2026 College Average Kickoff Distance Leaders

The average length of a specialist's kickoffs in yards, from the kicking spot to where the ball was caught or crossed the goal line. Onside kicks are left out.

A touchback counts the full distance to the goal line, so a deep kick and a kick into the end zone score the same. In 2026, John Hoyet Chance (65.3) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Nick Reed (65.3) and Max Gilbert (65.2). 146 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 15 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 63.3. This season is in progress (through Week 7), so the numbers change each week.

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.

Data through Week 7 of the 2026 season, updated October 24, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	65.3	29	90%	2	−0.9
2	Nick Reed	SMU	65.3	19	95%	1	−1.2
3	Max Gilbert	Arkansas	65.2	25	88%	3	+1.6
4	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	65.0	31	94%	2	+1.2
5	Brody Laga	BYU	65.0	23	96%	1	−0.3
6	Paddy McAteer	Indiana	64.9	37	89%	3	+3.1
7	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	64.9	18	89%	1	+1.2
8	Kyle Konrardy	Iowa State	64.9	35	89%	4	0.0
9	Stone Harrington	Texas Tech	64.9	27	89%	3	+3.4
10	Zechariah Duke	Kennesaw State	64.9	19	89%	2	+1.6
11	Carter Cremascoli	Air Force	64.9	37	97%	0	+2.7
12	James London	App State	64.9	41	90%	3	−0.6
13	Antonio Chadha	Pittsburgh	64.9	16	75%	3	−2.6
14	David Olano	Texas A&M	64.8	30	87%	3	−1.6
15	Justin Dewers	Vanderbilt	64.8	16	88%	1	+1.4
16	Conor McAneney	Florida State	64.8	41	83%	7	+0.5
17	Scott Starzyk	LSU	64.8	46	85%	6	+1.8
18	Brunno Reus	Missouri	64.8	39	82%	6	−3.4
19	Lorcan Quinn	Alabama	64.8	47	87%	5	+5.1
20	Elliot Arnold	Colorado	64.8	18	67%	6	+0.1
21	Brendan Baird	SMU	64.7	17	94%	1	+0.9
22	Adam Zouagui	Kentucky	64.7	40	80%	1	+2.6
23	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	64.7	39	85%	5	+0.4
24	Jordan Westrich	Akron	64.7	15	73%	3	+0.9
25	Jake Weinberg	Miami	64.5	38	87%	4	+0.1
26	Beckham Sunderland	Minnesota	64.5	36	78%	8	+3.4
27	Andrew Conrad	East Carolina	64.5	24	83%	3	+1.7
28	Erik Sandvik	Wyoming	64.5	24	75%	4	+2.0
29	Derek Morris	Massachusetts	64.4	45	80%	8	+0.1
30	Nick Keller	Louisville	64.4	48	85%	6	+5.3
31	Peter McStravick	Ole Miss	64.4	15	60%	4	0.0
32	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	64.4	31	65%	8	+0.6
33	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	64.3	20	85%	3	+1.8
34	Collin Rogers	Florida Atlantic	64.3	37	81%	6	+0.6
35	Cole Byrd	Virginia Tech	64.3	46	80%	4	+4.7
36	Carlos Arreola	UTEP	64.3	22	73%	6	+1.4
37	Nathan Dibert	Eastern Michigan	64.2	37	76%	8	+5.0
38	Tate Sandell	Oklahoma	64.2	25	84%	3	+0.7
39	Elijah Slibeck	Virginia	64.2	43	72%	11	+4.3
40	Grant Glasgow	New Mexico	64.2	22	68%	4	+3.5
