2025 College Average Kickoff Return Allowed Leaders

Return yards divided by returns. It shows how well his kicks and coverage contain returners.

Lower is better. Only specialists with enough returns are ranked. In 2025, Luke Stagg (8.7) topped college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff return allowed, ahead of Max Kelley (9.2) and Drew Stevens (9.7). 131 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 16.8.

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.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Luke Stagg	UL Monroe	8.7	20	47.5	0%	20	−4.8
2	Max Kelley	South Carolina	9.2	41	60.8	39%	19	+1.8
3	Drew Stevens	Iowa	9.7	71	62.2	51%	27	+11.1
4	Mason Shipley	Texas	10.0	42	61.8	19%	22	+3.6
5	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	10.3	23	60.2	9%	20	+3.5
6	Todd Pelino	Duke	10.4	45	59.5	49%	22	−3.5
7	Will Ferrin	BYU	11.1	78	62.3	58%	18	+7.6
8	Hunter Smith	Western Michigan	11.3	62	61.6	42%	29	+2.3
9	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	11.7	20	62.3	50%	10	−0.3
10	Stephen Rusnak	Cincinnati	12.2	72	63.2	61%	22	+4.2
11	Laith Marjan	Kansas	12.3	64	63.8	63%	21	+1.1
12	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	12.3	67	59.7	55%	27	−4.7
13	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	12.5	60	61.2	50%	22	+5.6
14	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	12.7	84	63.8	70%	21	+4.7
15	Zachary Robbins	Utah State	12.8	52	61.5	46%	26	−3.5
16	Lance Gossett	Navy	13.0	56	60.3	30%	26	−1.7
17	Trey Smack	Florida	13.1	61	63.9	77%	13	+4.7
18	Owen Wiley	Akron	13.3	50	51.5	20%	29	−11.9
19	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	13.3	64	61.5	48%	26	+9.2
20	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	13.5	76	63.8	78%	15	+8.6
21	Stone Harrington	Texas Tech	13.5	102	64.4	75%	17	+14.7
22	Dillon Curtis	Utah	13.5	83	62.9	71%	21	+5.2
23	Sean Olvera-Harle	Hawai'i	13.6	24	61.5	33%	16	+1.7
24	Martin Connington	Michigan State	13.6	37	62.0	51%	12	−2.2
25	Seth Morgan	Tulsa	13.8	59	60.5	56%	24	+5.9
26	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	13.8	62	57.7	35%	30	−3.8
27	Abram Murray	California	13.8	34	60.1	41%	17	+3.8
28	Elijah Slibeck	Virginia	13.9	66	62.6	64%	20	+9.0
29	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	13.9	13	61.1	15%	11	−0.7
30	Sam Carpenter	Pittsburgh	14.0	66	62.9	55%	28	−3.6
31	Andy Quinn	Boston College	14.1	34	63.4	56%	13	−2.0
32	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	14.5	78	63.8	86%	11	+5.8
33	Tate Sandell	Oklahoma	14.6	68	63.8	56%	26	+7.1
34	Baylen Woodman	Middle Tennessee	14.8	51	61.5	63%	13	+1.6
35	Erik Schmidt	Notre Dame	14.8	70	64.1	79%	15	+0.8
36	Connor Gibbs	Auburn	14.8	55	64.2	78%	10	+6.5
37	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	14.8	63	63.1	51%	20	−3.1
38	Beckham Sunderland	Michigan	15.2	65	64.1	65%	16	+9.3
39	Miguel Arenas	North Texas	15.3	37	56.6	38%	19	−5.6
40	Gianni Spetic	Memphis	15.3	76	63.1	70%	20	+8.8
41	Jack Howes	Buffalo	15.4	59	59.8	51%	25	−10.2
42	John Hohl	Nebraska	15.4	50	61.8	48%	22	+0.4
43	Jadyn Oh	Syracuse	15.4	46	60.4	70%	13	−1.3
44	Paddy McAteer	Troy	15.5	60	60.2	55%	24	−3.1
45	Max Morgan	Liberty	15.7	55	61.7	47%	25	−0.9
46	Cash McVay	App State	15.7	56	63.8	70%	16	+0.2
47	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	15.7	50	62.9	58%	20	+2.3
48	Nate Flower	West Virginia	15.7	24	61.0	46%	10	−0.7
49	Will Hryszko	Kent State	15.9	51	62.3	53%	21	+2.2
50	Rhett Armstrong	Baylor	16.0	67	63.6	52%	30	+11.0
51	Ethan Head	West Virginia	16.0	26	59.2	15%	22	+2.7
52	Kansei Matsuzawa	Hawai'i	16.0	47	59.6	32%	30	−2.7
53	Michael James	Texas State	16.2	83	62.0	57%	29	−1.6
54	Adam Zouagui	South Florida	16.2	75	63.9	77%	15	+4.5
55	DC Pippin	Ball State	16.3	29	58.2	31%	18	+0.4
56	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	16.3	50	63.4	64%	16	−1.1
57	Zach Long	Bowling Green	16.4	57	58.6	35%	30	−3.3
58	Ryan Harris	Washington State	16.4	58	62.7	64%	18	+2.1
59	Oliver Robbins	Missouri	16.5	57	62.3	42%	25	+8.9
60	Everett Scott	East Carolina	16.5	52	61.2	44%	28	−2.4
61	Yousef Obeid	Missouri State	16.7	52	59.9	44%	27	+0.3
62	Grant Glasgow	New Mexico	16.7	38	61.3	61%	11	+0.2
63	David Dellenbach	Ohio	16.8	68	58.9	21%	40	−22.5
