By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com

Nathan Chapman’s Prokick Australia program is making waves on the college football world again.

The international partner of Prokicker.com has helped Jamie Keehn land a full scholarship as a punter for powerhouse Louisiana State University.

Keehn’s signing was the culmination of 12 months training and ongoing assessment with Prokick Australia, which is quickly developing a reputation for turning out elite punters and placekickers.

Keehn made the transition to the elite college level through the Prokick Australia program developed by Chapman and John Smith.

It is a proven program that continues to place high-profile punters on college rosters.

Tim Gleeson, a 6-2, 195-pound freshman punter from Melbourne, was signed by Wyoming after training at Prokick Australia.

Gleeson’s dreams were to play Australian Rules football professionally before deciding to purse American football and an education in the United States.

Gleeson became familiar with Chapman through Alex Dunnachie, who earned a football scholarship as a punter at the University of Hawaii through the Prokick Australia program. He completed his third season as punter at Hawaii in 2011.

Among other colleges with Australian punters on their rosters last season were: LSU, East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Memphis, Portland State and Wake Forest.

Brad Wing, LSU’s freshman punter, was a first team All-America selection by the Associated Press in 2011.

Chapman said he has learned a lot from the instructors at Prokicker.com Ray Guy kicking Academy.

And vice-versa.

The technique of the drop punt that is used in the NFL is being taught at the Prokicker.com camps.

“You used to drop the ball nice and flat,” said Prokicker.com camp director Rick Sang. “They drop the nose down a little punt where you hit the bottom tip of the ball where it goes end over end. That’s why it’s so popular in the NFL and the pro guys are learning to do it. It eliminates the guessing, so you have a lot more control and placement.”

Sang said the Australian kickers are “like magicians. It’s fun to watch them at a camp.”

Chapman sent sang a DVD several years ago and came over and trained with Ray Guy. Chapman was trying to get a tryout with an NFL team, which he eventually did. He was in the Green Bay Packers training camp in 2004 and kicked in three preseason games. Chapman considers kicking in front of 70,000 fans one of his greatest thrills.

Chapman’s Prokickaustralia.com program is for potential college and NFL players. He was an Australian Rules professional player for 10 years and selected No. 2 overall in the 1992 national draft.

The instructors at the Prokicker.com camps teach the end-over-end punting technique – the only kicking camp that provides that skill set.

For information on the next Prokicker.com Ray Guy kicking Academy, visit prokicker.com.

Foxsports.com

A female soccer player and homecoming queen from LSU has missed the cut for the football team after her tryout as a kickoff specialist, coach Les Miles said Tuesday.

Senior Mo Isom, the former goalkeeper for the LSU women's soccer team, will be invited to try out as a kicker in August as she continues her bid to be the second female to play football at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

"We reviewed her skill, the things she can do and do well," Miles said. "We kind of felt like there's four guys on the team right now that would be ahead of anybody that tried out the other day, including Mo. I told her that today.

"She's going to go back and concentrate on extra points and field goals. She did not want to take that she couldn't make the team. She said, 'Do I get another opportunity if I get a lot better?' I said, 'Sure.' "

The 22-year-old Isom, who stands 6 feet tall, played goalkeeper for four years at LSU and was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2008.

She once scored a goal from a 90-yard free kick.

Isom's bid to make the gridiron comes after an attempt last summer by freshman Lauren Luttrell at Virginia Tech. Luttrell, who was a kicker for her high school team, was impressive enough that head coach Frank Beamer invited her to return to spring practice.

There have been a handful of female kickers in college football history, but Katie Hnida is the only female kicker to record a point at the FBS level, doing so for New Mexico in 2003.

BATON ROUGE -- Former LSU goalkeeper Mo Isom approached former long snapper Joey Crappell last season to help her start kicking a football rather than a soccer ball.

One year later, Isom is attempting to walk on to the LSU football team as a kicker.

"He may have never kicked a football in his life, but that old man can teach you anything you want to know about striking a football," Isom said of Crappell. "He was a great mentor and really took me under his wing and was so positive."

Isom said she and about six or seven other kickers started their tryout Tuesday, and there's no timetable for a decision on when or if any of them will make the team. She said the wind Tuesday made her struggle with field goals, although she delivered kickoffs between the 5-yard line and the goal line.

She had another opportunity to kick Thursday and took advantage of it. She said her kicks were more consistent with better height and accuracy, highlighted by multiple 50-yard bombs.

"I hit two from the 50, one from the center, one from the hash," Isom said. "That was really as far back as we went."

