By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

RICHMOND – Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American kicker Zach Burgy-VanHoose is glad to have the college decision behind him.

The Pikeville (Ky.) High School senior decided on Eastern Kentucky University on Wednesday where he hopes to become the kickoff specialist.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders is the best way to describe it,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “I’ve been stressed out the past couple of weeks.”

Burgy-Vanhoose’s strong kicking leg helped him to first-team All-American status on the inaugural Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American team. He boomed 85 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks and was also selected to kick for Kentucky in the Border Bowl against Tennessee.

A veteran of several Prokicker.com camps, Burgy-VanHoose was courted by several colleges including Jackson State, Kentucky Wesleyan and Fairmont State. He could have been a preferred walk-on at the University of Kentucky and Marshall, he said.

He chose EKU because of its closeness to home (about a two-hour drive) and his familiarity with the campus. His brother, Alex, has attended EKU for the past two years.

“I loved Richmond, loved the campus and the coaches were great,” he said. “My (high school) coach (Chris McNamee) played there four years. They’re always winning conference championships. I think it’s a good fit. I even get to wear my maroon, too.”

The maroon-and-white Colonels are the same as Pikeville.

Burgy-VanHoose credited Prokicker.com director Rick Sang and his staff for turning him into a solid kicker that colleges would want. He’s been attending Prokicker.com camps since before his sophomore year in high school. Ironically, the first camp he attended was at EKU, where Ray Guy was one of the instructors.

“I don’t know where I’d be without Prokicker,” he said. “It definitely helped me. I could go on for days about them. They noticed things I was doing that I wasn’t even aware of. I left those camps with the knowledge they gave me and worked to become better.”

Burgy-VanHoose, who has a cannon-like leg, will be a preferred walk-on at EKU but could earn a partial scholarship if he becomes the kickoff specialist.

“I want to average 75 (yards),” he said. “I have a big kick of 80. I’m hitting about 71 right now. I plan on winning that field goal job, too.

“Rick (Sang) told (EKU) Coach (Dean) Hood he expects me to come down and win the job,” Burgy-VanHoose said. “That makes you feel good when somebody believes that much in you. I won’t let him down.”

Burgy-VanHoose was the kickoff specialist and field goal kicker this fall for Pikeville, a Class A school that reached the state semifinals. Pikeville to the state semifinals

MT. STERLING, Ky. - Montgomery County High School long-snapper Travis Taulbee has settled on nearby Eastern Kentucky University as his college choice. He will sign a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday.

“It’s close to home and a really good program, a winning program,” Taulbee said. “I figured I could further my long-snapping abilities there.”

Taulbee has been a long-snapper since his middle school days in the Montgomery County school system. He was a center and defensive end for the Indians the last three years. He also has been the long-snapper for three years.

Taulbee attended Ray Guy Prokicker.com camps at Purdue and EKU.

“They showed me the proper techniques and how to use my body correctly for the most power,” he said. “I learned a lot from them.”

He also credited Montgomery County assistant Phillip Dettwiller, a former long-snapper at Morehead State, for his development.

Taulbee, who is 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, committed earlier to Morehead State but decommitted and chose EKU. The Colonels have a long-snapper returning who will be a junior.

“They wanted somebody who could come in and back him up (for two years),” Taulbee said.

RICHMOND, Ky. - Prokicker.com staff member Jordan Berry, a punter for Eastern Kentucky University, is second in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 40.6 average and the Colonels' net punting average of 39.2 leads the league and is fifth in the NCAA statistics.

Eastern Kentucky University sophomore kicker Luke Pray’s 49-yard field goal in a 48-16 victory at Eastern Illinois was the longest successful EKU kick since Taylor Long netted a 50-yard attempt on Oct. 25, 2008 against EIU.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – punter Jordan Roach charted with a 5.01 hang time during the Washington, D.C., Prokicker.com camp on Sunday.

Roach, a rising senior from Fort Union, Va., “showed some potential,” said Prokicker.com staffer Jordan Berry, the punter at Eastern Kentucky University.

“He was a little bit inconsistent but had good technique,” Berry said. “He had a decent camp. His hang time was good but there wasn’t much distance (consistently).”

Ken Olson, the conditioning coordinator at the camp, said the second day of camp was mostly a developmental camp than one filled with prospects.

