By MICHAEL BALHOFF / Bellaire Examiner

Recent St. Thomas graduate Beau Brady, the placekicker on the Eagle football team this past season, has decided to continue playing football at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. Millsaps is a Division III program that competes in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC).

"I'm thrilled to be able to compete at the collegiate level and I hope to be able to take what I learned from my years at St. Thomas," Brady said. "I looked at several schools in the SCAC conference and felt like Millsaps was a good fit for me academically and athletically."

Two major factors in his decision were the fact that Millsaps is favored to win the SCAC conference in 2011 and lost last year's starting placekicker to graduation.

Brady was a consistent scoring threat for the Eagles in the last two seasons and a major part of the team's 2010 turnaround. He created one of last season's most memorable moments when he converted a 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half against New Caney, a game St. Thomas would go on to win 24-15 for their first victory of the year.

"Making that field goal not only gave me confidence, but I think it also gave my teammates and coaches confidence in the second half of the game and through the rest of the season," he said.

While St. Thomas head coach Donald Hollas will surely miss having the strong-legged kicker on his sideline in 2011, he is looking forward to keeping tabs on Brady's success at the next level.

"I'm excited that Beau is getting the chance to continue playing football in college," Hollas said. "His kicking abilities were a real advantage for us and really expanded our scoring opportunities on offense. I expect he will have a similar impact at Millsaps."

Prior to his collegiate debut, Brady will play in the Texas Private School Coaches Association All-Star Game on July 23 in Fort Worth.

Andrew Chiappazzi / Beaver County Times

Larry Federoff thought his football career was over. After splitting his time between Division II Edinboro and as a walk-on at Penn State, the Hopewell graduate was home plotting out his future in the summer of 2010 when a friend pointed out that he might have another year of eligibility left at the Division II level.

Federoff dialed up former Edinboro coach Lou Tepper, who had moved on to Indiana (Pa.) and asked if he was indeed eligible. After a check with the compliance office, Tepper told Federoff to pack his bags. He had a spot on IUP's team.

"I was just so happy to get to play again," Federoff said. "It worked out well."

He's hoping that the surprise extra year at IUP, coupled with his rising popularity as an Internet sensation, will lead to an NFL gig as a long-snapper. Federoff posted a video on YouTube demonstrating his trick shot ability as a long-snapper. The clip was posted on April 25 and has already picked up over 30,000 views. It features Federoff firing long-distance snaps into garbage cans, from the top of a house into a moving truck, through a ring of fire, and even into the Grand Canyon.

Federoff has been fielding calls daily since the video went up, including one from a producer at ESPN who wants to get him on the set of the morning show "First Take," but it's not all about the circus shots. He's been training with former NFL longsnapper Trey Junkin in Louisiana and worked out in front of multiple NFL teams. In fact, if not for the NFL lockout, he might already be at a team's practice facility.

"I had a couple pre-draft workouts," Federoff said. "It's been crazy. It's completely silent right now. If your agent calls a team, they're not supposed to talk to them."

The lockout isn't just keeping budding careers like Federoff's on hold; it's hindering teams like Tampa Bay from filling holes on their roster. Tampa lost its long-snapper just before the draft to an Achilles injury, but the lockout has prevented them from signing a free agent.

"Ideally they'd like to have one signed before draft was over, but now they don't know who they're going to have," Federoff said.

Unlike the rest of the undrafted free agents hoping to latch onto a team this summer, the lockout doesn't hurt Federoff's chances as much as it would a wide receiver or offensive lineman.

"One of the good things about my position is, looking at the big picture, free agent rookie specialists are the only ones who are going to have a crack to make the team if the lockout goes to August," he said.

That's helped keep Federoff cool while he's home visiting his family. He, like everyone else, wants the lockout to end soon so he knows his fate. But he's willing to do anything to crack an NFL squad, including highlighting his skills as a blocking fullback, special teams player, and yes, sideline entertainment.

"That's one of the things that may separate myself from the other snappers," Federoff said. "I'm big enough, but just barely, so I have other stuff that works with me. I'll do anything they need me to do."

