2025 College Kickoff Specialist Rankings

Every college football kickoff specialist with enough work in the 2025 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 2025 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

2025 College Leaders

Kickoff Touchback Percentage

Jake Weinberg (Florida State): 93% 56 of 60
Lorcan Quinn (Marshall): 90% 66 of 73
Brendan Franke (Indiana): 90% 46 of 51
John Hoyet Chance (Louisiana Tech): 90% 53 of 59
Lucas Carneiro (Ole Miss): 89% 73 of 82

Full Kickoff Touchback Percentage leaderboard

Average Kickoff Return Allowed

Luke Stagg (UL Monroe): 8.7 20 returns
Max Kelley (South Carolina): 9.2 19 returns
Drew Stevens (Iowa): 9.7 27 returns
Mason Shipley (Texas): 10.0 22 returns
Logan Ward (Oklahoma State): 10.3 20 returns

Full Average Kickoff Return Allowed leaderboard

Kickoff Points Added

Stone Harrington (Texas Tech): +14.7 102 kickoffs
Drew Stevens (Iowa): +11.1 71 kickoffs
Rhett Armstrong (Baylor): +11.0 67 kickoffs
Conor Talty (Alabama): +10.3 65 kickoffs
Beckham Sunderland (Michigan): +9.3 65 kickoffs

Full Kickoff Points Added leaderboard

Average Kickoff Distance

John Hoyet Chance (Louisiana Tech): 65.4 59 kickoffs
Ian Wagner (Arizona): 65.0 75 kickoffs
Lorcan Quinn (Marshall): 64.8 73 kickoffs
Lucas Carneiro (Ole Miss): 64.6 82 kickoffs
Carter Davis (Miami): 64.6 76 kickoffs

Full Average Kickoff Distance leaderboard

Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage

Stone Harrington (Texas Tech): 0.0% 0 of 102
Jayden Fielding (Ohio State): 0.0% 0 of 84
Chris Freeman (UConn): 0.0% 0 of 83
Dillon Curtis (Utah): 0.0% 0 of 83
Lucas Carneiro (Ole Miss): 0.0% 0 of 82

Full Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage leaderboard

30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed

Drew Stevens (Iowa): 0.0% 0 of 27
Dillon Curtis (Utah): 0.0% 0 of 21
Elijah Slibeck (Virginia): 0.0% 0 of 20
Logan Ward (Oklahoma State): 0.0% 0 of 20
Luke Stagg (UL Monroe): 0.0% 0 of 20

Full 30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed leaderboard

All 2025 College Kickoff Specialist Leaderboards

Kickoffs by Points Added

135 kickoff specialists qualify.

