Austin Jones could be the answer to Alabama's kicking woes
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A 28-second video clip shows Austin Jones and his tree trunk of a right leg pinging balls through the uprights during a Kohl’s Kicking camp in January.
56 yards.
47 yards.
45 yards.
40 yards.
Each attempt drilled effortlessly down the middle.
Those are the kicks that put the graduate transfer on Alabama’s radar. However, they aren’t necessarily the ones Crimson Tide fans should be most excited about.
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A better depiction of Jones’ poise can be found in a grainy replay of a November night in Orlando, Fla. in 2012. Then a junior in high school, Jones was called on to attempt the game-winning kick for Boone High School against rival Edgewater in Central Florida’s famous “Battle for the Barrel.”
Down 12-10 with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Jones strode confidently toward the ball, sending it sailing through the uprights from 34 yards out.
“It was just like another kick for him,” said Andy Johnson, Jones’ former high school coach. “His makeup is just so much different than any other kicker that I’ve ever been around.”
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Jones isn’t built like recent Alabama kickers. His stocky, 5-foot-10, 215-pound frame won’t be mistaken for that of a soccer player. Jones never wanted to play soccer. He wanted to be a linebacker.
“He’s a tough kid. He’d always find a way to sneak into tackling drills, linebacker drills,” Johnson said. “He’s an athletic kid and could have done it, but I’m a smart coach. I wasn’t about to let my star kicker get hurt.”
That hard-nosed style was developed at a young age.
Nick Fleming’s All-American Kicking differs from some of the nation’s larger camps. Instead of churning out dozens of prospects, the Orlando-based program is content with focusing on eight or nine per year.
The low numbers are partially by design but also a product of the camps arduous demands.
“We turn the heat up a little bit on them,” Fleming said. “It’s not that it’s a small group, it’s that only a small group decide to stick around because it’s so tough.”
Jones, who started training with Fleming in junior high, was a natural fit.
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“Austin’s one of those kids that even back in seventh and eighth grade at the end of practice we would run 18 100-yard dashes, and he’d be the first one coming across the finish line every time,” Fleming said. “We had high school guys puking their guts up on the sideline, but he just kept going. His drive and his ambition are just so strong.”
Fleming also played a part in developing Jones’ Boone teammates, former Florida All-American punter Johnny Townsend and his brother Tommy, who will be in charge of the Gators’ punting duties this season.
Johnny Townsend, who will serve as the Oakland Raiders’ starting punter this season, says Jones has the same “it factor” he’s seen from other great kickers at both the SEC and NFL levels.
“What a lot of the great guys have that I’ve come across is the mentality,” Townsend said. “Not much fazes them, conditions, crowd noise, nerve situations. He definitely has that aspect that a great kicker needs.”
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Jones signed with Temple in 2014 in what seemed to be the start of a promising marriage. After an up and down freshman season, he caught fire his sophomore year, hitting on 23 of 28 field-goal attempts while beginning a school-record streak of 19 makes in a row.
Regarded as one of the top kickers in the American Athletic Conference, Jones began his junior season by connecting on 10 of his first 12 tries over the first six games. Then adversity caught him from behind.
During a fourth-quarter kickoff against Memphis, Jones was sandwiched by two Tigers blockers, colliding into the first before being blindsided by the other. The second hit caused the kicker to fall to the ground awkwardly, resulting in an ACL injury that would sideline him for the rest of the year.
“It was a dirty hit, and that made it even worse,” Johnson said. “I didn’t see the play live, but after watching it on replay, Austin was definitely in a defenseless position.”
Adding insult to injury, Jones’ replacement, freshman walk-on Aaron Boumerhi, finished the season by making 15 of 17 attempts en route to earning second-team All-AAC honors.
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Temple used a two-kicker system the following season with Jones coming on for shorter kicks while Boumerhi attempted longer tries. However, after converting 4 of 5 tries to start the season, Jones admitted that his body “isn’t quite there yet,” and elected to take a medical redshirt instead.
“I reached out to him shortly after the injury,” Townsend said. “He was really bummed about the injury as any college athlete would be… but he’s just a really positive kid who did a good job of handling it mentally. He just attacked the rehab, and now he’s ready to go.”
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Alabama is where talented kickers come to die. The national spotlight that coincides with kicking for the nation’s top team has melted down even the most promising prospects.
During Nick Saban’s tenure, only two Alabama kickers have posted a field goal percentage of 80 percent or higher. Leigh Tiffin made 85.7 percent of his kicks during Saban’s first national-title run with the Crimson Tide in 2009. Jeremey Shelley was a perfect 11-for-11 during the 2012 season but did not attempt a kick longer than 39 yards.
Alabama kickers have had their moments since then. However, all too often they are ones Crimson Tide fans want to forget. The most recent of those occurred with three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of last season’s national championship game as Andy Pappanastos marched out for the potential game-winning field goal from 36-yards out.
Pappanastos nervously trotted to the center of the field before hooking his attempt hopelessly to the left. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa eventually bailed out his teammate with a game-winning touchdown to DeVonta Smith in overtime, but not before a few tense moments.
Johnson is expecting a bit less drama if Alabama finds itself in a similar situation this year.
“I don’t see him crapping his pants on the sidelines like last year’s guy did,” Johnson said. “I could see it in that kid’s face. I’ve never seen that from Austin. I don’t think I ever will. He’s a cool customer.”
First, though, Alabama had to find Jones.
Following Pappanastos’ graduation, first-year Alabama special teams coordinator Jeff Banks called on close friend Jamie Kohl for a favor. Banks told Kohl, the director for Kohl's Professional Camps, that he was looking to add to Alabama’s talent pool at kicker to go along with redshirt freshman Joseph Bulovas. Having watched Jones recently at his camp, Kohl knew he had just the man for the job.
“To me, Austin Jones was clear and away the easiest choice for what they were looking for,” Kohl said. “He had experience in games, a great pedigree. He was a very consistent player at Temple. … He was looking to go to a big-time school, so the timing was perfect.”
Shortly after, Banks reached out to Jones inviting him to take an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa, Ala. After meeting Saban and taking a tour of Alabama’s facilities, Jones was sold.
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Jones is currently listed as a co-starter with Bulovas at placekicker and on kickoffs on Alabama’s official depth chart. Outside of that, Saban has been mum regarding the competition.
“We haven't made that decision yet,” Saban said Monday. “So we'll keep letting both guys kick this week, and we'll sort of see what happens."
The head coach was even less revealing when questioned about Jones’ range.
“I do know it, but I'm not sure I'm interested in telling you,” Saban said.
Jones’ longest field goal at Temple was from 47 yards out during his freshman season. According to sources, he hit a field goal from more than 50 yards out during Alabama’s second scrimmage. Although, the consensus from those who have worked with him in the past is that his range is anywhere from 45-50 yards out.
“We normally stick inside of 50,” Fleming explained. “That’s what I want all my kickers to become masters at because those are the kicks you’re actually going to be able to take. Yeah, you might get one 55-yarder a year, but those kicks from 50 and in are what coaches depend on. That’s always been Austin’s mindset: ‘I’m going to be automatic from 50 and in.’”
Jones’ journey will come full circle Saturday as Alabama opens its season against Louisville in his hometown of Orlando. The game will mark the newest chapter in his career, one that is bound to bring heightened scrutiny and pressure.
It won’t be easy, but don’t be surprised if Jones makes it look that way.
“I think he’s just really looking to kick and enjoy the process,” Johnson said. “He knows what’s at stake. He gets it. I think he has the right approach, and I don’t see him succumbing to any kind of pressure.”