Although Isom began her tryout this week, she has been preparing for much longer. The former goalie started training for football with Crappell and other specialists while she was still playing soccer.

She said she also trained with the football team during the summer and now works out with the Tigers five days a week, lifting Monday, Wednesday and Friday and conditioning Tuesday and Thursday.

"I'm comfortable in a weight room full of smelly football players," Isom said. "It's really a very different dynamic than being with females in so many ways, but it's a dynamic I love."

Isom said LSU Coach Les Miles was positive and encouraging when she met with him in 2011 to discuss the possibility of walking on. She said she talked to him Thursday after practice to discuss what she needs to work on, and she'll sit down with him again next week to discuss her progress.

Miles said earlier that unless one kicker is exceptional, it's unlikely a walk-on kicker would join the team in the spring. He said the only way a walk-on kicker would be added to the roster is if that kicker provided an advantage.

Isom said her tryout is in no way a publicity stunt, and she knows she has to provide that advantage. She said she's fearless, even if it means getting hit by an SEC football player.

"Everyone thinks I'm the average size and weight of a female," Isom said. "I'm 6-foot-1 almost and weigh about 190 pounds."

"I'm just fearless. I'm not bound by fear. I think I can handle a hit just fine."

Isom said the feedback she has received has been mixed. She's gotten everything from inspired women to hate from Alabama fans on Twitter, but she doesn't look at blogs. She continues to eye the possibility of suiting up on Saturday nights.

"Success is knowing I've trained very hard -- I worked my hardest out there -- and I was able to do my best in tryouts," Isom said. "It would certainly be a great success to make the roster. That is the ultimate dream."

NBC Sports

Last year it was freshman Lauren Luttrell performing well enough during a summer camp tryout to earn an invitation back to Virginia Tech’s spring practice this year.

Now, it appears another kicker of the female persuasion will attempt — again — to earn a spot on the 2011 BCS runners-up.

According to WDSU-TV, LSU women’s soccer player Mo Isom got a tryout Tuesday with the Tigers football team, which began spring practice earlier this month.  This would actually constitute Isom’s second “stint” with the Tigers, having practiced kickoffs and field goals with the team last September.

Isom, who while a senior would still maintain a season of football eligibility, addressed her looming opportunity in a post made to her Facebook wall late last month.

“It will finally be time to show what over a year of diligent preparation has produced," Isom wrote by way of the Sporting News. “I would appreciate prayers for continued health, a clear and undistracted mind, and absolute faith that no matter the result, God has my best interests at heart. I will control what I can control and leave the rest to Him! Let’s rewrite history in His name.”

The tryout is not Isom’s lone hurdle, though.  As a redshirt junior last season, Drew Alleman connected on 16-of-18 field goal attempts and 62-of-63 extra point tries, earning second-team All-SEC honors.  Barring injury or the utter loss of ability, Alleman will be LSU’s kicker in 2012.

As for Luttrell, a Hokies spokesperson told CFT via email this afternoon that “[s]he is coming out for tryouts before spring practice starts to try and make it” through to the practices that will commence March 28.

Should they actually make the team and attempt a kick during a game, neither Isom nor Luttrell would become the first female to accomplish such a feat in major college football.  That honor belongs to Katie Hnida, who dressed for games after making the roster at Colorado in the late-90s and then, after transferring to New Mexico, was successful on two extra point attempts during a 2003 game.

Hnida remains the only female to score during a FBS game.

LSU coach Les Miles talked about Tuesday's tryout.

“If she gave us an opportunity and an advantage, we will certainly consider that,” Miles said of Isom’s chances of making the squad. “There has to be an advantage to the team. The good thing about this is that she’s an athlete. She’s been through team before and she understands commitment. I would have much less reservations with her than I would with any number of other people who frankly didn’t know what they were getting in to.”.

New Iberia Senior High School placekicker Colby Delahoussaye made it official last week, signing a national letter of intent with LSU after touring the school with his family and meeting with coach Les Miles last weekend, according to The Daily Iberian.

Delahoussaye, who had a number of scholarship offers, will be a preferred walk-on at LSU and will likely redshirt his freshman season, said his father, Dwayne Delahoussaye. That means his son, who is currently preparing for a Division I soccer quarterfinal game with his NISH teammates, will pay his own way as a freshman and earn a scholarship after that. The Tigers’ starting kicker, Drew Alleman, will be a senior next season.

He had committed to LSU but  waited until near the end of soccer season before signing his national letter of intent.

Colby Delahoussaye told the newspaper that playing for LSU has been one of his dreams since he was a youngster attending games at Tiger Stadium.