Rk	Player	Team	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Stone Harrington	Texas Tech	102	64.4	75%	17	+14.7
2	Drew Stevens	Iowa	71	62.2	51%	27	+11.1
3	Rhett Armstrong	Baylor	67	63.6	52%	30	+11.0
4	Conor Talty	Alabama	65	62.4	55%	20	+10.3
5	Beckham Sunderland	Michigan	65	64.1	65%	16	+9.3
6	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	64	61.5	48%	26	+9.2
7	Elijah Slibeck	Virginia	66	62.6	64%	20	+9.0
8	Oliver Robbins	Missouri	57	62.3	42%	25	+8.9
9	Gianni Spetic	Memphis	76	63.1	70%	20	+8.8
10	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	76	63.8	78%	15	+8.6
11	Chris Freeman	UConn	83	63.9	69%	22	+8.6
12	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	66	64.2	83%	10	+8.2
13	Lucas Carneiro	Ole Miss	82	64.6	89%	7	+8.0
14	Will Ferrin	BYU	78	62.3	58%	18	+7.6
15	John Hoyet Chance	Louisiana Tech	59	65.4	90%	6	+7.3
16	Carter Davis	Miami	76	64.6	88%	7	+7.3
17	Tate Sandell	Oklahoma	68	63.8	56%	26	+7.1
18	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	72	64.6	86%	9	+6.6
19	Ian Wagner	Arizona	75	65.0	88%	6	+6.6
20	Connor Gibbs	Auburn	55	64.2	78%	10	+6.5
21	Cosme Salas	Duke	36	63.4	69%	5	+6.0
22	Seth Morgan	Tulsa	59	60.5	56%	24	+5.9
23	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	78	63.8	86%	11	+5.8
24	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	60	61.2	50%	22	+5.6
25	Ryon Sayeri	USC	83	64.3	67%	24	+5.5
26	Patrick Durkin	Tulane	78	63.8	87%	7	+5.4
27	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	60	63.9	83%	9	+5.2
28	Dillon Curtis	Utah	83	62.9	71%	21	+5.2
29	Rece Verhoff	North Carolina	51	64.4	75%	12	+5.1
30	Brendan Franke	Indiana	51	64.2	90%	5	+5.0
31	Brady Denaburg	Minnesota	55	63.9	82%	9	+4.9
32	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	84	63.8	70%	21	+4.7
33	Caden Costa	UNLV	85	63.1	44%	39	+4.7
34	Trey Smack	Florida	61	63.9	77%	13	+4.7
35	Philippe Laforge	Coastal Carolina	57	62.9	61%	19	+4.6
36	Nick Keller	Louisville	74	64.2	77%	16	+4.6
37	Adam Zouagui	South Florida	75	63.9	77%	15	+4.5
38	Jack Cassidy	Western Kentucky	66	62.8	70%	14	+4.4
39	Stephen Rusnak	Cincinnati	72	63.2	61%	22	+4.2
40	Colton Boomer	Boise State	72	64.4	82%	10	+4.0
41	Abram Murray	California	34	60.1	41%	17	+3.8
42	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	44	63.2	75%	8	+3.8
43	Seth Turner	Purdue	53	63.3	57%	16	+3.6
44	Mason Shipley	Texas	42	61.8	19%	22	+3.6
45	Logan Klotz	Louisiana	52	59.6	13%	39	+3.4
46	Andrew Nelms	Florida Atlantic	63	62.9	70%	18	+3.1
47	Gage Hurych	Oregon	30	64.3	67%	7	+3.0
48	Kyle Ferrie	Mississippi State	44	64.0	80%	7	+3.0
49	Aeron Burrell	LSU	62	62.9	69%	14	+2.9
50	David Olano	Illinois	68	62.4	75%	11	+2.9
51	Sam Keltner	SMU	69	62.3	57%	28	+2.8
52	Keaton Emmett	Nevada	48	63.3	81%	7	+2.8
53	Jake Weinberg	Florida State	60	62.8	93%	3	+2.7
54	Ryan Hawk	New Mexico State	46	61.0	67%	11	+2.6
55	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	63	63.5	70%	16	+2.4
56	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	50	62.9	58%	20	+2.3
57	Hunter Smith	Western Michigan	62	61.6	42%	29	+2.3
58	Will Hryszko	Kent State	51	62.3	53%	21	+2.2
59	Ryan Harris	Washington State	58	62.7	64%	18	+2.1
60	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	70	62.6	60%	23	+2.1
61	Enock Gota	Rice	43	63.3	81%	8	+2.0
62	Cade Graham	Central Michigan	58	60.5	24%	38	+1.9
63	Max Kelley	South Carolina	41	60.8	39%	19	+1.8
64	Baylen Woodman	Middle Tennessee	51	61.5	63%	13	+1.6
65	Buck Buchanan	Colorado	55	63.4	80%	8	+1.5
66	Britton Williams	Kennesaw State	65	61.2	31%	35	+1.4
67	Cristiano Rosa	James Madison	84	63.5	68%	23	+1.2
68	Nate McCashland	TCU	53	61.5	53%	19	+1.1
69	Laith Marjan	Kansas	64	63.8	63%	21	+1.1
70	Erik Schmidt	Notre Dame	70	64.1	79%	15	+0.8
