University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Matthew Smith
Kicking On The Tradition
Dec 20, 2016 | Football
Elliott creates own legacy among the program's great kickers.
*NOTE: This feature story on Tigers senior kicker Jake Elliott first appeared in the Nov. 25 Memphis Football GameDay Program vs. Houston.
It's such common knowledge the Memphis fans can recite this in their sleep – and get most of it correct.
"It" is the absurdly lengthy list of awards, honors, records and accomplishments by senior place-kicker Jake Elliott. The abridged version of his accolades goes as follows:
He is the school record-holder for overall scoring, kick-scoring, consecutive PAT made, field goals made, longest field goal made and most field goals of 50 or more yards.
He is a three-time All-American Athletic Conference first team pick, the two-time American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist (2014-16), a 2015 Groza Award finalist and a 2015 All-America pick.
And, he also gets the job done in the classroom, being a six-time Dean's List student and a two-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team selection. Recently, Elliott was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and also the organization's all-district academic squad.
Guess what you didn't know about the Western Springs, Ill., native?
All these honors and records Elliott has because he's one of the most accurate kickers in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history almost didn't happen.
Elliott was close to attending college and playing tennis – yes, tennis – with or without a scholarship.
(Gasps from Tiger Nation)
"I had some tennis offers at the time I was also being recruited for football," Elliott recalled. "I received a couple of scholarship offers from small schools, and I also thought about walking on a tennis team at a Big Ten school."
Growing up in a Chicago suburb, Elliott did not focus on one sport, but instead played several, including tennis. He not only enjoyed tennis, he also was very good with the racquet in his hand and pulled some upsets of his own on the courts.
"Looking back on my tennis career, I played against some of the best in the country," said Elliott. "My favorite win was over Jared Hiltzik, who played for national titles at Illinois and now is on the pro circuit. I beat him when we were 10 years old, and I now joke with him about it on Twitter. It's a funny thing we have going.
"At the tennis club where I trained in Chicago, there was superb talent. Tennis has a special place in my heart."
His love for playing tennis carried over into his time at Lyons Township High School, where he was a four-time all-state selection. In fact, Elliott was at a tennis practice in the summer prior to his junior year when a visit from Lions varsity football head coach Kurt Weinberg changed the course of Elliott's athletics career.
"One of my friends suggested to the coach that I should kick because the team's kicker at the time wasn't that strong," said Elliott. "The head coach remembered me from a pep rally contest two years earlier, and he took me to the field and asked me to kick a few balls. He asked me to think it (joining the team) over and come back the next day if I wanted to play. I thought about it and ended up going back the next day and everything rolled from there."
But, that wasn't the first time Weinberg approached Elliott about becoming the Lions' kicker. He first tried to persuade Elliott to join the football squad his freshman year.
"We had a pep rally for a football game my freshman year, and they picked a couple of random students from the stands to participate in a field goal contest," said Elliott. "I was picked. I went out there and did really well. The varsity football coach saw me kick and suggested I consider playing football. I kind of brushed it off and didn't think anything would come of it."
Something did come of it after Weinberg's second wooing. In his final two years of high school, Elliott earned All-America and all-state honors and also connected on 71-of-72 PAT and 27-of-34 field goals. Although his resume read well, Elliott did not have any college scholarship offers. Elliott, though, pushed on and continued to get his name out to college coaches.
"After my senior year was over, my phone wasn't ringing with college offers," Elliott said. "I went to a kickers' showcase in December of that year, and I won it. My phone started ringing the following week."
One of the schools that saw Elliott was Memphis and former special teams coach James Shibest. According to Elliott, it didn't take Memphis long to make him a Tiger.
"Coach Shibest came up and saw me kick," said Elliott. "He had planned to see other kickers, but he called me the following day and told me he cancelled his other recruiting trips and offered me a scholarship.
"I was star-struck at the moment and nearly accepted the offer then. But, I had to talk it over with my family before I accepted."
Elliott accepted Memphis' offer, and unbeknownst to him at the time, joined a special "fraternity" in the Tigers football program. Memphis has a long history of highly-consistent place-kickers that have earned national recognition and moved on to the NFL. For Elliott, knowing the program's strong history of kickers made the decision easy.
"That's one of the main reasons I chose Memphis, the tradition of great kickers here," Elliott said. "You talk about Joe Allison, a Lou Groza Award winner, and Stephen Gostkowski, an NFL All-Pro. Knowing those guys and how successful they've been, any pointers I can get from them can only help me. Having them as mentors and know they have your back is special."
Elliott stays in touch with the former kickers such as Allison and Gostkowski and appreciates the advice they give. And, Elliott's "fraternity" brothers also are quick to return with high praise for him.
"I think a good kicker is someone that understands the game and doesn't allow the pressure get to him," said former standout Joe Allison, the 1992 Lou Groza Award winner. "He also is a person that has a strong work ethic and also knows what's expected from him at the position.
