2024 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 2024, Garrison Rippa (889) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Alejandro Prado (769) and Austin Bullock (718). 223 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 2024 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	889	84	59.5	33%	56	−1.2
2	Alejandro Prado	Florida International	769	53	58.7	11%	47	−3.1
3	Austin Bullock	Northern Illinois	718	61	57.5	31%	40	−10.6
4	Grady Gross	Washington	698	60	58.1	28%	43	−10.4
5	Riley Stephens	Western Kentucky	687	64	61.3	23%	49	+6.9
6	Lance Gossett	Navy	681	64	58.6	27%	45	+1.4
7	Laith Marjan	South Alabama	676	60	58.4	30%	42	−10.2
8	Gianni Spetic	Ohio	658	73	60.8	41%	42	−3.9
9	Max Larson	UL Monroe	642	50	59.8	24%	38	+1.6
10	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	642	57	61.3	37%	36	−1.8
11	Ethan Chang	Old Dominion	596	53	59.4	38%	33	−1.5
12	Kenneth Almendares	Louisiana	590	81	61.0	35%	53	+9.5
13	Andres Borregales	Miami	590	92	64.0	68%	27	+6.5
14	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	587	66	58.6	27%	48	−4.7
15	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	586	54	61.1	26%	40	−7.2
16	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	586	65	61.3	40%	39	+1.4
17	Trey Gronotte	Army	581	54	59.6	30%	38	+0.5
18	Chris Freeman	UConn	559	77	62.8	58%	32	+7.5
19	Carson Holmer	Ball State	536	54	54.5	20%	43	−9.5
20	Liam Connor	Boston College	531	46	59.9	33%	31	+5.6
21	Everett Scott	East Carolina	529	50	61.7	36%	32	−1.2
22	Michael Denning	Toledo	527	54	60.4	30%	38	−0.1
23	Upton Bellenfant	Buffalo	526	67	61.3	43%	37	+3.2
24	Nico Gramatica	South Florida	516	60	61.0	47%	23	−5.8
25	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	515	51	61.1	45%	28	−15.9
26	Zach Long	Bowling Green	509	67	60.2	54%	31	−4.9
27	Paddy McAteer	Troy	488	60	64.1	62%	23	+5.5
28	Will Ferrin	BYU	487	75	62.9	55%	32	+6.2
29	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	483	71	61.8	56%	31	−2.0
30	Daniel Gerlach	Colorado	473	29	59.1	21%	23	−4.5
31	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	464	71	61.5	55%	31	−2.1
32	Jared Zirkel	Texas A&M	463	68	64.1	63%	25	+3.2
33	Taren Schive	Boise State	448	51	58.4	41%	30	−2.7
34	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	435	55	57.5	27%	40	+2.1
35	Reed Malphurs	Tulsa	433	58	60.3	40%	33	+1.8
36	Devin Bale	Arkansas	433	68	63.1	63%	25	−0.1
37	Luke Akers	Northwestern	430	50	61.9	50%	25	+2.8
38	Mathias Brown	San José State	429	49	58.2	27%	36	−1.0
39	Ryan Degyansky	Duke	428	43	61.0	26%	30	+2.2
40	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	428	34	62.1	50%	17	−4.7
41	Conor Talty	Alabama	424	72	63.2	64%	25	+7.1
42	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	422	31	56.8	32%	21	−11.7
43	Noah Grant	UAB	418	65	60.8	51%	31	−2.6
44	Cristiano Rosa	James Madison	416	67	62.8	70%	20	+1.6
45	Eric Goins	Notre Dame	415	56	60.8	38%	30	+7.9
46	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	411	59	61.6	51%	29	+5.2
47	Collin Rogers	SMU	409	77	63.2	52%	33	−1.4
48	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	403	69	62.7	57%	29	+5.6
49	Luka Zurak	Western Michigan	403	29	57.1	0%	29	+2.4
50	Parker Lewis	Arizona State	400	63	60.9	59%	26	−1.7
51	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	399	42	63.1	55%	19	+0.1
52	Ethan Head	Tulane	390	76	63.3	64%	27	+6.0
53	Jack Martin	Houston	386	39	58.8	38%	22	+0.4