“I’ve been thinking about going through that tunnel” and running onto the field in an LSU uniform since then, said Delahoussaye. “It really hasn’t hit me that I’m going to LSU yet. I think the first day of practice is when it will really hit me.

“I’m excited.”

Dwayne Delahoussaye said that in excess of 90 schools showed interest in his son, ranging from text messages and phone calls to letters and scholarship offers. Purdue, Baylor and Mississippi State were among the other major programs showing strongest interest. A number of Division III teams said he’d be a four-year starter as a kicker and punter for them, though they offer only academic scholarships and not athletic scholarships.

“It’s amazing the number of schools there are in this country,” said Dwayne Delahoussaye.

A tour of college football camps last summer, including Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Auburn, LSU and Louisiana-Monroe, were instrumental in getting his name known. Dwayne Delahoussaye said the NCSA Recruiting Service also put together a profile of his son that was seen by quite a few schools.

“It was really fun,” said Colby Delahoussaye of the summer camps. “I got to see all the traditions in the SEC, the rolling of the trees at Auburn, the Dog Walk at Mississippi State.”

Delahoussaye was a first-team All-District pick and first team on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche team after hitting six field goals and 33 point-after kicks as a senior, as well as placing the vast majority of his kickoffs into the end zone.

NISH head football coach Rick Hutson says Delahoussaye is the best kicker he’s been around in his 20-plus years of coaching.

“Colby’s been very fortunate to be blessed with coaches like Coach Hutson and Coach (Kevin) Hardy on the soccer side, and now Coach Miles,” said Dwayne Delahoussaye.

Colby Delahoussaye said he plans to work hard as soon as he hits campus.

“I actually told Coach Miles I want to compete as soon as I get there,” said Delahoussaye.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The “Game of the (21^st) Century” turned out to be all about the kickers.

They were the stars and the goats.

In the end, LSU won 9-6 in overtime. Drew Alleman kicked the 25-yard game-winning field goal after Alabama missed its fourth field goal of the game on its first possession of overtime. 

Bottom line: LSU’s special teams won the game and maybe the chance to be national champions. The game lived up to the hype, at least defensively. The best offensive players turned out to be defensive backs.

LSU and Alabama could meet again, provided both of them win out.

Alabama’s kickers were not good enough (two for six) in this one. LSU’s quarterbacks weren’t too good either. Jarrett Lee threw two interceptions, one less turnover than the Tigers had going into the game.

There was lots of non-scoring in this one. There were four interceptions total, three missed field goals and no touchdowns. It was a game that purists would love but today’s crowd would rather miss. In the Midwest, meanwhile, Oklahoma State was fighting for its BCS life against Kansas State, in a game that surpassed 80 points.

Both Lee and AJ McCarron were intercepted twice. A pick by each in the second half led to a field goal. The kickers were both the stars and goats. Alabama’s “long” kicker Cade Foster missed field goal attempts of 44 and 50 yards in the game’s first 12 ½ minutes. “Short” kicker Jeremy Shelley had one blocked before making a 34-yarder.

Alleman tied it 3-3 on the last play of the first half after LSU stalled at the Alabama 2. The longest run of the night may have been Les Miles sprinting to the 10 to get the timeout called with two seconds remaining that allowed Allenman to kick the game-typing 19-yard field goal (basically an extra point).

You’ve never seen such drama for a kick so short.

By RACHEL WHITTAKER / lsureveille

It was the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 20, 2008.

The New York Giants were battling the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field for a spot in Super Bowl XLII against the undefeated New England Patriots.

The wind chill was a frigid 23 degrees below zero.

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes had just missed a game-winning 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation.

Now-LSU special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey was on the Giants' sideline that fateful day in his first season as the New York assistant special teams coordinator, a position he held from 2007 to 2010.

The Giants won the game courtesy of special teams redemption when Tynes split the uprights with a 47-yard field goal to send the team to the Super Bowl, which it ultimately won. It was the longest field goal in Lambeau Field postseason history.

"In Lambeau Field in January, the field goal percentage is less than 40 percent," McGaughey said. "When you kicked the ball, it wasn't hanging in the air very long or going very far."

Now McGaughey, 37, is in a much warmer environment in Baton Rouge. Hired March 10, he is entrusted with the role of coaching an LSU special teams unit that lost its 2010 starting punter, Derek Helton, and kicker, Josh Jasper, along with its best returner, No. 5 overall draft pick Patrick Peterson.

McGaughey's wife, Erika, said Thomas' transition to LSU has been a whirlwind for their family. The McGaugheys have two sons, Thomas III, 17, and Trenton, 8, and one daughter, Taylor, 15.

