Van Eekeren	Temple	23	34	60.9	32%	−0.7
86	Evan Warren	Navy	23	27	56.4	15%	−6.8
87	Colton Theaker	Washington State	22	69	63.9	68%	+6.3
88	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	21	64	63.1	67%	+4.0
89	Will Ferrin	BYU	21	55	62.5	62%	+8.9
90	Dario Longhetto	Arizona State	21	45	62.5	53%	+7.1
91	Jack Browning	San Diego State	21	37	63.0	43%	+2.3
92	Luke Pawlak	Toledo	21	29	56.7	28%	+0.9
93	Chase Carter	Utah	20	26	62.1	23%	+2.7
94	Tabor Allen	Kansas	19	76	62.1	75%	+5.6
95	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	19	59	61.8	63%	+1.8
96	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	19	54	63.6	65%	+4.8
97	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	19	53	62.2	64%	+0.3
98	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	19	53	62.5	64%	−6.6
99	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	19	52	63.2	63%	+0.3
100	Jace Feely	Colorado	19	43	62.7	56%	+4.6
101	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	19	30	62.3	37%	+3.9
102	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	19	27	59.7	26%	−1.8
103	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	18	74	63.3	74%	+2.4
104	Andres Borregales	Miami	18	70	62.1	67%	+4.7
105	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	18	70	63.8	74%	+10.5
106	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	18	60	63.1	68%	−4.1
107	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	18	34	63.4	47%	+1.4
108	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	17	67	63.1	75%	+2.6
109	Chance Poore	Kentucky	17	56	62.0	64%	+3.2
110	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	17	54	60.8	67%	+3.5
111	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	17	44	63.5	61%	−0.9
112	Tristan Alvano	Nebraska	17	32	61.6	44%	−0.2
113	Rory Bell	Cincinnati	17	30	61.2	43%	−3.9
114	Isaiah Hankins	Baylor	17	20	59.0	15%	−0.7
115	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	16	59	63.9	73%	+5.5
116	Cole Becker	Utah	16	33	62.1	48%	−2.2
117	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	16	30	62.8	47%	+3.8
118	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	15	52	63.6	71%	+6.4
119	Enock Gota	Rice	15	42	63.7	64%	+0.2
120	Matthew Killam	Nevada	15	42	63.1	64%	+4.5
121	Matthew Velasco	Texas State	15	26	63.3	42%	−3.8
122	Tim Horn	Rice	15	23	60.4	35%	−0.9
123	Nathan Kirkwood	Navy	15	18	57.2	17%	+0.6
124	Dominic Zvada	Arkansas State	15	16	48.1	6%	−6.6
125	Mason Shipley	Texas State	15	15	44.5	0%	−8.6
126	Cole Talley	Army	14	51	63.9	73%	−1.1
127	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	14	42	63.5	67%	+3.2
128	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	14	30	62.7	53%	+1.2
129	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	14	25	60.9	44%	+1.8
130	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	14	16	62.0	13%	+0.8
131	Kenyon Bowyer	Eastern Michigan	14	16	49.9	13%	−4.8
132	Trey Smack	Florida	13	69	63.2	81%	+7.8
133	Liam Boyd	North Carolina	13	63	60.6	75%	−5.6
134	Drew Stevens	Iowa	13	53	63.8	75%	+7.6
135	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	13	42	62.5	69%	−2.3
136	Derek McCormick	UL Monroe	13	36	62.0	64%	−4.5