41	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	64.2	49	73%	6	+2.7
42	Enock Gota	Rice	64.2	17	82%	3	+1.9
43	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	64.1	18	83%	1	+0.4
44	Dillon Curtis	Utah	64.1	40	78%	6	+3.9
45	Tarik Ahmetbasic	Memphis	64.1	43	84%	5	+1.8
46	Owen Simpson	UAB	64.0	35	77%	4	+0.7
47	Liam Boyd	Michigan State	64.0	31	74%	7	+3.0
48	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	63.9	39	62%	13	−3.2
49	Connor Gibbs	Auburn	63.9	28	89%	2	+1.5
50	Riley Sullivan	Baylor	63.8	37	57%	8	+1.0
51	Cosme Salas	Duke	63.8	21	81%	4	−3.4
52	Ian Kelly	Charlotte	63.8	19	84%	3	+0.9
53	Mathias Brown	San José State	63.8	33	58%	11	−0.5
54	Andrew Nelms	Old Dominion	63.8	27	74%	7	−1.2
55	Blake Ford	Georgia Southern	63.8	34	71%	10	+1.1
56	Will Hryszko	Ohio	63.8	40	60%	8	+3.9
57	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	63.7	27	59%	10	+3.4
58	Patrick Durkin	Florida	63.7	49	84%	8	+2.3
59	Carson Smith	Arizona State	63.7	32	69%	6	+3.3
60	Sam Hunsaker	Pittsburgh	63.6	25	44%	11	−1.2
61	Ryan Short	Northern Illinois	63.6	19	68%	4	+0.1
62	Jacob Baggett	Michigan	63.6	26	65%	7	−1.4
63	Mike Baker	UConn	63.5	42	71%	7	+0.2
64	Ethan Moczulski	Illinois	63.5	32	75%	7	+2.2
65	Abram Murray	UL Monroe	63.5	24	71%	6	+2.6
66	Oisin Flynn	Mississippi State	63.5	29	45%	8	−0.5
67	Robert Hammond III	Kansas State	63.5	29	66%	8	+2.1
68	Joseph Kim	Oklahoma State	63.4	45	73%	5	−1.4
69	Drew Klein	North Dakota State	63.4	37	76%	6	+0.4
70	Micah Drescher	Notre Dame	63.4	39	64%	13	−2.6
71	Lawson Thorn	South Florida	63.4	17	41%	6	+3.6
72	Ryon Sayeri	USC	63.3	46	61%	8	−1.9
73	Cooper Helmke	Tulane	63.3	26	69%	1	+1.3
74	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	63.3	40	75%	6	−0.2
75	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	63.2	34	56%	14	+2.7
76	Max Kelley	South Carolina	63.2	34	62%	9	+2.2
77	Balint Vorosmarty	Georgia State	63.2	39	38%	20	−3.9
78	Cooper DiLeva	San Diego State	63.2	31	65%	9	+2.8
79	Marcello Diomede	Ohio State	63.1	48	79%	5	+1.0
80	Ryan Kobzeff	Fresno State	63.1	37	54%	10	+3.8
81	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	63.1	38	63%	12	+0.6
82	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	63.1	33	45%	12	+3.6
83	Zac Yoakam	Houston	63.0	49	63%	15	+4.9
84	Cavan Craig	Colorado State	63.0	35	43%	16	−7.7
85	Brayden Baker	UNLV	63.0	32	44%	14	−3.4
86	Andy Quinn	Boston College	63.0	20	45%	8	+2.4
87	Michael James	Texas State	63.0	38	74%	7	+1.0
88	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	62.9	48	69%	11	+0.9
89	Joe McFadden	Nevada	62.9	27	56%	9	+4.0
90	Will Stone	UCF	62.8	33	79%	7	+0.2
91	Gianni Spetic	Texas	62.7	37	59%	12	−1.8
92	Baylen Woodman	James Madison	62.7	49	61%	11	+1.2
93	Jadyn Oh	Oregon State	62.6	55	64%	16	−6.4