54	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	376	58	62.3	45%	32	+4.2
55	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	374	81	63.4	63%	30	+4.8
56	Kyle Lemmermann	TCU	372	63	61.6	48%	33	+4.8
57	Jesus Gomez	Eastern Michigan	371	60	61.5	58%	25	−5.6
58	Drew Stevens	Iowa	364	67	63.5	60%	27	+7.4
59	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	357	59	60.7	46%	32	+5.3
60	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	348	56	62.8	61%	22	+8.5
61	Jack Howes	Maryland	347	54	61.9	57%	23	−3.6
62	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	343	63	60.5	46%	31	+8.1
63	Will Stone	Texas	341	82	63.4	71%	23	+14.5
64	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	337	57	61.3	53%	27	+2.6
65	Max Morgan	Liberty	336	54	60.6	50%	27	−5.0
66	Towns McGough	Auburn	330	61	63.9	72%	17	+1.8
67	Michael Lantz	USC	328	71	64.4	73%	19	+1.7
68	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	326	78	63.7	58%	33	+12.8
69	Matthew Killam	Nevada	326	45	60.5	49%	23	−1.0
70	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	322	66	62.1	74%	17	+1.4
71	Zeke Rankin	Middle Tennessee	320	16	54.6	6%	15	−8.6
72	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	319	59	59.4	39%	36	+7.7
73	Abraham Montano	New Mexico State	314	48	60.1	56%	19	−7.8
74	Derek McCormick	Indiana	312	37	58.2	27%	27	+0.6
75	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	306	75	63.2	77%	15	+0.6
76	Evan Morris	UCF	305	38	62.8	53%	18	+2.0
77	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	304	64	58.9	48%	33	−3.7
78	Quinn Warren	Indiana	304	33	61.2	33%	22	−0.3
79	Atticus Sappington	Oregon	304	77	64.0	74%	20	+3.2
80	John Hoyland	Wyoming	302	52	64.0	62%	20	+6.7
81	Trey Coleman	Utah	296	39	63.1	44%	22	+7.4
82	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	295	51	61.8	47%	27	−3.9
83	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	294	44	61.1	52%	21	+0.6
84	Alex Stoyanovich	Colorado	293	18	62.1	17%	15	−1.4
85	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	290	51	58.9	45%	28	−1.4
86	Jack Stone	Baylor	290	70	62.9	67%	23	+7.1
87	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	283	59	63.0	68%	15	−0.7
88	Austin Welch	Kennesaw State	281	31	60.0	48%	16	+0.6
89	Maddux Trujillo	Temple	279	52	60.3	52%	25	+1.9
90	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	277	48	63.3	56%	21	+2.3
91	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	277	83	64.6	81%	14	+7.3
92	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Southern	268	66	61.0	53%	31	+4.0
93	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	265	59	58.7	54%	27	−2.2
94	Caden Chittenden	UNLV	264	81	64.3	67%	27	+12.0
95	Luke Stewart	Southern Miss	263	29	60.8	38%	18	−1.8
96	Tabor Allen	Kansas	263	70	63.5	77%	16	+6.8
97	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	262	56	64.2	68%	18	+4.8
98	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	258	48	63.8	67%	16	+7.5
99	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	257	37	61.2	51%	18	−2.8
100	Lucas Osada	North Carolina	257	56	63.5	70%	17	+1.8
101	Trey Smack	Florida	254	65	63.3	80%	13	+3.9
102	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	251	31	60.1	45%	17	+0.1
103	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	248	74	61.5	64%	27	+3.9
104	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	248	22	64.5	50%	11	+2.6
105	Dante Jackson	Akron	246	50	63.3	64%	18	+2.3
106	Tate Sandell	UTSA	246	74	63.1	77%	17	+1.7