"He was coming back from the [NFL Scouting] Combine in Indianapolis, so I hadn't seen him for a couple of days," Erika said. "When he got back home, he got a call from Les Miles asking if he wanted to come to Louisiana."

Erika said being married to a football coach brings both thrilling and emotionally taxing experiences. She and the children are still living in New Jersey until the school year ends.

"It has an effect on the family when one parent has to be gone a lot," she said. "It takes a certain type of personality as a woman because it's challenging and demanding, especially when you have children."

McGaughey, a long snapper and defensive back at the University of Houston from 1991 to 1995, said winning the Super Bowl in his first season with the Giants is at the top of his most memorable moments.

It was especially sweet after he fell short in the 2005 AFC Championship Game when he was with the Denver Broncos.

"It puts you on another stratosphere as a player and coach," McGaughey said. "Once you get that ring, you look at it and realize there aren't a whole lot of these."

McGaughey coached at his alma mater as special teams coordinator from 2003 to 2004. He also had a pro scouting internship with the Houston Texans before their inaugural season in 2002.

McGaughey's 13 years of coaching — eight in the NFL — have caused some sadness that tugs at his heart. He said the value of family is immeasurable.

"When I worked in Denver, my youngest son was 2 or 3 years old, and he said his daddy lived in the airport," McGaughey said. "Every time he saw me I was coming from the airport.

It's life-changing when you hear stuff like that. I said to my family, ‘I don't care where the next job is, but you guys are coming.'"

Miles recognized McGaughey's abilities to connect with his players. McGaughey said it was a smooth process during spring practice, which ended April 9.

"It's a great group of guys. They're all very coachable," McGaughey said. "It's a beautiful thing to tell a guy to do something, and when you look up, it's being done at the speed and tempo you like."

By David Helman / The Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE - Out of sight, out of mind.

That seems to be the case for the Louisiana State University kicking game as spring practice winds to a close. Position battles at quarterback, running back and wide receiver usually take the forefront to uncertainty on special teams.

To complicate the situation, LSU's kicking specialists don't work out when reporters are allowed to watch practices.

These factors make it easy to underestimate the Tigers' turnover at kicker and punter, but it doesn't change the fact that LSU is losing major production at both positions.

With kicker Josh Jasper and punter Derek Helton departed, LSU finds itself hoping for big contributions from inexperienced players.

"We know we're the new guys. We've got to step up," said kicker Drew Alleman. "They did a great job, both Derek and Josh, and filling their shoes isn't going to be easy. We've got to take everything we can and run with it."

Alleman, a Lafayette native, is faced with the unenviable task of replacing the most accurate kicker in LSU history. Jasper made 47 of 56 field-goal attempts, including 28 of 34 last season.

Alleman has yet to attempt a field goal in a college game.

"It's a little nerve-wracking, but kickers just have to put that out of their minds," Alleman said.

Despite his inexperience, the kicking spot is Alleman's to grab. Although spring football is typically a time for position battles, Alleman said the Tigers' coaching staff has put its trust in him to keep the job.

"For them to tell me 'You're the guy. We're ready for you to step in. You've been waiting here three years,' it gives me all the confidence in the world," Alleman said.

Jasper's departure as kicker casts a long shadow on LSU's punting situation.

In addition to Jasper's punting average of 41 yards, the Tigers also lost Derek Helton, who boomed a punting average of 45.7 yards in 34 attempts last fall.

The duo combined to down 28 punts inside the 20 yard line, and blasted 14 punts of 50 yards or more.

"The punting job is still on the table," Alleman said. "We're still sniffing it out."

Taking pole position for the punting gig is freshman Brad Wing of Parkview Baptist in Baton Rouge.

Wing originally hails from Melbourne, Australia. When he arrived at Parkview Baptist, he had never played American football -- only its Australian-rules incarnation.

"I played center-half forward -- the positions aren't the same," Wing said. "My role was just to catch a ball and kick it, but everyone kicks the ball over there."

Wing's decision to attend high school in the U.S. originally didn't involve football. He said he wasn't focused on sports until "a coach asked me to kick a ball and asked me if I wanted to play."

Wing said his friends and family in Australia, which doesn't feature collegiate athletics, don't entirely understand the magnitude of the stage on which he's stepping.

"They don't really understand what I'm actually doing over here," he said. "I just tell them to Google 'Tiger Stadium,' and they understand it's a pretty big deal."

LSU's special teams as a whole have changed hands as Alleman and Wing prepare to step into the spotlight. Coach Les Miles hired former New York Giants assistant Tim McGaughey after former special teams coach Joe Robinson left to coach North Carolina's defensive line.

