Marshall Specialists Train with One On One Kicking in Arkansas
By: Zach Harig
Last spring, One On One Kicking and founder, Mike McCabe made their way to Huntington, West Virginia to run the Marshall specialists camp. There, Coach McCabe and company would find extreme talent, especially in three of the Thundering Herd specialists – Tyler Williams, Kaare Vedvik, and Amoreto Curraj. At the time, Coach McCabe and his staff didn’t do much to the techniques of the already lethal specialist at Marshall, but the fixes they did make would pay off.
“Last spring, Coach McCabe came to one of our camps and he tweaked us out a bit,” kicker Amoreto Curraj stated, “He didn’t change anything major, but what he did change helped us out a lot.”
Since those adjustments made at camp, the Marshall specialists have been training with Coach McCabe and the One On One Kicking staff. In fact, this summer, all three made their way to Arkansas for summer training.
In Arkansas, the Marshall specialists have gotten the chance to learn from some professional talent – including St. Louis Rams punter and NFL Pro-Bowler, Johnny Hekker and former Super Bowl Champion and veteran kicker, Garrett Hartley.
“My obvious goal is to punt in the National Football League,” Marshall senior punter, Tyler Williams stated, “And I know that training with Coach McCabe and One On One is the way to get there. There are so many things you don’t understand you’re doing wrong until you train with guys like Johnny Hekker (St. Louis Rams), Ryan Allen (New England Patriots), Ryan Quigley (New York Jets), and Pat O’Donnell (Chicago Bears) and you see how crafty they are and what you need to do to improve,” Williams continued.
Entering his final season at Marshall, Williams has had a storied career with the Herd. In his rookie season with the Herd, Williams won the punting job and did not disappoint, leading all FBS freshman with a 45.19 punting average. Following his freshman campaign, Williams found himself breaking several Marshall records and was recognized as an All-American.
Prior to training with One On One Kicking, Williams already found himself on preseason Ray Guy watch-lists for the top collegiate punter and already had several accolades. However, Williams says the One On One coaches have already helped him with so much.
“I’ve always been a put in the work kind of guy and I was pretty good prior to One On One, but they’ve helped me with all of the little things like getting my drop right, shortening my step, and working on my drop table. It’s the little things like those that take you from a good college punter to the pros,” Williams continued.
Aside from the training, the Arkansas summer training with One On One Kicking has helped Williams strengthen his bond with his fellow specialist teammates, Kaare Vedvik and Amoreto Curraj.
“We’ve always had a close relationship between us specialists because it’s just us,” Williams said, “At practice, the offense goes with the offense, and defense with defense, then it’s just the specialists. Here with One On One Kicking, though, our relationships have gotten even better and we really value each other’s opinions.”
For Vedvik and Curraj, they understand that they may be competing for jobs this season, which can make things competitive. Despite the competition, it doesn’t get in the way of the teammate bond that the two have.
“We know that we’ll be competing this season, but we know that’s part of college football and there’s no hard feelings,” redshirt-sophomore Kaare Vedvik stated, “We’re going to compete, do our best, and the best man wins the job.”
For Curraj, the competitive nature is actually a positive thing, “We’re doing our best and we’re really learning from each other, so it’s not so competitive where it gets in the way, it’s not like that at all.”
For all three Marshall specialists, the week they spent at One On One Kicking camp strengthened an already incredible relationship. The training, talks during meals, and rooming together in the dorms were all things that the three men said they thoroughly enjoyed. Meanwhile, according to Amareto Curraj, the Marshall coaching staff won’t complain about all of the training, either.
“The coaches always tell us they can see a difference,” Curraj said after training with One On One, “Our motions are extremely fluid, they don’t look rough, and the coaches really notice that.”
Marshall has one of the most dangerous offenses in the country and while punter Tyler Williams may find himself on the bench frequently due to the lack of punting, the kicking duties could get a bit tiring. For the Herd, they have three extremely dangerous specialists, and the proper training has them even better going into the 2015 season.