Ep. 41 - Brett Arkelian - Recruiting 101 for Specialists & How Colleges Evaluate Kickers

As I thought about this week's podcast, I realized we hadn't yet covered the wide world of special teams and recruiting specialists!

 

Quoting the great Rich Eisen, "Punters are people too!" and we intend to cover all things related to recruiting on this show.

 

Breaking down the recruiting process and more specifically what college recruiters look for in kickers, we are joined by Rice's Special Teams Graduate Assistant - Brett Arkelian. During this episode we talked through Brett's unique experience of going through the recruiting process as a high school, junior college and graduate transfer prospect.

 

We covered a lot of topics that will help recruits and recruiters alike throughout the episode, starting with the importance of mental training:

• As a kicker, you will have to deal with failure and adversity; be prepared for that moment and put yourself in difficult training circumstances so that moment doesn't overwhelm you.
• Secondly, you have to incorporate visualization into your process. Visualize yourself in the environment, walk through the steps mentally and rehearse the big moment until it's just another moment.
• Lastly, you'll notice the chip on Brett's shoulder as he even came up with his own acronym - FEWSIC. "For everyone who said I can't" is Brett's way of using the opinions of others as self motivation, and I loved it. Focus on being positive, but you can also use the doubts of others as fuel for your own internal fire.

When it comes to emailing, researching and reaching out to colleges, here are three quick tips for recruits out there (and this also applies to coaches or recruiters seeking employment from colleges):

1. Email at the very end or at the very beginning of a work day, as you're email will be the first one a coach sees
2. Make a good impression with the secretary and be consistent in reaching out
3. Focus on quality over quantity in your communication: personalize the message, find common ground, etc.

Also, here are five things that college recruiters need to assess when evaluating kickers:

1. Consistent, linear swing plane
2. Smooth in the approach
3. Limit in backswing
4. Locked out kicking foot (plantar flexion)
5. Height on the ball

This was an awesome episode to record, and I hope you learned as much as I did about kicking after listening through! To find and follow Brett's work, be sure to visit his website The Kicker's Bible | Iceman Kicking! Check out his podcast, the "Iceman Kicking Podcast" and pick up his ebook - "The Kicker's Bible!"

 

Thanks for listening and you can always visit UpCloseInPersonnel.com for complete show notes and listening links!