Dueling WVU punters looking for leg up in competition

If the season started today special teams coordinator Mark Scott would have quite the difficult decision to make on who would serve as the West Virginia punter.

That’s because redshirt sophomore Billy Kinney and true freshman Jonn Young are currently running 1A and 1B in the race to replace departed senior Nick O’Toole.

“I really don’t know. Both guys are pushing each other and it’s neck and neck,” Scott said.

Two different punters with two very different backgrounds. Kinney, a walk-on from University High School, served as the starter during the course of the spring while Young was a highly-regarded national kicking prospect with interest from multiple programs that enrolled in late June.

The focus for each option during the course of fall camp is to not rely on just booming the football as far as they can instead the concentration has been on punting the football with the scheme.

“We want to get the ball off in a timely manner and place the ball where we need to place it to match up with our coverage,” Scott said.

Throughout the first week and change of fall camp, Scott has noticed that both punters have improved their operation times without sacrificing much of their distance or hang time on their kicks. And the plan at this stage is to have both punters ready by the time the season rolls around.

However, that doesn’t mean both will kick. Because opposing special teams coordinators can look for tendencies if both players are used the goal is to eventually settle on one of the punters in the weeks leading up to the season opener against Missouri.

How Scott comes to that decision will be a combination of both the charted numbers and a gut feeling. That could be difficult because the coaching staff has yet to see either option in a game.

“The numbers will speak for itself but at the same time it depends on their mental makeup,” he said. “A lot of it is who looks more comfortable back there.”

Kinney has settled into the role after an up and down spring and looks much more confident in his role. While Young is a young player that has started to settle into the competition but possesses what Scott simply refers to as fantastic leg talent.

“Billy has really impressed me and Jonn has gotten a lot more comfortable,” he said.

Camp is for competition and that also stretches into the realm of specialists. So in the meantime Scott is charting every kick both in pre-practice and full team to come to a conclusion before the season.