71	Luke Akers	Northwestern	39	63.1	56%	17	+0.6
72	John Hohl	Nebraska	50	61.8	48%	22	+0.4
73	Yousef Obeid	Missouri State	52	59.9	44%	27	+0.3
74	Charlie Birtwistle	NC State	40	63.2	63%	15	+0.3
75	Cash McVay	App State	56	63.8	70%	16	+0.2
76	Caleb Ojeda	Oregon State	37	60.0	27%	26	+0.2
77	Liam Boyd	Charlotte	39	62.0	74%	8	+0.2
78	Grant Glasgow	New Mexico	38	61.3	61%	11	+0.2
79	Atticus Sappington	Oregon	50	63.4	66%	14	0.0
80	Noe Ruelas	UCF	59	63.5	69%	18	−0.2
81	Nathanial Vakos	Wisconsin	37	62.5	81%	6	−0.4
82	Quinn Warren	Indiana	36	61.3	44%	17	−0.7
83	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	68	60.5	50%	27	−0.7
84	Max Morgan	Liberty	55	61.7	47%	25	−0.9
85	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	50	63.4	64%	16	−1.1
86	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	48	61.3	75%	10	−1.1
87	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	49	62.3	76%	9	−1.2
88	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	67	63.4	55%	27	−1.2
89	Jadyn Oh	Syracuse	46	60.4	70%	13	−1.3
90	Hamilton DiBoyan	South Alabama	59	61.4	34%	27	−1.5
91	Jared Zirkel	Texas A&M	30	62.8	60%	11	−1.6
92	Michael James	Texas State	83	62.0	57%	29	−1.6
93	Lance Gossett	Navy	56	60.3	30%	26	−1.7
94	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	64	63.3	81%	12	−1.7
95	Kali Nguma	North Texas	64	60.3	45%	29	−1.9
96	Andy Quinn	Boston College	34	63.4	56%	13	−2.0
97	Lorcan Quinn	Marshall	73	64.8	90%	7	−2.2
98	Martin Connington	Michigan State	37	62.0	51%	12	−2.2
99	Noah Grant	Florida International	70	60.3	24%	47	−2.3
100	Robert Hammond III	Toledo	66	62.8	58%	25	−2.3
101	Jaffer Murphy	UTSA	79	61.9	61%	29	−2.3
102	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	42	63.4	86%	6	−2.4
103	Everett Scott	East Carolina	52	61.2	44%	28	−2.4
104	Ethan Moczulski	Washington	67	64.3	72%	18	−2.6
105	Kansei Matsuzawa	Hawai'i	47	59.6	32%	30	−2.7
106	Evan Scruggs	Georgia Southern	62	62.0	40%	36	−2.8
107	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	63	63.1	51%	20	−3.1
108	Paddy McAteer	Troy	60	60.2	55%	24	−3.1
109	Devin Bale	Arkansas	66	62.8	71%	14	−3.3
110	Zach Long	Bowling Green	57	58.6	35%	30	−3.3
111	Carl Hardin	Temple	62	62.7	63%	18	−3.3
112	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	65	63.7	69%	15	−3.4
113	Zachary Robbins	Utah State	52	61.5	46%	26	−3.5
114	Todd Pelino	Duke	45	59.5	49%	22	−3.5
115	Sam Carpenter	Pittsburgh	66	62.9	55%	28	−3.6
116	Nathanial Eichner	Old Dominion	34	57.3	15%	23	−3.8
117	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	62	57.7	35%	30	−3.8
118	Anderson Britton	Army	53	60.3	42%	26	−4.1
119	Zac Yoakam	Houston	67	63.5	48%	31	−4.2
120	Isaiah Hankins	Colorado State	42	61.6	60%	17	−4.5
121	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	67	59.7	55%	27	−4.7
122	Nate Reed	Delaware	65	62.3	65%	18	−5.0
123	Miguel Arenas	North Texas	37	56.6	38%	19	−5.6
124	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	32	61.9	44%	17	−5.7
125	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	44	63.4	48%	23	−5.8
126	Philip Noyes	Maryland	38	58.5	21%	30	−6.3
127	Marcus Lye	Massachusetts	33	56.7	18%	23	−6.6
128	Jesus Gomez	Arizona State	54	61.5	54%	21	−6.8
129	Mathias Brown	San José State	57	61.6	42%	29	−7.1
130	Andrew Glass	Northern Illinois	47	56.6	32%	23	−8.0
131	Nathan Dibert	Eastern Michigan	61	60.3	51%	26	−9.6
132	Jack Howes	Buffalo	59	59.8	51%	25	−10.2
133	Owen Wiley	Akron	50	51.5	20%	29	−11.9
134	David Dellenbach	Ohio	68	58.9	21%	40	−22.5
135	Owen Simpson	UAB	57	58.7	46%	27	−26.3

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 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011

Other 2025 College Rankings

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