By Todd Hefferman / The Southern

CARBONDALE - Jackson MacLachlan is this spring football's version of a preview story.

You can read all you want into MacLachlan's situation - walk-on kicker, only kicker in spring football camp, scholarship kicker Chris Adams coming in the fall - but no one really knows what's going to happen with Kyle Dougherty's successor until it plays out this fall.

"Obviously, competition is a good thing because it helps me improve, and everybody improves from competition, so, that's good, but right now, I'm just trying to focus on honing my skills and getting all that down, and just the technicalities of what I do," MacLachlan said.

MacLachlan, a 5-foot-10, 155-pound right-legged freshman out of Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo High School, backed up Dougherty all last season. Dougherty set the Southern Illinois University record for career field goals with 56 and came 13 points from tying kicker Craig Coffin's Missouri Valley Football Conference record of 379 career points.

Adams, an incoming freshman from DeSmet Jesuit (Mo.) High School, was a second team all-state pick as a both a kicker and punter by the Missouri Football Coaches Association. He made 52 extra points and five field goals for last year's Class 6A semifinal-ists.

MacLachlan, 19, came to SIU because he thought it was his best chance to possibly play. He had preferred walk-on offers from Arkansas and Wyoming, he said, but chose the Salukis because of the opportunity and the success. SIU had made the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for seven straight years before last year's 5-6 record.

A mechanical engineering major that is taking 17 hours of classes this semester, MacLachlan has the student-athlete juggling act down. Now he just has to keep taking advantage of his opportunities. In two scrimmages, he's hooked one extra-point try wide, but converted all six of his field goal tries.

"The way I see it, I've got kind of a head start in the spring, so I want to take advantage of my opportunities now," MacLachlan said. "Competition can only make me better, and it's just something every position has to deal with, so it shouldn't be any different for me. The way I see it is I've got a real good opportunity to play."

Clear Lake Mirror Reporter

  D.J. Wilhelm, a standout high school kicker who red-shirted his freshman year at the University of Northern Iowa, has announced he plans to transfer to the University of Colorado next school year.  Wilhelm said he feels the move will ultimately help him in his quest to someday become a kicker in the NFL.
    “After high school, UNI  was my best option.  But I now have an opportunity to contribute to a team in a bigger conference, with more competition,” said Wilhelm, who was home in Clear Lake last week for spring break.
    He explained that the opportunity to possibly play in Boulder came about through his kicking coach, Matt Thompson, who lives just minutes from the U of C campus.  Wilhelm met Thompson as a high school kicker attending a competition in Denver.  “He was pretty much in love with my ability and we have continued to work together for more than two years now,” said Wilhelm.  “He knew that UNI was my best option at the time, but I told him to keep me in mind for programs that can help me achieve my dream.”
    In December, as Wilhelm was on Christmas break, Thompson spoke to him about changes coming in Colorado.  That team will have a new head coach and coaching staff, as well as a new conference when play begins in the fall.  The Buffalos have left the Big 12 to join the Pac 12, featuring the likes of Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA.
    “The coaching staff is interested in new guys coming on and competing,” said Wilhelm.  He added that the new coaching staff also values the opinion of Thompson, who has individually coached kickers who have performed well on the college level and risen to the ranks of the pros.  “He has given me a good recommendation and they will give me an extended look.”
    Wilhelm said he will likely be a “preferred walk-on” for the Buffalos.  And although he was red-shirted at UNI, he will still need to sit out a year at Colorado because the transfer is to a larger school.  He will still have four years of eligibility once he is allowed to begin play.
    “We’re pretty sure I’ll have a spot on the roster, but I probably won’t take a space at fall camp because I can’t play yet,” he explained.
    Even if he’s not on the field on Saturdays this fall for the Buffalos, you can bet he’ll be working on his kicking game.
    “They won’t find someone who’ll work harder than me.  I’m looking forward to seeing more competition and seeing how I stack up,” added Wilhelm.  He said he has been concentrating on distance hang time for his punts, as well as field goal distance and technique. 
    As a high school kicker,  Wilhelm was listed in the preseason top 10 punters in Iowa and earned himself a lofty 4.5 star ranking (out of 5.0 stars) with his punting performances at the Kohl’s kicking camps.  In the semi-finals at Denver, his punting average was 44.9 yards, with hang time of 4.24.  He made eight of 10 field goal attempts and averaged 56.67 yards and hang time of 3.51 on kickoffs. He qualified for the final in the National kicking Combine Series in Tampa, Fla. in January 2010.  He had hoped to attract interest from coaches from larger programs, but found UNI to be his best choice.
    He considers his year spent at UNI to have been worthwhile, noting the lifting program benefitted him greatly and he learned a lot as a red-shirt freshman. 
    “The toughest part (about the decision) is leaving my family, which is two hours away at the most now,” he said.  “Now I’ll be 11 hours away.  But the opportunity made it an easy decision.  It will take me one step closer to my dream to be in the NFL”