Several top prospects charted at the first day of the camp.

Juan Luna (2012) launched a 55-yard field goal to win the Longest Field Goal competition. Jeff Schmitz scored 21 of 30 on the Most Accurate Snapper competition. Roach's hang time of 5.01 came on a 44-yard punt.

Top prospects identified were Manuel Benites (kicker-punter), Roach (punter), William Estes (kicker-punter), Mark Schebler (kicker-punter) and A.J. Robbins (kicker-punter).

Prokicker.com camps take place in Knoxville next before a swing to the West Coast with high-profile camps in Flag Staff, Ariz., Los Angeles and San Francisco in the coming days.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Olson said. “We’ll some some great punters, kickers and long-snappers and hopefully be able to help make them better.”

For a complete list of Prokicker.com camps the rest of the summer, go to Prokicker.com.

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Long-snapper Anthony Stella made an impression at the Ray Guy Prokicker.com punting, kicking and long-snapping camp here on Friday.

Stella, who will be a senior at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis this fall, was a quick study, said Prokicker.com staffer Jacob Claycomb, a former long-snapper at Eastern Kentucky University.

“I think he could play somewhere,” Claycomb said. “He’s a good athlete.”

Stella was one of nine long-snappers at the Prokicker.com’s stopover here. Stella, who is 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, was one of the top prospects. Claycomb said he was a coachable player who learned after making some minor adjustments.

He was 17 of 30 on his accuracy snaps and had a 0.78 in the fastest snap charting. Stella is a versatile high school player who often makes the tackle on a punt.

“You don’t see that too often,” said Claycomb, who has worked with Prokicker.com camps since 2007.

Claycomb graduated from EKU in 2009 and he was on scholarship his last two years after originally walking on.

“They recruited me just as a long-snapper but my junior and senior year we had an All-American kicker in Taylor Long,” Claycomb said. “He was having a great season and our holder broke his hand. I’d been to some (Prokicker.com) camps with Taylor. He said ‘You can hold.’ I’d learned how to traveling around the country with Rick (Sang) doing these camps.”

So the backup long-snapper was inserted on field goals with Claycomb providing the hold.

“I got to look at it from two different angles,” he said. “I ended up holding all my junior year and half my senior year.”

So Claycomb is the voice of experience for long-snappers. His value increased from learning how to also be a holder. That made him someone the EKU staff wanted to keep around. Claycomb has continued to work with Sang’s Prokicker.com camps and enjoys the experience of sharing his knowledge.

The staff that works Prokicker.com camps have similar success stories making them the perfect coaches for the kickers, punters and long-snappers who come.

The Prokicker.com camp moved to Memphis Friday afternoon and will be in Little Rock, Ark., Saturday and Sunday before going to the Dallas area Tuesday and Wednesday for what is expected to be one of the biggest camps of the summer.

Go to Prokicker.com for details on a camp near you.

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Zach Burgy-Vanhoose has been booming long field goals for as long as he can remember.

The strong-legged Kentucky kicker said he launched a 45-yard field goal when he was in junior high, connected from 50 yards as a freshman and once had a 68-yarder. All of those kicks came in practice.

“I’m trying to talk coach into letting me kick a big one,” the likeable Vanhoose said. “He said he would.”

(ABOVE: Vanhoose)

Vanhoose, who will be a senior this fall at Pikeville (Ky.) High School, is atop the Prokicker.com leaderboard in practically every category because of that strong leg. He’s getting attention and raising eyebrows with his towering field goals. He understands that his accuracy may be the only thing that is keeping from being the No. 1 overall prospect.

“We do those the first thing in the day and I get so nervous, I don’t know why,” Vanhoose said. “I’m more comfortable in a game situation. There’s so little (few) people watching it’s more nerve-wrecking than if there are hundreds of eyes on you.”

Vanhoose improved his stock at the Prokicker.com camp’s first day in Cincinnati by charting 7 of 10 field goals in competition. He plans on going to another Prokicker.com camp in Knoxville later this summer.

He said the Prokicker.com camps have turned him into a college prospect instead of just a long hitter.

“The people from down there know what they’re doing,” Vanhoose said. “I had a leg but didn’t have any form. They teach technique. They perfected that for me.”

Vanhoose said he was given “a bunch of drills” that he went back home and worked on.

“They know what they’re doing,” he said. “They could turn anybody into a kicker.”

