NEWS

• College Coaches Looking Down Under

  11.05.2011

  By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com Editor

  When Nathan Chapman takes on a kicker to train in his ProKick Australia program, he expects them to perform.

  And that’s what is selling his brand in the United States.

  “He’s got several guys already in college football and he has some phenoms coming,” said Rick Sang, the director of Prokicker.com, who has aligned himself with Chapman’s program. “The style of football they play, they grow up on football. Over here our kids grow up kicking soccer balls.”

  The biggest challenge that Chapman faces is getting the college coaches here to understand the talent being developed. That’s why it’s important for the Australian kickers from his program to shine on the college or even nfl level.

  “We’re getting a lot more exposure with the award that each kid is getting,” said Chapman, who worked his way to an nfl tryout and was in camp with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears a few years ago.  “Coaches feel a little more at ease.”

  Sang, who is highly respected in the coaching community for his kicking expertise, has helped Chapman makes inroads in the United States.

  “The first time we went over, Rick trusted me and coaches were dealing with me,” he said. “He told them ‘Nathan knows what he’s talking about, I’ve seen these guys.’ When an American kicking coach like Rick said that, it made the next trip that much easier. Coaches started to call us, asking ‘Who’s in your program? Who’s in junior colleges?’ They were getting on board with me.”

  Sang aligned himself with Chapman because he believed in the training and type of athlete that was coming out of the program.

  Chapman also has to sell the college game, especially, to his players. It’s not the college game they’re used to seeing in Australia. While the pro football is huge in Australia, the college level is a lot less popular.

  “Wives and girlfriends turn up,” he said. “There might be 50 spectators. It’s hard for them to imagine (the U.S. crowds). They just don’t get it. It’s frustrating. We see guys who will come in and kick the ball a mile. We’ll say ‘You’ve got to do this program.’ They’ll say ‘I might do it when the season finishes.’ It’s important to get the guys in the program so we can train them long enough.”

  There are some things that need to be learned.

  The adjustment to a different ball and the sequence of taking the snap and executing the punt with pressure coming isn’t easy. The Aussie game, in which players kick on the run, builds strong legs but not the technical prowess and directional skills required in American football.

  “Not matter what position you play over here, you have to be able to kick the football,” Chapman explained. “You have to be able to kick. Everyone can do it. In the game over here, the good ones find their way to the stop. Not that they get specific coaching. You learn and teach yourself growing up. Guys who have more natural ability and athletic skills find themselves playing professionally in Australia.”

  But Chapman’s experience and training in the U.S. has led him to understand better how to develop kickers for college or the nfl.

  “Kids coming to our program, they do it a certain way,” Chapman said. “They’ve got the fundamentals down. We’re pretty strict on their training. Mediocrity doesn’t wash with us. We don’t edit their film. We show 12 to 15 kids and we’re not trying to hide their imperfections.”

  When Chapman recommends a player to a college in the U.S., he’s convinced that the player will excel. He said many college coaches won’t “look outside the box” but they will be missing out. Chapman understands ProKick Australia’s reputation is riding on every recruit that comes to the U.S.

  “I know the college level, I know the nfl level,” he said. “We’ve got powerful kids in the program in America and we’re starting to get noticed.”

  Chapman only deals with college coaches who have an offer on the table. “I’m not going to play the game of recruiting,” he said. “We tell them ‘We’ll get serious when you’re serious. These guys are the real deal.’ If they’re talking walk-on, they’re not serious.

  “We believe in these kids. We know we’ll get them a deal and know they’re worthy of a deal. If they’re not worthy, we won’t present them for a scholarship”

  Chapman trains his players with helmets on and also purchased a Jugs machine to simulate the snaps.

  “One of the hardest things to find in American high school football is great punters,” Sang said. “Part of it is they’re usually just late bloomers, kids who have been kicking a soccer ball.”

  Chapman is dealing with players who already know how to kick and kick well. He’s had several American success stories.

  One is University of Memphis freshman punter Hornsey, a 6-foot-3  ex-Australian Rules Football Player from Geelong, Australia. Hornsey was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team.

  He didn’t see his first college football game until punting in Memphis’s opener at Mississippi State. His first career kick went 56 yards.

  Hornsey averaged 42.7 yards on 80 punts and 24 of his kicks were inside the opponents’ 20.

  “And he didn’t think he had a particularly good year,” Chapman said.

  Eastern Kentucky University’s Jordan Berry, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound redshirt freshman from Australia, provides some extra hop with his rugby-style punting skills.

  Berry’s hop-step-and-punt style actually was honed on the football field — playing Australian Rules football. He played the Aussie game for high school and club teams.

  Midway through his junior year, Berry became interested in playing American football. He had seen a pair of Australians, Philadelphia Eagles punter Sav Rocca and the Arizona Cardinals’ Ben Graham, on television.

  A prolific kicker, Berry played the Australian game through his senior year.

  He also played American football in 2008 for the Western Crusaders, as well as for Australia in the 2009 Junior World Championship of American Football qualifier against New Zealand.

  Once out of high school, he turned his attention to the American game, practicing for about half a year before attending camps in California and Nevada.

  At one camp, run by Rick Sang, a former EKU player, he met Colonels snapper and holder Jacob Claycomb and Taylor Long. Encouraged, Berry got in touch with EKU special teams coach Dane Damron and a Colonel was born.

  Berry was one of the nation’s top punters and was named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer Team.

  Portland State’s Thomas Duyndam, a Prokicker.com academy alumnus, came through ProkickAustrlia’s program, too. He has played American football for only three years but averaged 42.6 per punt in 2010, which ranks him No. 3 in school history.

  Another scholarship player from Chapman’s program is Alex Dunnachie, at Hawaii.

  Dunnachie, 6-2 and 220 pounds, was one of the top punters at a Prokicker.com academy in 2009 where he had several punts with hang times in excess of five seconds.

  Chapman, who has an nfl program and a college program with Prokick Australia, played three preseason games with the Packers in 2004. However, he admits that he was naïve. He sent out videos to nfl teams and also began working with Sang at camps.

  He highly endorses Sang’s methods and the Prokicker.com camps, saying flatly there are none better.

  “I’ve been to other camps and Rick’s camp is so thorough,” he said. “The other camps, they are what you get out of it. Rick’s camp has great instruction, people to talk to and associate with. It’s getting well known that he’s the guy to go to.”

   

  Source: http://www.prokickernews.com/college-football/item/404-nathan-chapman-australian-rules-punter-kicker-college.html