Simple Kicking
Simple Kicking
James Hairston
Simple Kicking is a podcast hosted by James Hairston. Hanging out with the best field goal kickers, punters, and long snappers, on the planet, stories also come from coaches, recruiters, and agents.
Helping transfer kickers find scholarships
We show how the prospect compares to the top active FBS kickers. It sounds like another ranking system? Do you use 5 or 6 stars? Neither, our rating is based on actual results from 20,000 kicks collected from NFL and college play-by-play data. Our kicking database is unlike any other because it compares actual FBS averages to evaluate where a prospect ranks. We use stats to rate kickers, not stars. Simple Kicking has developed advanced metrics to help colleges correctly identify which prospects to evaluate further at camp. 1) We track kicks. 2) We break the data down. 3) We rank. What’s the pitch? Wrong sport… Compared to other positions, the window to evaluate kickers closes quickly. We have distilled many data points into a single score that identifies who has the consistency to kick at the next level. Think of it this way. Would you rather offer a scholarship to a kicker based on highlights OR 100s of attempts over their entire career? What kinds of data does Simple Kicking evaluate? Our goal is to see beyond the obvious. Since traditional metrics do not tell the whole story, we have created our own which have been validated by dozens of NFL and college coaches. 1) Point-production: a prospect’s ability to consistently make kicks in critical moments. 2) Pin-point precision: the distance (in feet) from the center of the goal posts to the location in which the ball crossed the uprights. 3) Punting, too: we estimate net yards based on multiple factors. We'll go into the specific metrics down below.
Apr 27, 2023
6 min
Boosting exposure to college coaches
https://streamyard.com/watch/kQHKzzFKeiuE The Pro-Days are your opportunity to compete and show how the trust you have built turns into results. It also brings previous performance into the evaluation. We evaluate your entire kicking history. A player leaves with three things: 1) Data integrity: we consolidate all of your highlights and videos, then we set up live streams, that way coaches have at least 60 snap, hold kicks to analyze you. Then from that we are putting on a camp this summer from the top players we have an in-person competition. There is no one else who is tracking your kicks and delivering it to the college coaches. We are not coming up with a subjective score whether or not you can kick a long kick. We use real data, real metrics evaluating every one of your kicks, not just highlights. Coaches do not care about your highlights they care about results. Simple Kicking delivers your results to college coaches in one easy to access place. 2) They have a comparison to top college players, and also their peers. 3) They enter the season with the tools needed to be confident and produce consistent results. 4) Simple Kicking Skinny Posts. Live reports and competition. 5) Kickers have validated exposure to college coaches.
Apr 24, 2023
5 min
Collecting Kicking Data to Boost Exposure
The main problem Players face is that Camps do not share data, leaving rankings fragmented across multiple Camps. Sign up for Pro Day Qualifiers Here: https://www.geoji.com/g/Simple-Kicking-Qualifier-3844 Furthermore, one Camp may rank a prospect high; whereas, another Camp ranks the same prospect low, or not at all. Camps require kickers to attend multiple events to continually prove themselves. More camps, high rankings. Add up the camp fees and travel costs, it can be a lot. Finally, Kickers are required for an in-person kicking camp at the schools with open scholarships. Without the Resume, a player relies on showcasing his A ball, which is his best kicking day. So where does all of the data live? Simple Kicking consolidates all kicking data into one online portal. Simple Kicking has FG Tests to screen players to evaluate whether or not an athlete is ready for the next level. Pro Days are an in-person evaluation completed by a trusted eye by NFL Scouting Departments. https://www.geoji.com/g/Simple-Kicking-Qualifier-3844
Apr 21, 2023
7 min
Using Data to Disrupt Recruiting a Kicker
Coaches typically develop feelings based on viewing Hudl film and Twitter highlights. Sign up for Pro Days here: https://www.geoji.com/g/Simple-Kicking-Qualifier-3844 The main problem Coaches face is the sheer volume of kickers to evaluate. Twitter highlights are never ending. Coaches evaluate the ball flight, ball height, and how a prospect performs in a variety of scenarios. Similarly, Simple Kicking processes the video but takes it one step further. Simple Kicking pools together kicks from top recruits and breaks it down into one ranking score. The ranking score organizes the prospect's full kicking resume to prime coaches ahead of the in-person evaluation. The report is like a pre-screening that accurately narrows down the pool of prospects for a scholarship. We have a database with X kickers with X kicks. We find 30 coaches who are interested. Are you interested in exploring. Coach we have tracked the top 30 high school kickers. We have consolidated all of their highlights into one place. In addition, we have a select amount kickers we have monitored for data integrity, X kicks are now processed by our proprietary system and they are ranked . Coaches are able to see the kids that can see the green check. Differentiate highlights vs. validated kicks. Kicker: we haves consolidated if you want to be featured as one of the top 30 then sign up. College coaches are looking at the data right now. We consolidate your key kicking stats which is: point production, pin-point accuracy.