Wing said McGaughey has installed more pro-style formations into LSU's playbook. The Tigers' punt formation will switch from a three-man protection shield to a pro-style single-back style.

"It's similar to the one I ran in high school," Wing said. "Since we got Coach McGaughey in from the Giants, we've installed a lot of good stuff."

By Glenn Guilbeau / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BATON ROUGE — Drew Alleman knows exactly what he's walking into as LSU's next placekicker. He just hopes he gets to walk away with some of records of his own as well as a scholarship before his career is over.

Alleman, a sophomore walk-on from Acadiana High in Lafayette, is the heir apparent of some recent LSU kickers who ran in rare air.

"I know I've got big shoes to fill, but I think I'm ready," Alleman said after a practice this week. "Now I'm getting to step in there and be the man. It's awesome. It's fun. I'm ready to go."

Alleman replaces Josh Jasper, who finished his college career last season as all-time most accurate kicker at LSU with 47 field goals out of 56 attempts for an 83.9 percentage that is also second in Southeastern Conference history. Jasper, a native of Memphis who was invited to the prestigious Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., last January, also holds the LSU record for field goals in a season with 28 set last season and field goals in a game with five also set last season.

Jasper's season record of 28 field goals broke that of 26 by Colt David, who hit those in the 2007 season. Both Jasper and David also carried on key fake field goals that led to wins over Florida last season and South Carolina in 2007, respectively.

"Following Jasper's footsteps is great," said Alleman, who has only kicked off and punted a few times in his LSU career. He has not yet kicked a field goal at LSU.

"Josh taught me a lot of things," Alleman said. "He made me know that I have to do my job for the rest of the team. They (Jasper and David) were both very accurate. They both set records here, and I'm looking forward to setting some of my own. We're working on some new fakes, too."

Alleman kicked 6-of-9 field goals as a senior at Acadiana in 2007 and put 56 of 61 kickoffs in the end zone. He can also punt, but 2010 signee Brad Wing is running first team at that position. Alleman has been focusing on his field goal accuracy during spring drills.

"Inside 50, I've been pretty accurate," he said. "We went to 49 yards the other day. I'm doing great. I believe it's confidence. When he gets his confidence, he'll start backing me up, and I believe he's getting there."

That is new special teams coach Thomas McGaughey, a former special teams assistant with the New York Giants.

"He brings a lot to the table," Alleman said. "He's very critical on our technique. We watch film for hours now just on one little thing. It's the little things that make the kick, and he's very critical. Like on my field goals, he says not to lead with my chest and keep my chest back, and to be comfortable and not jump at the ball."

Alleman could have gone to Ole Miss or Louisiana Tech on scholarship, but he chose to walk on at LSU after a call from Coach Les Miles.

"I grew up a big LSU fan from Lafayette," he said. "I mean it was my dream to play here. Coach Miles called me up and said, 'Look, you're the future. We don't have a scholarship yet, but you'll work and you'll get one."

By Mark Clements / The Daily Reveille

While progress concerning the off-the-field chaos and controversies loomed with the NFL lockout, league owners tinkered with the rules.

The owners voted last week to move the kickoff spot from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line in an effort to improve the safety of the game and cut down on injuries, leaving Pro Bowl kick returners like Devin Hester and Josh Cribbs with possibly redefined roles.

On the other end of the field, weaker-legged kickers looking to make a name for themselves in the pros now have a 5-yard gift every kickoff.

"I wasn't a big touchback guy in college, and that was one of the main things NFL scouts wanted me to work on, was get more touchbacks," said former LSU kicker Josh Jasper. "I think that helps me out personally on kickoffs, so I definitely don't have any problem with it at all."

Jasper, who local draft analyst Mike Detillier lists as a late-round draft pick, left LSU as the most accurate kicker in school history and is the only consensus All-America placekicker in school history but struggled at times getting kickoffs to the end zone.

Detillier said the rule change could benefit Jasper because of new kickoff strategies special teams coaches may adopt.

"They're going to do a lot of this sky kick stuff," Detillier said. "The one big thing [Jasper] can do is put a lot of air under the ball. He's one of those guys that you might want to work with on that sky kick."

Rene Nadeau, college football analyst for ESPN and TigerVision, agreed and said special teams coaches will most likely keep the ball in play, forcing teams to make a return instead of taking a touchback.

"Special teams wise, coaches will probably instruct their kickers to kick the ball to around the 2-yard line," Nadeau said. "When you run back a kickoff, there's always a chance the other team could fumble the ball. You have to think that's one of the things that's going to happen."