46 episodes

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.

Simple Kicking James Hairston

    • Sports
    • 5.0 • 8 Ratings

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

    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.

    • 6 min
    Boosting exposure to college coaches

    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.

    • 5 min
    Collecting Kicking Data to Boost Exposure

    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

    • 7 min
    Using Data to Disrupt Recruiting a Kicker

    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.

    • 6 min
    Special Teams Roundtable: Todd Goebbel, NC State, and Pete Lembo, South Carolina

    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)

    • 33 min
    Special Teams Roundtable: Doug Deakin, San Diego State, Blake Dunham, Austin Westlake

    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.

    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
8 Ratings

8 Ratings

James Farrimond ,

Awesome insight into the unique world of specialists

Simple Kicking does a great job of laying out what it's like to succeed as a specialist - from a physical and mental point of view

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