94	Hunter Rioux	Louisiana Tech	62.6	34	76%	3	−1.5
95	Kyah Francone	New Mexico State	62.5	22	27%	16	+2.7
96	Erik Schmidt	Notre Dame	62.5	15	40%	1	−0.2
97	Seth Turner	Purdue	62.5	43	51%	15	+4.8
98	Carl Hardin	Temple	62.5	36	56%	11	−2.0
99	Jack Cassidy	West Virginia	62.5	46	76%	5	+1.4
100	Lucas Carneiro	Ole Miss	62.4	25	60%	8	−6.3
101	Brody Boehm	Ball State	62.4	28	50%	11	−1.4
102	Ian French	Arizona	62.4	39	77%	4	−0.5
103	Gavin Strange	Duke	62.3	19	32%	7	+1.7
104	Dane Efird	Kansas	62.3	37	59%	8	−4.4
105	Lance Gossett	Navy	62.0	30	30%	10	+2.4
106	Samuel Guiden Krebs	Marshall	62.0	24	46%	12	−7.2
107	Lucas Tenbrock	Penn State	62.0	23	57%	8	−0.9
108	Hunter McKee	Washington	61.9	19	53%	4	−1.0
109	Eli Ozick	Iowa	61.9	37	49%	10	+0.4
110	Michael Taylor II	North Texas	61.9	43	56%	15	−4.3
111	Ethan Head	Troy	61.8	31	35%	13	+5.0
112	Stephen Rusnak	Cincinnati	61.8	38	53%	12	−3.8
113	Noah Sur	Northwestern	61.7	38	42%	18	+0.2
114	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	61.7	31	19%	17	−9.6
115	Marlon Hauck	Tulsa	61.6	44	41%	16	+3.0
116	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	61.6	33	70%	5	+3.6
117	Miguel Arenas	Washington State	61.6	21	33%	7	+1.1
118	Gage Hurych	Oregon	61.4	34	53%	8	+1.4
119	Daniel Leahy	Maryland	61.4	21	33%	9	−2.5
120	Tyler Black	Liberty	61.3	32	53%	12	−1.1
121	Robert Czeremcha	Florida International	61.3	33	39%	14	+1.5
122	Tripp Woody	Syracuse	61.3	23	61%	7	−3.5
123	Peyton Argent	South Alabama	61.2	15	20%	8	−0.2
124	Colton Boomer	Boise State	61.1	42	60%	12	−3.9
125	Reice Griffith	Toledo	61.1	44	45%	19	−5.2
126	Wyatt Joyce	Middle Tennessee	60.8	17	41%	8	+0.5
127	Dominic Bourgeois	Middle Tennessee	60.6	16	38%	7	+0.1
128	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	60.6	27	26%	15	+0.3
129	Tucker Smack	Delaware	60.6	26	35%	15	+1.5
130	Sean Olvera-Harle	Hawai'i	60.5	31	35%	15	+0.4
131	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	60.4	39	54%	12	−1.6
132	Logan Klotz	Louisiana	60.3	40	25%	22	−1.1
133	Braydon Doane	UTSA	60.3	44	45%	13	+0.8
134	Zak Zeman	Western Michigan	60.3	22	45%	6	+3.6
135	Towns McGough	California	60.3	30	40%	13	−11.4
136	Dylan Freebury	South Alabama	60.1	18	17%	8	−2.2
137	Daniel Porto	Coastal Carolina	59.9	27	26%	17	+1.0
138	John Hohl	Nebraska	59.8	45	42%	13	−0.8
139	Eli Fulcher	Maryland	59.6	17	35%	10	−1.5
140	Kanoah Vinesett	NC State	59.6	29	41%	14	+1.3
141	Karl Campbell	Western Kentucky	59.4	26	42%	10	−0.3
142	Oliver Hautanen	Buffalo	59.1	18	78%	3	+0.2
143	Sean Leonard	Kent State	59.0	21	24%	9	−1.4
144	Dawson Jones	Army	58.4	39	26%	24	−9.5
145	Nico Gramatica	South Florida	56.9	19	47%	9	+1.6
146	Grant Meadors	Sacramento State	50.9	15	7%	8	−2.9

All 2026 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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