Vanhoose has become a highly considered kicking prospect who should have some college options. He’d like to kick for the University of Kentucky and he’ll be attending a camp there on Friday. At Pikeville, he’s kicked between “10 and 15” field goals in his career, including a long of 48 yards.

Vanhoose grew up playing soccer but a knee injury during his freshman year ended that career. He also broke his knee when he was a seventh-grader. However, through a lot of rehab, he is stronger than ever.

Prokicker.com director Rick Sang said Vanhoose “has a powerful leg. He can really boom it.”

Vanhoose also punts for his high school team, a Class A school in Kentucky, and makes the kickoff a rather ordinary play with his kicks that scoot into the end zone on a regular basis.

“I punt for my team but I don’t consider myself as a punter (collegiately),” he said. “I’m a kicker and a kickoff specialist.”

Vanhoose has had a long kickoff of 77 yards with his goal to reach 80 yards. He’s currently kicking off a 1-inch block and has a 4-second plus hang time.

Taylor Long, a former All-American kicker at Eastern Kentucky University, worked as a staffer at the camp in Richmond, Ky., last weekend. He worked with Vanhoose, saying “he has nothing but options in front of him.”

Long, who knows a thing or two about long-range kickers, said Vanhoose had one of the strongest legs he’s seen on the high school level.

Longest FG competition

Jeff Nussbaum, who will be a senior at Beechwood (Ky.) High School in northern Kentucky this fall, won the Longest Field Goal Competition with a 55-yard kick.

"I thought I got it pretty good," Nussbaum said.

 (ABOVE: Nussbaum)

Sang said the kick was so strong it would have probably gone another 10 yards if it hadn't nestled into the net behind the goalpost.

"I was confident when they moved it back (to 55 yards)," he said. "My longest before that had been 55, too.

"I thought it was going to be short but it kept going. I was surprised. I didn't think it would go that far."

Nussbaum said he worked on his follow through on both kickoffs, extra points and field goals at the Prokicker.com camp. The advice he received was put to good use in the Long Field Goal Competition.

"I really do think it helped me," he said.

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University’s Dean Hood puts a premium on special teams.

So when the Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp comes to the EKU campus every summer, the Colonels’ head coach is always around watching – and learning.

He’s scouting talent and admiring the work of the professional staff of Prokicker.com, led by former EKU punter Rick Sang.

“I own the camp technically but Rick runs it the way he wants to run it,” Hood said. “He’s the best in the country at doing what he does.”

Several top prospects were showing off their strong legs and fast snaps at the camp and the players were well aware of Hood’s presence.

But Hood becomes a bit of a student, too, while watching the staff at work.

“I come here every year and walk around with a different group – punters, kickers, long-snappers,” he said. “They are so detailed and such experts in those three areas that it makes the hair stand up on your arms.”

Hood said the quality camper who attends the Prokicker.com camps benefits EKU. The kickers, punters and long-snappers come because of the camp’s reputation, he said.

“I haven’t been to any other camps but I can’t imagine there’s a better run camp anywhere in the country,” he said. “It’s amazing how detailed they are but simplistic at the same time. They’re teaching kids fundamentals. What they’re teaching is, no doubt, state of the art.”

While the importance of the special teams varies from coach to coach and program to program, it rates high on Hood’s priority list. He learned under  legendary EKU Coach Roy Kidd, who always made sure the special teams were solid. It was through Kidd that Hood came to know Sang, who played for the Colonels from 1976-80.

“I was an assistant for coach Kidd back in the early 1990s and I first got to meet him (Sang) in 1994,” Hood said. “He’s always run the (kicking) camp here and Coach Kidd thinks so much of him.”

Kidd, who still lives in Richmond, makes it a point to get with Sang during the camp, too.

“Eastern Kentucky University football got put on the football map by Roy Kidd,” Hood said. “I’m sitting here at Roy Kidd Stadium. He really is the foundation of success and tradition here at EKU. Coming here for me is a dream.”

Hood said he remember when the team used to have a fish fry prior to the start of the season and Coach Kidd was speaking with a grandfather who Coach Kidd had coached. He also coached the grandfather’s son and grandson.

“Three generations of Colonels,” marveled Hood. “It’s truly a family. Having one man there for 40 years makes everybody feel connected. I’ve been blessed to have Coach Kidd still in town here.”