Senior Cedric Febis, a physical player who was Boise State's special teams player of the year in 2010, must avoid injuries in 2011. “He has all the attributes,” said defensive backs coach Marcel Yates.

Greg Johnson / Grand Rapids Pres

EAST LANSING -- If Michigan State punter Mike Sadler can improve and advance his football skills as fast as his academics, the Spartans might not find it so hard to replace punter and team tri-captain Aaron Bates.

Sadler, a redshirt freshman from Forest Hills Northern, expects to have -- get this -- senior standing academically after the fall term and football.

Several advanced placement classes from high school and his classroom skills in applied engineering sciences have fast-tracked the education process. He is well on the way to his academic goal of securing undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years.

As for football, Sadler said watching Bates and learning from him for a year advanced him as a punter, too.

"I think I’ve improved tremendously since high school," he said. "Getting in the weight room and building strength has really helped me. It helps with the hang time, and I’ve increased my flexibility, too."

Sadler talks with Bates, who works out at MSU and is finishing his senior year, on a daily basis. Bates, who was a captain with quarterback Kirk Cousins and linebacker Greg Jones last season, hopes to get drafted by the NFL or get a free-agent look. Sadler plans to win Bates’ old job.

"Aaron Bates is probably the next Michigan State legend," Sadler said in reference to Bates’ involvement in the fake field goal pass that won last year’s Notre Dame game in overtime, as well as a fake punt play pass he threw in a come-from-behind win against Northwestern.

"Aaron is a great guy, and I still talk to him every day. He’s done so much for the program as a punter, as a leader. I have big shoes to fill, but I’m ready to do it."

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio thinks it will happen.

"Mike Sadler was a big-time recruit for us last year, and he’s working hard, competing," Dantonio said. "He has big shoes to fill, very important shoes, but we expect him to be a very good punter."

Sadler has had Bates break down film for him, and they spend a lot of time talking about the small details of punting.

"We talk about how to drop the ball, what steps to make bigger, just small technical details like that," Sadler said. "punting is a really a technical art. Just the smallest things can make a huge difference."

Sadler was highly recruited out of high school. A 4.0 student in high school and ranked the No. 3 punting prospect in the country by Scout.com as a senior, he picked Michigan State over offers from LSU, Alabama, Arizona State, Northwestern and Purdue, among others.

In his senior season at Forest Hills Northern, Sadler averaged 39.9 yards per punt (32 for 1,276 yards) with a long of 61 yards. He also was the team’s kicker with a career-best 53-yard field goal, and in 2009 averaged 63.3 yards on kickoffs.

As a true freshman at MSU, Sadler was mentioned by Dantonio as being in the competition for the kicking duties eventually secured by Dan Conroy. That allowed Sadler to be redshirted.

He starts this spring topping the depth chart at punter, and will be challenged for the job by fifth-year senior Kyle Selden. Conroy and Kevin Muma return from last year to handle the kicking duties.

"I think I’m doing really well," Sadler said. "I’m right where I want to be. The biggest thing for me right now is just to get more repetitions, and just get more comfortable. I’m only getting better."