Kinney takes long road to WVU punting spot

Redshirt sophomore Billy Kinney wasn’t even sure he would ever play the game of football let alone become the starting punter at West Virginia just a few short years ago.

It was a week away from the start of his sophomore season at University High School and Kinney, a former soccer player, had decided that he wanted to give something else a try. Football became the sport that moved into his sights.

Now just a few years later, he’s glad he did.

Kinney would leave soccer completely in his past to focus full-time on his new craft. And when I say new, it was the first time that he had kicked in any organized football since kicking off in pee-wee.

Naturally he slid into a kicking and punting role but was stuck behind some upperclassmen that also doubled as soccer players. But unlike him, they continued to play both sports. While field goal kicking came naturally, it was ironically punting that took the longest for him to master.

“It’s more form based and you have to be really technically sound,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges was the fact that soccer allowed him to kick the ball in a number of different ways, while punting required the same routine over and over.

One night, as Kinney’s luck would have it, a soccer game was scheduled on the same night as a football contest opening up his opportunity to come onto the field and kick for the Hawks.

Kinney never looked back. Earning all-state honors, the in-state native received a walk-on offer from his hometown Mountaineers and it was an opportunity he never considered passing up.

“Growing up here I dreamt of doing it,” he said. “It was a no brainer.”

But he didn’t expect to be doing it in actual games so early into his career. Before he earned the starting punter role, Kinney first had to hold off freshman Jonn Young in fall camp. The competition was exactly what Kinney needed to help him elevate his game after an up and down spring.

“Once he came in I realized I needed to pick it up and get my form and technique down,” Kinney said.

Kinney won the close position battle and saw his first on-field action in the season opener against Missouri punting the ball five times for an average 45.4 yards per boot. However, it was the first one that was the biggest to him as he was able to work out his nerves.

And while he expected to kick well, actually putting those results on the field did wonders for his confidence moving forward.

“It was awesome. I can’t really describe it because my mind went blank and I did what I had to do. I was a little nervous but not as much as I thought I would be. I stuck to my form and technique,” he said.

His evolution from a soccer and baseball player is far from complete however, as Kinney is still focusing on improving his game in all aspects including his drop.

“I rush back there and sometimes I won’t hit a football well. I have to make sure it’s straight and doesn’t rotate or turn,” Kinney said.

For now, Kinney is entrenched as the starter for the Mountaineers and taking it one kick at a time.

“It’s Billy until there is a reason for it not to be Billy. I was really happy with his performance, he kicked the ball well, the operation time was good and the location was good,” special teams coordinator Mark Scott said.