DAYTONA BEACH — Thanks to Dan Lundy and One On One Kicking of Daytona Beach, special teams players will get their day in the football combine sun.
A Schuman’s National Underclassman Combine for kickers, punters and long snappers is being held from 9 a.m. to about 11 a.m. today at Mainland High School, and Lundy was integral in getting the combine here.
“I worked their All-American game in Charleston (S.C.) in 2010,” Lundy said. “I met a bunch of guys up there and they liked what we were doing at One On One Kicking.
“They just opened to the special teams-related players this year.”
Lundy expects about 15 players to take part in the combine, which would be a good turnout.
“Based on numbers, if you look on the special teams site, this is like the 10th event and they’re averaging 10 to 15 kids,” he said. “You get like 35 or 40 for skilled positions. This is, for our first one, one of the bigger ones.”
Among the participants signed up are a trio of Seabreeze players — the only allotment from the Volusia/Flagler area — in Scott Gaston, Chris Jones and Jordan Patsch.
Players are separated into two groups, ninth and 10th graders in one group and 11th and 12th in the other. Kickers will take cracks from the left hash, middle of the field and right hash. They’ll start with extra points then move back for as long as they can make field goals, Lundy said.
“The 10th graders usually get to about 40 (yards) and the upper classmen get to attempt 50, then go 5 yards back from that,” he said.
Snappers will hike for field goal (7 yards back) and punting (15 yards back) distances. Some players will also undergo agility tests.
The combine is a numbers game, with no scouts present. Organizers will be charting the numbers and sending them to Schuman’s National Underclassman Combine, which posts them on their web site.
Unfortunately, weather can be an issue when it comes to the numbers.
“Hopefully the wind cooperates,” Lundy said. “If it’s like last week with 25 mile an hour winds, oh my gosh. We’re praying for good weather.”