Hood has carried on EKU’s successful tradition with one Ohio Valley Conference championship and a two OVC runner-up finishes in first three years.

The Eastern football program has produced four All-Americans, one OVC Defensive Player of the Year and nine first team all-conference performers in Hood’s three years on the EKU sidelines.

Hood, 47, spent seven seasons working at Wake Forest University before taking over the EKU program in January 2008. Under Hood’s direction, the Wake Forest defense was known for creating turnovers and scoring touchdowns. The Demon Deacons forced 186 turnovers from 2001-07, more than two per game. In 2007, Wake Forest led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 35 turnovers forced on its way to going 9-4 and capturing the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

As for special teams, makes sure he has a scholarship available for a kicker, punter and long-snapper. He knows not getting top-notch talent at those positions can be the difference in winning and losing.

“If you don’t have a long-snapper you’re going to have a long season,” he said. “If you’re playing good defense in one of those field goal battle games where you’re going to win or lose 12-9, if you don’t have a field goal kicker, you’re in trouble. We try to play sound defense and manage the game offensively. The punter is critical for us.”

Last year, for instance, punter Jordan Perry dropped 25 balls inside the 20. Hood understands the importance of that kind of punting.

“Look at the stats on driving it 80 yards and scoring,” he said. “You’ve got a lot better chance of keeping your opponent out of the end zone.”

By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

RICHMOND, Ky. – Nobody has to sell Taylor Long on the importance of participating in kicking camps.

Long, who was an All-American kicker for Eastern Kentucky University in 2008, credits the Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp he attended in Richmond prior to his senior year of high school as getting him on the Colonels’ campus the next four years.

With then head coach Danny Hope watching the camp, Long boomed a 50-yard field goal at the end of the second day.

“I ended up with a full scholarship,” Long said. “The Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp here at Eastern is how I first was seen. I had a good senior year but you have to get your name out there.”

Long didn’t disappoint once he was on the EKU campus as a Colonel.

He was a first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as a senior, a second team AP FCS All-American and a first-team Sports Network All-American.

Long made 20 field goals, which ranked him second nationally at the NCAA Division I FCS level, and connected on 13 consecutive field goals during one stretch. He was 20 of 27 on the season. Long won an overtime game against Austin Peay and booted a career-best 50-yard field goal against Eastern Illinois.

Long credits the instruction he received at the Prokicker.com camp as a youngster with elevating his game enough to be a college prospect. He works the Prokicker.com camps hoping to pass some of his knowledge on to other kickers.

“It was basics that Rick (Sang, the Prokicker.com camp director) had taught me at a young age,” he said. “That’s the structure of the camp he’s created. When people fall into slumps – and even if you’re great it happens – you have to rely on the basics.”

The staff at the Prokicker.com camps have made an impact at their positions in college or the NFL. Long said the teaching that happens at these camps separates them from the others who are often only showcase camps.

“I’ve been to other camps and the emphasis is not instruction,” he said. “It’s more ‘Come here and kick. If you’ve got a big leg, good.' It’s showcase camps.”

Long said Sang makes sure the staff members understand that the Prokicker.com camps are interested in making kickers better. He wants them to leave the two-day instruction with information that will help them now and later.

“We’re held to a standard and that’s good,” Long said. “Rick wants to see them succeed. He truly cares about the kids. He makes you want to work harder. That was my experience as a camper.”

Ray Guy Prokicker.com camps are ongoing throughout the summer. The next one will be in the Columbus/Dayton, Ohio area June 14-15. Go to Prokicker.com for a complete listing of camps.

RICHMOND, Ky. - Results from last weekend's Ray Guy Prokicker.com kicking camp on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.

Long Distance Field Goal HS: Michael Hollifield, 50 yards

Long Distance Kickoff: Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, 77 yards, 3.72 hang time

Hang Time Punt: Taylor Ratcliff, 38 yards

Out of Bounds Punt Right: Taylor Ratcliff.

Out of Bounds Punt Left: Jordan Ward

Fastest Single Snap: Travis Taulbee

Most Accurate Snapper: Travis Taulbee, 21 of 30

TOP PROSPECTS

Travis Taulbee, long-snapper, 2012

Drew Patton, kicker, 2012

Zach Burgy-Vanhoose, kicker, 2012