The eye test was worse, and so were the numbers.
After a superhuman 2022 season saw Kai Kroeger elevate himself to earn national coverage as one of the best punters in the country, last season was a step back in his redshirt junior year.
His final 2022 stats included 58 punts, half of which pinned an opponent inside the 20-yard-line. He averaged 46.1 yards per punt, hit a 79-yarder in the season opener and became something of a campus hero by sticking two punts inside the 5-yard-line in the fourth quarter of the 31-30 win at Clemson.
Maybe those standards were unrealistic to expect him to maintain, but he did not get close. His average distance plummeted almost three whole yards to 43.2, he did not hit one longer than 60 yards all season and the percentage inside the 20-yard-line dropped from 50 to 35.5.
“Obviously that wasn’t the season I wanted or the team wanted,” Kroeger said. “But for me it was kind of looking at how I handled certain things and how I can change that moving forward. I’ve done a ton of that after the new year.”
How does an All-SEC punter with four years of experience suddenly drop off his career pace seemingly overnight? It was a problem with his technique, specifically the way he was dropping the ball to create the correct angle for his foot to strike it.
The punting was fine, but setting up the punts was just a tick off. And for a specialist, being just a tick off is the difference between a 20-yard shank and a 60-yard boomer to flip field position in a critical spot.
“A common issue for me last year was my elbow instead of kind of being right on my side, it would kind of tuck inside and cause me to drop it inside my shoulder,” Kroeger said. “It would lead me to either swing across and the ball would either go off the side of my foot or hook back in the middle of the field. The drills we do kind of focus on keeping my elbow down by my side.”
Those drills in question come from new special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis, an NFL veteran working just his second season in college football. But for everything different about the NFL game from college — recruiting, off-season hours, game flow — some things remain the same.
Punting is punting, and punting problems are punting problems at any level. One of his biggest priorities when he took the job after Pete Lembo left to assume head coaching duties at Buffalo was to help fix Kroeger’s woes.
“He’s been amazing for us,” Kroeger said about DeCamillis. “He’s a genius, obviously his experience in the NFL is unmatched. He’s been able to give me specifically a ton of drills to help me with my technique, which I’ve already seen have helped me tremendously and have helped the team as well.”
He arrived in the program in 2020, still coached by Will Muschamp. But the COVID-shortened season meant he retained that initial year of eligibility, giving him five total.
This is year five, his last chance to play in a Gamecock uniform and find his 2022 form again.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Kroeger said. “Obviously I remember coming here a little over four years ago, and the time has really flown by. It’s been both emotional for me and I’m also happy because I’m able to come back for another year and have that opportunity. I love this place, it feels like home for me and I’m excited for the year.”
It starts one day — and one drop — at a time.
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