64	Isaiah Hankins	Colorado State	16.8	42	61.6	60%	17	−4.5
65	Noe Ruelas	UCF	16.8	59	63.5	69%	18	−0.2
66	Nate McCashland	TCU	16.8	53	61.5	53%	19	+1.1
67	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	16.9	66	64.2	83%	10	+8.2
68	Hamilton DiBoyan	South Alabama	17.0	59	61.4	34%	27	−1.5
69	Carl Hardin	Temple	17.1	62	62.7	63%	18	−3.3
70	Chase Meyer	California	17.1	12	53.5	8%	11	−2.7
71	Sam Keltner	SMU	17.2	69	62.3	57%	28	+2.8
72	Atticus Sappington	Oregon	17.2	50	63.4	66%	14	0.0
73	Caden Costa	UNLV	17.3	85	63.1	44%	39	+4.7
74	Devin Bale	Arkansas	17.3	66	62.8	71%	14	−3.3
75	Cade Graham	Central Michigan	17.3	58	60.5	24%	38	+1.9
76	Logan Klotz	Louisiana	17.4	52	59.6	13%	39	+3.4
77	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	17.4	48	61.3	75%	10	−1.1
78	Nathan Kirkwood	Navy	17.5	12	54.4	8%	11	−3.1
79	Kali Nguma	North Texas	17.6	64	60.3	45%	29	−1.9
80	Jackson Cleaver	UTEP	17.7	25	59.8	36%	15	0.0
81	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	17.7	68	60.5	50%	27	−0.7
82	Conor Talty	Alabama	18.1	65	62.4	55%	20	+10.3
83	Nate Reed	Delaware	18.1	65	62.3	65%	18	−5.0
84	Zac Yoakam	Houston	18.2	67	63.5	48%	31	−4.2
85	Nathanial Eichner	Old Dominion	18.2	34	57.3	15%	23	−3.8
86	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	18.3	64	63.3	81%	12	−1.7
87	Nick Konieczynski	NC State	18.3	25	61.9	48%	12	+3.9
88	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	18.5	13	58.6	0%	13	−6.6
89	Chase Smith	Iowa State	18.6	27	56.5	4%	25	−8.0
90	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	18.6	63	63.5	70%	16	+2.4
91	David Olano	Illinois	18.6	68	62.4	75%	11	+2.9
92	Britton Williams	Kennesaw State	18.7	65	61.2	31%	35	+1.4
93	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	18.7	26	57.9	12%	21	−0.6
94	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	18.7	65	63.7	69%	15	−3.4
95	Noah Grant	Florida International	18.8	70	60.3	24%	47	−2.3
96	Philip Noyes	Maryland	18.9	38	58.5	21%	30	−6.3
97	Aeron Burrell	LSU	19.1	62	62.9	69%	14	+2.9
98	Chris Freeman	UConn	19.2	83	63.9	69%	22	+8.6
99	Anderson Britton	Army	19.3	53	60.3	42%	26	−4.1
100	Marcus Lye	Massachusetts	19.5	33	56.7	18%	23	−6.6
101	Jesus Gomez	Arizona State	19.7	54	61.5	54%	21	−6.8
102	Mathias Brown	San José State	19.7	57	61.6	42%	29	−7.1
103	Nick Keller	Louisville	20.0	74	64.2	77%	16	+4.6
104	Jaffer Murphy	UTSA	20.0	79	61.9	61%	29	−2.3
105	Nathan Dibert	Eastern Michigan	20.1	61	60.3	51%	26	−9.6
106	Caleb Ojeda	Oregon State	20.2	37	60.0	27%	26	+0.2
107	Colton Boomer	Boise State	20.2	72	64.4	82%	10	+4.0
108	Seth Turner	Purdue	20.3	53	63.3	57%	16	+3.6
109	Philippe Laforge	Coastal Carolina	20.4	57	62.9	61%	19	+4.6
110	Cristiano Rosa	James Madison	20.4	84	63.5	68%	23	+1.2
111	Ethan Moczulski	Washington	20.4	67	64.3	72%	18	−2.6
112	Jack Cassidy	Western Kentucky	20.6	66	62.8	70%	14	+4.4
113	Jared Zirkel	Texas A&M	20.7	30	62.8	60%	11	−1.6
114	Rece Verhoff	North Carolina	20.8	51	64.4	75%	12	+5.1
115	Andrew Nelms	Florida Atlantic	20.8	63	62.9	70%	18	+3.1
116	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	20.8	19	59.2	11%	13	−3.7
117	Robert Hammond III	Toledo	21.0	66	62.8	58%	25	−2.3
118	Ryon Sayeri	USC	21.1	83	64.3	67%	24	+5.5
119	Andrew Glass	Northern Illinois	21.3	47	56.6	32%	23	−8.0
120	Quinn Warren	Indiana	21.4	36	61.3	44%	17	−0.7
121	Ryan Hawk	New Mexico State	21.5	46	61.0	67%	11	+2.6
122	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	21.7	44	63.4	48%	23	−5.8
123	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	21.8	70	62.6	60%	23	+2.1
124	Evan Scruggs	Georgia Southern	21.8	62	62.0	40%	36	−2.8
125	Josh Hamel	Old Dominion	21.9	17	63.3	41%	10	+2.7
126	Charlie Birtwistle	NC State	22.3	40	63.2	63%	15	+0.3
127	Luke Akers	Northwestern	22.7	39	63.1	56%	17	+0.6
128	Owen Simpson	UAB	23.1	57	58.7	46%	27	−26.3
129	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	24.2	26	62.3	62%	10	+5.3
130	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	25.2	67	63.4	55%	27	−1.2
131	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	27.7	32	61.9	44%	17	−5.7

All 2025 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Return Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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