West Virginia had a hole to fill with the departure of Michael Hayes to graduation and have secured a pledge from Tulane specialist Ethan Head to do just that.
Hayes spent two seasons with the Mountaineers after transferring over from Georgia State and during that time emerged as the primary placekicker and kickoff specialist. In terms of field goals, Hayes made 30-35 attempts while also making 87 points after touchdowns in that department.
In the realm of kickoffs, he booted 143 for an average of 61.0 with 42 touchbacks. That touchback percentage wasn’t as high as you’d ideally want but Hayes proved himself as a reliable option in multiple areas during his time with the Mountaineers.
Head comes to Morgantown after just one season with the Green Wave where he attempted 77 kickoffs for 4,873 yards and 50 touchbacks. That’s an average of 63.3 per attempt and the 65-percent touchback percentage is strong as well.
The Illinois native also kicked some field goals at Tulane hitting 4-5 with a long of 38-yards, while also connecting on 18-21 point after touchdowns.
Those totals made him a priority for college programs when he elected to enter the transfer portal Dec. 10 with his two finalists emerging as West Virginia and Arkansas. But after visiting Morgantown, Head was able to sit down and discuss the plans that the coaching staff had for him.
Those discussions were led by special teams coordinator Pat Kirkland as well as assistants Chris Haering and Tucker Dontai and the message was clear that he was being recruited to compete for both of the open roles immediately. That along with his visit proved enough to secure his pledge.
Head enrolled at West Virginia at the mid-term to get a jump on the adjustment to Morgantown and will be in a room competing with several other roster options such as Nate Flower, Casey Stanley, and RJ Kocan. Out of that group only Flower has seen game action with a kickoff for 63 yards.
That means when it comes to experience, Head should be primed to compete for an immediate role this season and it makes a lot of sense why the Mountaineers made him a priority.
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