137	Liam Connor	Boston College	13	17	62.5	24%	+3.3
138	Jack Olsen	Northwestern	13	16	53.8	19%	−2.3
139	Tyler Black	Wake Forest	12	43	63.2	72%	+3.6
140	Ben Freehill	Purdue	12	17	55.5	29%	−8.3
141	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	11	70	64.4	84%	+9.6
142	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	11	61	63.8	82%	+6.5
143	Blair Zepeda	Texas A&M	11	21	62.4	48%	0.0
144	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	11	20	61.6	45%	+4.5
145	Cristiano Palazzo	Colorado	11	15	54.6	27%	−6.9
146	Tyler Loop	Arizona	10	76	63.8	87%	+5.7
147	Joshua Karty	Stanford	10	50	64.8	80%	+7.9
148	Marlon Hauck	Mississippi State	10	18	63.8	44%	+3.0
149	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	10	15	59.0	33%	+1.1
150	Kanon Woodill	Northern Illinois	10	13	57.4	23%	−0.7
151	Mateen Bhaghani	California	10	12	53.8	8%	−10.1
152	Chase Meyer	Tulsa	10	10	58.8	0%	+1.3
153	Cam Little	Arkansas	9	62	64.2	85%	+4.2
154	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	9	56	64.7	84%	+0.1
155	Isaac Kone	Georgia State	9	24	63.7	63%	+3.0
156	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	8	64	64.4	86%	+5.0
157	Ethan Sanchez	Old Dominion	8	19	61.9	58%	+0.3
158	Ryan Degyansky	Duke	8	11	61.4	27%	+0.8
159	Carl Hardin	Temple	7	17	62.1	59%	−0.3
160	Connor Bryan	Tulsa	7	8	47.5	13%	−2.9
161	Camden Wise	James Madison	7	7	42.1	0%	−3.2
162	Ryan Marks	Utah State	7	7	61.4	0%	+1.0
163	Noah Rauschenberg	North Texas	6	77	64.5	92%	−4.4
164	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	6	52	63.4	88%	+3.5
165	Brendan Franke	Georgia Southern	6	13	53.9	54%	0.0
166	Luke Akers	Northwestern	6	11	62.7	45%	−2.3
167	Alex Raynor	Kentucky	6	10	58.4	40%	−4.0
168	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	6	10	57.6	40%	+1.2
169	Colby Sessums	Sam Houston	6	9	62.9	33%	−0.1
170	Cameron Carson	Massachusetts	6	7	53.7	14%	−5.8
171	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	5	30	64.7	83%	+2.7
172	Brayden Beck	Liberty	5	9	62.6	44%	+1.2
173	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	5	9	64.4	44%	+2.1
174	Nick Keller	Louisville	5	8	62.3	38%	+0.9
175	Todd Pelino	Duke	5	7	62.1	29%	+0.5
176	Braxton Guilbeau	UL Monroe	5	6	44.3	17%	−4.3
177	Conor Talty	Alabama	5	6	60.8	17%	−0.5
178	Jose Pizano	UNLV	5	5	61.2	0%	−3.2
179	Kyle Ferrie	Mississippi State	5	5	43.0	0%	−4.6
180	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	5	5	55.2	0%	+0.2
181	Noah Grant	Arkansas State	5	5	54.0	0%	−0.6
182	Grant Meadors	Oregon	4	8	62.8	50%	+1.5
183	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	4	5	59.0	20%	−0.4
184	Noe Ruelas	UConn	4	5	64.2	20%	+1.7
185	Blake Craig	Missouri	4	4	63.0	0%	+0.8
186	Logan Klotz	Louisiana	4	4	58.0	0%	−0.4
187	Will Hryszko	Kent State	4	4	59.0	0%	−0.7
188	Zach Benedict	New Mexico	4	4	56.5	0%	−1.3
189	Jordan Noyes	Colorado State	3	15	64.5	80%	+1.9
190	Ryan Coe	North Carolina	3	12	64.0	75%	−20.2
191	RJ Lopez	UCLA	3	8	65.9	63%	−0.3
192	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	3	5	58.0	40%	−0.2
193	Julio Macias	Purdue	3	5	63.4	40%	−1.0
194	E.Kiely	Stanford	3	4	61.5	25%	+0.6
195	Kyler Halvorsen	San José State	3	4	53.5	25%	+2.3