107	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	245	53	60.8	57%	23	−1.9
108	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	243	37	63.1	57%	16	+4.1
109	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	241	26	61.0	35%	17	−0.9
110	Blake Craig	Missouri	239	67	62.9	73%	18	+5.0
111	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	239	52	63.1	71%	15	−3.3
112	Enock Gota	Rice	238	45	64.4	82%	8	−1.1
113	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	229	79	63.3	84%	12	+7.0
114	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	221	50	63.5	70%	15	+5.6
115	Zach Benedict	Middle Tennessee	218	30	57.6	20%	16	+4.4
116	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	212	40	63.5	68%	13	+3.1
117	Ethan Moczulski	Illinois	210	58	62.7	52%	28	+2.9
118	Ben Freehill	Purdue	208	35	60.9	54%	16	−4.4
119	Cash McVay	App State	208	18	62.2	28%	13	+1.1
120	Cale Allaire	Western Michigan	201	25	51.8	0%	25	−4.3
121	Ryan Coe	California	201	57	63.6	70%	16	+4.7
122	Blake Ford	North Texas	200	74	57.9	58%	31	−1.9
123	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	200	59	63.4	75%	15	−0.2
124	Collin Smith	NC State	197	73	64.4	86%	10	+2.4
125	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	194	72	63.5	82%	13	+0.4
126	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	192	53	64.7	81%	9	−1.7
127	Britton Williams	Kennesaw State	188	14	58.0	21%	11	−3.1
128	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	183	43	63.1	79%	8	−0.9
129	Tommy Doman	Michigan	182	60	64.1	62%	23	+10.8
130	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	182	14	51.4	7%	13	−4.6
131	Michael Hughes	App State	179	28	62.5	64%	10	+2.6
132	Kian Afrookhteh	Nevada	177	15	51.2	0%	15	−6.4
133	Jarrett Reeser	Boise State	177	26	62.1	54%	12	+1.6
134	Davis Little	South Alabama	165	18	58.1	39%	11	−0.4
135	Will Hryszko	Kent State	162	26	50.0	27%	19	−15.5
136	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	161	38	58.0	63%	14	−6.2
137	Stephen Rusnak	Charlotte	155	48	61.9	73%	12	−1.2
138	Cosme Salas	Duke	154	15	61.3	53%	7	+0.8
139	Jace Feely	Colorado	152	17	61.0	29%	12	+4.5
140	Alejandro Quintero	Indiana	149	18	60.5	17%	15	+1.4
141	Cole Becker	Utah	147	22	63.5	59%	9	+1.8
142	Joe Bowman	UTEP	146	15	57.6	20%	12	−1.3
143	John Hohl	Nebraska	145	14	60.5	21%	11	+0.2
144	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	141	33	60.9	48%	17	+2.6
145	Daton Montiel	Florida International	139	6	62.3	17%	5	−1.1
146	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	134	87	64.4	87%	11	+8.6
147	Andrew Glass	Kent State	134	12	57.8	33%	8	−3.6
148	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	131	43	62.9	77%	10	+0.2
149	Cade Graham	Central Michigan	128	9	60.9	22%	6	+2.8
150	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	127	67	62.5	76%	16	+2.9
151	Gabriel Lozano	SMU	127	16	60.6	38%	8	+2.6
152	Jacob Carlson	Navy	125	7	54.1	14%	6	−5.3
153	Brendan Franke	Texas State	123	62	63.3	81%	12	+6.7
154	Aeron Burrell	LSU	122	66	65.0	94%	4	+4.4
155	Gavin Marshall	Maryland	120	5	62.6	20%	4	−2.5
156	Ty Ippolito	South Florida	117	8	61.8	25%	5	−1.0
157	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	113	64	63.9	72%	18	+8.5
158	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	113	57	62.7	86%	8	+5.7
159	Andrew Conrad	East Carolina	111	22	59.2	18%	18	+3.6
160	Kyle Cunanan	Charlotte	109	6	60.8	17%	5	−2.6
161	Jackson Moore	App State	105	10	40.2	0%	10	−8.8
162	Tyler Black	Wake Forest	102	12	64.8	75%	3	−4.7
