The Search for a new Punter in 2022 Thread

[CGI_Ram]

View: https://twitter.com/apfenny/status/1533151055365689350?s=21&t=wWErABzBbMOIbazMyplFjA

 

[CGI_Ram]

Nevada's Julian Diaz goes from rice farmer to one of nation's best punters

During the summer after his first season at Nevada, punter Julian Diaz was hanging out with some friends when he got a call from Wolf Pack head coach Jay Norvell. "I’m, like, ‘Uh, oh, I don’t know what this means,'" Diaz recalled. Typically, getting unexpected calls from your head coach in the...

nevadasportsnet.com

Nevada's Julian Diaz goes from rice farmer to one of nation's best punters​

During the summer after his first season at Nevada, punter Julian Diaz was hanging out with some friends when he got a call from Wolf Pack head coach Jay Norvell.

"I’m, like, ‘Uh, oh, I don’t know what this means,'" Diaz recalled.

Typically, getting unexpected calls from your head coach in the middle of the offseason isn't great news. Especially when you're a walk-on special teams player. Diaz didn't remember doing anything wrong, so he answered the call.

"He said, ‘Hey, you’re on scholarship,'" Diaz said.

Diaz immediately called his parents. His dad chuckled. His mom teared up. The one-time high school soccer player had become a scholarship player at college football's top level.

“The dream came true," Diaz said.

Growing up in Lincoln, Calif., outside of Auburn, Diaz always looked up to Nevada. It was a school he would have loved to play for, but that didn't seem realistic. A soccer player in his youth, Diaz joined the football team during his freshman year of high school because his brother was a senior kicker on the team and tore his meniscus.

"They said, ‘Hey, you play soccer, why don’t you come try out?’" Diaz said.

He played a couple games but not much came of it. He continued to focus on soccer until his junior year when he was told to pick a sport. He opted for football over soccer, primarily as a kicker. As a senior, he made 2-of-6 field goals and 41-of-47 extra points, certainly not numbers that would grease a path to the FBS. But nearby American River College reached out to see if he'd be willing to join their junior-college roster.

"I didn’t know where it was going to take me," Diaz said. "If I get D-II, D-III, whatever, I’ll go with it. I got there and met a lot of really good people and learned how to work. I worked two full-time jobs, going to school full time, practicing and I played one year as a kicker. I didn’t punt then. I did field goals, kickoffs and my sophomore year came by and our punter got hurt and so I started doing that and now I’m here.”

Indeed, American River College's starting punter broke his pinky fielding a snap during Diaz's sophomore season, which opened the door for the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder to showcase his bazooka left leg. In 26 punts, Diaz averaged 39.3 yards per attempt. He also made 6-of-8 field goals and 28-of-30 extra points while averaging 61.4 yards per kickoff, the second-best mark in the state. After earning his associate’s degree, then-Nevada associate head coach Angus McClure offered a walk-on spot at Nevada.

"I drove up the three hours, dropped my transfer papers off and said, ‘You know what? I’m in. I’m all in,’" Diaz said. "Now I’m here and it’s probably the best decision I’ve made.”

Diaz spent his first season at Nevada as the team's kickoff specialist, a job he was fine with but it wasn't the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal was being the team's starting punter, a job he earned prior to last year. And in 2020, Diaz had one of the best punting seasons in program history, averaging 46.3 yards per attempt with a long of 76. Eleven of his 23 punts went at least 50 yards, and he had only one touchback. He was named the Mountain West special teams player of the week after a win over San Diego State when all five of his punts went at least 50 yards with four dropping inside the 20-yard line. He was named All-MW honorable mention after the year.

Thanks to Nevada's explosive offense, Diaz didn't have enough punts to qualify for the national leaders, but if he did his 46.3 average would have placed him in the top 10 in the nation. It's the second-best average in school history behind Pat Brady's mark of 46.9 yards in 1950. Diaz has drawn rave reviews from Norvell and special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield.

“Norvell is very big on special teams," Diaz said. "He’s always talking about it in meetings, practice, that special teams is huge. He said all the time that it comes down to special teams in the end. If I have a bad punt, a bad kickoff or we don’t cover well, it can change the whole game and it has before. Whether we’re doing special teams, he makes sure everybody is dialed in and doing what we need to do. There are three aspects of the game, special teams, offense and defense, and he’s very big on it.”

Diaz said last year's season opener against Wyoming helped shake off any nerves he had playing at this level. In the fourth quarter of that game, Diaz boomed a 76-yarder punt and followed that with a 71-yarder that went out at the 1-yard line. It was one of the most impressive quarters a Nevada punter had ever had as the Wolf Pack won 37-34 in overtime.

“Last year against Wyoming, I started off a little rough and then started getting warm and then I hit a 70-yarder and that kind of warmed me up," Diaz said. "The last punt where I bounced it out at the 1-yard line, everybody was all hyped up and I got hyped up and ever since then punting has kind of changed for me. Punting is taken seriously now and I know when I get the opportunity, I can really make a difference.”

Diaz credited Sheffield for helping him develop since he never had a punting coach before getting to Nevada. Diaz affectionately called Sheffield "nuts" for the energy he displays day in and day out.

“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had," Diaz said. "He brings a new energy every day. It’s something new every single day. In the meeting room, he’s nuts. He’s jumping around and screaming and hollering, but he gets the whole team worked up and gets us worked up every day and comes out here with a great attitude. He’s helping all of us, kickers, punters and long snappers. He’s helped me so much in the punting game. I didn’t really have coaching, and he’s taught me so much, different punts and kickoffs and really getting consistent with it.”

Given his success last year, Diaz opted to return for a second senior season, which the NCAA allowed due to COVID-19's impact on the 2020 campaign. It's been a remarkable journey from a couple of years ago when Diaz was working two jobs while attending a community college to make ends meet.

“I was working as a rice farmer throughout the day and on weekends I was a food runner at a restaurant," Diaz said.

And now he's one of the nation's best punters.

 

[fanotodd]

Wow! We’re talking about a punter battle.
Not who’s gonna be our QB.
Not who’s our QB gonna throw it to.
Not if we can stop the run or the pass.
We’re talking about PUNTERS!

We’ve come a long way.
It’s good to be the king!!

 

[Tano]

Wow! We’re talking about a punter battle.
Not who’s gonna be our QB.
Not who’s our QB gonna throw it to.
Not if we can stop the run or the pass.
We’re talking about PUNTERS!

We’ve come a long way.
It’s good to be the king!!

And that is the only battle where the spot is completely up for grabs.

You could say that there is a battle for one OLB but we have an idea what we have there, at CB opposite Ramsey but again we have an idea of what should happen and the right guard position (which is heavily leaning toward Bruss).

But punter - no clue who is going to win - none whatsoever

Let the best man win.

 

[RamsSince1969]

Boomed a 76 yard punt and followed that with a 71 yard punt.......... yawn

 

[dang]

Boomed a 76 yard punt and followed that with a 71 yard punt.......... yawn

I think a 73.5 avg would work.

 

[Tano]

I think a 73.5 avg would work.

That means the only times we punt is when we kick from our own 26 or lower

Not happening