196	B.Peskin	Buffalo	3	3	54.7	0%	+1.7
197	Damian Ramos	LSU	3	3	60.7	0%	+0.5
198	Gianni Spetic	Ohio	3	3	61.7	0%	−0.7
199	Jackson Kleather	Bowling Green	3	3	42.3	0%	−1.6
200	Liam Quigley	Toledo	3	3	49.3	0%	+0.4
201	Scott Taylor Renfroe	Troy	3	3	50.0	0%	−0.5
202	Alex Felkins	Penn State	2	9	65.0	78%	+1.5
203	L.Prescott	Nevada	2	7	59.4	57%	−8.5
204	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	2	5	64.0	60%	+0.4
205	Danny King	West Virginia	2	4	65.0	50%	+0.5
206	G.Stewart	Ole Miss	2	4	63.5	50%	−0.1
207	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	2	4	58.5	25%	+0.8
208	B.Travelstead	Georgia Tech	2	3	65.0	33%	−2.2
209	Ethan Moczulski	Texas A&M	2	3	63.3	33%	+0.7
210	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	2	2	64.5	0%	+0.2
211	Alan Anaya	Bowling Green	2	2	62.5	0%	+0.3
212	Alejandro Mata	Colorado	2	2	43.5	0%	−0.7
213	Alejandro Quintero	Indiana	2	2	59.0	0%	−0.6
214	Connor Lytton	Boston College	2	2	35.0	0%	−0.1
215	Dylan Hertzberg	Central Michigan	2	2	5.0	0%	−5.5
216	Matt Quinn	UAB	2	2	26.5	0%	−2.5
217	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	2	2	59.5	0%	−4.5
218	Nathanial Vakos	Wisconsin	2	2	64.0	0%	+0.6
219	P.Domschke	Syracuse	2	2	58.5	0%	+1.1
220	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	1	6	64.5	83%	+0.9
221	Cole Hussung	Louisville	1	4	62.3	75%	−0.4
222	G.Stewart	Louisville	1	4	64.0	75%	−0.6
223	Blake Ford	Arkansas	1	3	47.0	67%	−3.0
224	C.Smith	Wake Forest	1	3	64.7	67%	−0.5
225	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	1	3	65.0	67%	+0.9
226	L.Drzewiecki	Utah State	1	3	51.7	67%	−2.0
227	Stephen Rusnak	Michigan State	1	3	65.0	67%	+0.9
228	Z.Schreiner	Stanford	1	3	60.0	33%	−1.6
229	Aidan Ellison	Arkansas State	1	2	37.0	0%	−2.1
230	Caden Costa	Ole Miss	1	2	59.0	50%	+1.0
231	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	1	2	61.0	50%	+0.2
232	M.Hayes	Penn State	1	2	65.0	50%	+0.2
233	Andrew Stein	Southern Miss	1	1	59.0	0%	−0.2
234	Brandon Talton	Nevada	1	1	16.0	0%	+0.1
235	Brian Bishop	Toledo	1	1	39.0	0%	−1.2
236	Bronson Long	Charlotte	1	1	60.0	0%	0.0
237	Bryce Olson	Air Force	1	1	65.0	0%	−1.6
238	Carson Holmer	Ball State	1	1	52.0	0%	0.0
239	Colton Corrao	Air Force	1	1	63.0	0%	+0.7
240	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	1	1	8.0	0%	−2.6
241	Grant Reddick	UCF	1	1	60.0	0%	+0.1
242	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	1	1	58.0	0%	−1.2
243	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	1	1	69.0	0%	0.0
244	John Cannon	South Florida	1	1	60.0	0%	+0.4
245	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	1	1	10.0	0%	−2.5
246	Mark Ramos	UTEP	1	1	36.0	0%	−0.2
247	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	1	1	65.0	0%	+0.8
248	S.Sahaydak	West Virginia	1	1	53.0	0%	+0.1
249	Sander Sahaydak	Penn State	1	1	18.0	0%	−1.9
250	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	1	1	58.0	0%	+0.7
251	Tristan Driggers	UL Monroe	1	1	43.0	0%	−0.8
252	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	1	1	58.0	0%	−1.4

All 2023 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

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