163	Nathan Totten	Marshall	99	38	63.9	71%	11	+6.0
164	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	95	6	58.0	0%	6	−1.3
165	Kyler Halvorsen	San José State	93	12	59.6	58%	5	−1.3
166	Nick Keller	Louisville	91	26	62.5	69%	8	+3.0
167	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	89	77	63.9	87%	10	+1.6
168	Cristiano Palazzo	Colorado	88	6	60.5	17%	5	−0.4
169	Noe Ruelas	James Madison	87	7	55.7	43%	4	−1.4
170	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	85	7	63.4	57%	3	−1.1
171	Ryan Harris	Washington State	84	23	60.0	70%	7	+1.4
172	Mitch Jeter	Notre Dame	81	28	63.3	64%	8	+5.0
173	Grant Reddick	UCF	81	7	38.1	0%	7	−7.1
174	Ryan Heicher	Arkansas State	80	7	55.9	0%	7	+0.4
175	Andre Meono	UNLV	63	6	63.3	17%	5	−0.9
176	Andrew Boyle	Oregon	60	12	58.3	33%	8	+0.4
177	Tony Sterner	Louisiana	59	4	59.5	0%	4	+0.3
178	Emilio Duran	Toledo	58	6	63.2	17%	5	+3.1
179	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	56	5	33.2	0%	5	−9.0
180	Jackson Courville	Ball State	56	7	60.1	43%	4	+1.5
181	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	55	18	63.8	72%	5	+3.5
182	Ethan Sanchez	Old Dominion	50	8	62.9	63%	3	+1.2
183	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	48	55	64.9	93%	4	+7.1
184	Alejandro Mata	Colorado	47	4	49.0	0%	4	−0.9
185	Nate McCashland	TCU	45	7	53.6	43%	4	−1.3
186	Todd Pelino	Duke	42	2	58.5	0%	2	−0.2
187	Anderson Britton	Army	40	14	64.9	57%	6	+2.1
188	Marlon Hauck	Mississippi State	38	17	63.6	59%	7	+3.0
189	Brayden Beck	Liberty	38	9	62.6	56%	3	+0.2
190	Colton Boomer	UCF	38	17	63.2	82%	3	+3.7
191	Chase Gabriel	Florida International	37	3	52.3	0%	3	−1.4
192	Patrick Durkin	Tulane	35	12	63.5	83%	2	+1.1
193	Liam Boyd	North Carolina	31	13	63.6	46%	7	+0.1
194	Spencer Conrad	Toledo	28	4	59.3	0%	4	+1.9
195	Stone Harrington	Texas Tech	27	12	58.8	67%	4	−2.3
196	Charlie Ham	Georgia	26	4	63.8	50%	2	+0.4
197	Tyler Loop	Arizona	25	58	62.7	91%	5	−0.2
198	Jacob Kauwe	Kentucky	25	7	63.3	57%	3	+1.5
199	Ian Hershey	Arizona State	25	9	59.0	78%	2	+1.5
200	Matthias Dunn	BYU	21	2	64.5	0%	2	+0.5
201	Andrew Stein	Southern Miss	20	6	22.5	0%	6	−10.8
202	Damian Ramos	LSU	20	2	49.5	0%	2	+1.0
203	Nick Troemel	Troy	20	1	58.0	0%	1	0.0
204	Abram Murray	Miami	19	4	63.0	50%	2	+0.3
205	Nolan Hauser	Clemson	19	2	65.0	50%	1	+0.6
206	Dawson Jones	Army	18	2	61.5	50%	1	+0.2
207	Jonah Delange	UAB	18	1	60.0	0%	1	+0.2
208	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	18	2	64.0	50%	1	+0.5
209	Braxton Guilbeau	Louisiana	17	3	63.7	67%	1	+0.6
210	Nate Flower	West Virginia	16	1	63.0	0%	1	+0.5
211	Ian Vachon	Auburn	15	3	63.3	33%	2	+0.6
212	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	15	3	63.7	67%	1	+0.7
213	Tim Horn	Rice	14	9	53.4	44%	5	+1.9
214	Graham Nicholson	Alabama	14	4	62.5	75%	1	+0.5
215	Hamilton DiBoyan	South Alabama	14	1	54.0	0%	1	+0.1
216	Carter Holden	Miami (OH)	13	4	63.3	25%	3	+0.9
217	Nick Lopez	San Diego State	11	3	65.3	67%	1	+1.2
218	Mike Baker	Ole Miss	9	2	61.5	50%	1	+0.9
219	Ryan Hanson	James Madison	8	1	25.0	0%	1	−2.0
220	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	7	2	44.5	0%	2	−1.2
221	James Burnip	Alabama	6	1	48.0	0%	1	−1.5
222	Blake Glessner	UCLA	1	3	53.3	33%	2	−0.1
223	Patrick Foley	UAB	1	1	10.0	0%	1	−2.6

All 2024 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2024 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2024 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…