Iowa kicking competition wide open
IOWA CITY, Iowa – If keeping quarterback C.J. Beathard healthy is the biggest concern for Iowa fans, than the kicking game is probably a close second.
One of the top priorities during preseason practice, which started on Thursday, will be to pick a new starting kicker and punter.
Redshirt sophomores Miguel Recinos and Mick Ellis are battling to pick up where Marshall Koehn left off last season as the starting kicker.
Koehn graduated after last season and is now trying to earn a roster spot with the Miami Dolphins.
Recinos is currently listed as the starting kicker, but the competition remains wide open as the depth chart means very little in the early stages of fall camp.
“There’s actually four other kickers here so from time to time it’ll get a little chippy," Ellis said during Iowa’s media day on Saturday. "It’s pretty healthy competition. Obviously, we all want the job. I’m not going to say I want to sit on the bench because I don’t.
"But I want the Hawkeyes to be the best they can be and have the best kicker they can. If I can kick my absolute best every day and that makes Miguel better and then he wins the job, then I just made the Hawkeyes better by kicking my hardest in practice even though I don’t get to step on the field."
Neither Ellis nor Recinos have much experience kicking at the collegiate level. They are a combined 9-for-9 on point-after kicks in their careers.
Both kickers arrived on campus in 2014. Ellis, who is on scholarship, saw his first game action that season, while Recinos was redshirted as a freshman walk-on.
Their roles were reversed last season with Ellis being redshirted and Recinos seeing his first and only game action against North Texas.
"Freshman year was nice to get kind of a taste for what it was like to kick in front of 100,000 people and get the nervous ticks out a little bit," said Ellis, who is from Allen, Texas "Last year, with Marshall stepping up, and he improved greatly, that was actually really good for me. I got a chance to learn from somebody who had been there for four years and been through it already and improved greatly, I mean, he’s with the Miami Dolphins right now.
"I had the chance to actually learn instead of being thrown into it. It was really great for me to sit behind a guy who was so great.”
For Recinos, stepping onto the field at Kinnick Stadium last season was an unforgettable experience.
“Growing up a Hawkeye fan you see the team and they seem like such giants," said Recinos, who is from Mason City. "Then you get to be on the team and it’s really cool.
"I remember in the North Texas game I saw the field, that’s something you never forget, being able to strap on your uniform and go out there.”
Should he lose the kicking competition, Recinos has another route he could take to get on the field. He is currently listed as the number two punter behind redshirt freshman Colten Rastetter.
Central Michigan graduate transfer Ron Coluzzi is also in the mix for the punting and kickoff duties.
"It’s basically going to be the best man who is going to get the job," Recinos said. "So if Ron is the best at kickoffs and punts then he’ll do both. That’s how it’s going to be.”