Apr 19, 2023
6 min
Special Teams Roundtable: Todd Goebbel, NC State, and Pete Lembo, South Carolina
Todd Goebbel Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator, North Carolina State History: Ohio State, Marshall Notable Specialists: Mike Nugent, K (New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys) Trenton Gill, P (Chicago Bears), AJ Cole, P (Las Vegas Raiders), Christopher Dunn, K (Lou Groza Award Winner) Pete Lembo Special Teams Coordinator, South Carolina History: Ball State, Maryland, Rice, Memphis, Lehigh, Elon, Ball State Notable Specialists: Jack Fox, P (Detroit Lions) Riley Patterson, K (Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions)
Jan 23, 2023
33 min
Special Teams Roundtable: Doug Deakin, San Diego State, Blake Dunham, Austin Westlake
Doug Deakin is the Special Teams Coordinator at San Diego State University and Blake Dunham is the Special Teams Coordinator at Austin Westlake High School.
Jan 16, 2023
35 min
Special Teams Roundtable: Ryan Dougherty USC, Ryan Saparto, Oregon State, Eric Raisbeck, Penn State
Eric Raisbeck Special Teams Analyst, Penn State History: Utah State, Wisconsin-Platteville, South Dakota School of Mines Notable Specialists: Dom Eberle, K (Green Bay Packers), Jordan Stout (Baltimore Ravens), P https://www.twitter.com/coachraisbeck Ryan Saparto Special Teams Analyst, Oregon St History: Montana State, Washington, Washington St. Notable Specialists: Luke Loecher, Everett Hayes, Jared Padmos, Keegan Firth, Daniel Rodriguez https://twitter.com/CoachSaparto Ryan Dougherty Special Teams Analyst, University of Southern California History: Oklahoma, Lehigh, Eastern Carolina Notable Specialists: Austin Seibert, K, Gabe Brkic, K, https://twitter.com/CoachRDougherty
May 7, 2022
48 min
Graham Gano, Kicker, New York Giants
Graham Gano is an NFL Kicker who had a breakout season for the New York Giants in 2020. A 13-year NFL veteran, Gano was signed as an undrafted free agent for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 from Florida State after winning the 2008 Lou Groza Award. He competed against Steve Hauschka to replace Matt Stover, competing under Randy Brown. Gano’s NFL career has made stops in the National Football League, the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants. Statistically 2020 and 2021 were some of his best seasons, as he converted his kicks within 3 feet of the center according to the Simple Kicking App. Santos credits punter Riley Dixon (Syracuse, Los Angeles Rams) who held for him. Please follow Graham Gano https://www.instagram.com/grahamgano9/ https://twitter.com/GrahamGano
Apr 28, 2022
33 min
Kickers Roundtable: Will Reichard, (Alabama) Jack Podlesny, (Georgia) Cameron Little (Arkansas)
Will Reichard, University of Alabama Jack Podlesny, University of Georgia Cameron Little, University of Arkansas Learning how to get a college scholarship starts with the wisdom.
Apr 12, 2022
21 min
Kickers Roundtable: Mitch Jeter, Noah Rauschenberg, Evan Staley, Jonah Lipel
Mitch Jeter, South Carolina Noah Rauschenberg, Baylor Evan Staley, West Virginia Jonah Lipel, Harvard How to get a college scholarship starts with the appropriate mindset.
Feb 21, 2022
26 min
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