"There are some that have the persona of being that 'weird' kicker, but in talking with Jake, he's a football player that just happens to kick. A good kicker is one that doesn't get caught up in the highs and lows of the game, but goes out and does his job. He stays level-headed. From what I've seen of Jake, he doesn't let the moment bother him. He nonchalantly goes out there and does his job."
A part of Elliott's job is one that goes unnoticed by many fans – the kickoff. It's an area of his kicking game he didn't pick up until his senior year of high school, and according to him, kickoffs have been his focus since joining the Tigers.
"I've improved on kickoffs in my time here," said Elliott. "When I got to Memphis, my kickoffs were okay, but not one of the best in the nation. The last couple of seasons, we've been one of the nation's leaders in kickoff coverage and touchbacks.
"It's (kickoffs) something that flies under the radar on the stats sheet. When you can hang a kickoff high enough, it gives the coverage team time to get down the field and pin the opponent deep. And when we kick touchbacks, it gives the defense an idea of where the opponents' offense is going to start. It's a part of the game that goes unnoticed."
One person that takes notice of Elliott's improvement on kickoffs is head coach Mike Norvell. In 2016, the Memphis kickoff coverage squad leads the country, allowing opponents only 14.92 yards per return. Elliott has 53 touchbacks, which are fifth-best nationally this season. In 2015, the Tigers kickoff coverage unit was second nationally.
"Jake's done a remarkable job all season, especially with the job that he's done on his kickoffs," said Norvell. "Everyone talks about his field goals. That's the easy way to point out success because he has been very consistent.
"He's a leader on our kickoff coverage unit. The way he locates the ball, he is almost 80 percent on touchbacks this year. Even when he doesn't kick a touchback, he has great hang-time and location on his kicks. That's why we have the No. 1 kickoff coverage team in the country, because of his leadership. His preparation is as good as any specialist I have ever been around."
It's such common knowledge the Memphis fans can recite this in their sleep – and get most of it correct.
"It" is the absurdly lengthy list of awards, honors, records and accomplishments by senior place-kicker Jake Elliott. The abridged version of his accolades goes as follows:
He is the school record-holder for overall scoring, kick-scoring, consecutive PAT made, field goals made, longest field goal made and most field goals of 50 or more yards.
He is a three-time All-American Athletic Conference first team pick, the two-time American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist (2014-16), a 2015 Groza Award finalist and a 2015 All-America pick.
And, he also gets the job done in the classroom, being a six-time Dean's List student and a two-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team selection. Recently, Elliott was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and also the organization's all-district academic squad.
Guess what you didn't know about the Western Springs, Ill., native?
All these honors and records Elliott has because he's one of the most accurate kickers in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history almost didn't happen.
Elliott was close to attending college and playing tennis – yes, tennis – with or without a scholarship.
(Gasps from Tiger Nation)
"I had some tennis offers at the time I was also being recruited for football," Elliott recalled. "I received a couple of scholarship offers from small schools, and I also thought about walking on a tennis team at a Big Ten school."
Growing up in a Chicago suburb, Elliott did not focus on one sport, but instead played several, including tennis. He not only enjoyed tennis, he also was very good with the racquet in his hand and pulled some upsets of his own on the courts.
"Looking back on my tennis career, I played against some of the best in the country," said Elliott. "My favorite win was over Jared Hiltzik, who played for national titles at Illinois and now is on the pro circuit. I beat him when we were 10 years old, and I now joke with him about it on Twitter. It's a funny thing we have going.
"At the tennis club where I trained in Chicago, there was superb talent. Tennis has a special place in my heart."
His love for playing tennis carried over into his time at Lyons Township High School, where he was a four-time all-state selection. In fact, Elliott was at a tennis practice in the summer prior to his junior year when a visit from Lions varsity football head coach Kurt Weinberg changed the course of Elliott's athletics career.
"One of my friends suggested to the coach that I should kick because the team's kicker at the time wasn't that strong," said Elliott. "The head coach remembered me from a pep rally contest two years earlier, and he took me to the field and asked me to kick a few balls. He asked me to think it (joining the team) over and come back the next day if I wanted to play. I thought about it and ended up going back the next day and everything rolled from there."
But, that wasn't the first time Weinberg approached Elliott about becoming the Lions' kicker. He first tried to persuade Elliott to join the football squad his freshman year.
"We had a pep rally for a football game my freshman year, and they picked a couple of random students from the stands to participate in a field goal contest," said Elliott. "I was picked. I went out there and did really well. The varsity football coach saw me kick and suggested I consider playing football. I kind of brushed it off and didn't think anything would come of it."
Something did come of it after Weinberg's second wooing. In his final two years of high school, Elliott earned All-America and all-state honors and also connected on 71-of-72 PAT and 27-of-34 field goals. Although his resume read well, Elliott did not have any college scholarship offers. Elliott, though, pushed on and continued to get his name out to college coaches.
"After my senior year was over, my phone wasn't ringing with college offers," Elliott said. "I went to a kickers' showcase in December of that year, and I won it. My phone started ringing the following week."
One of the schools that saw Elliott was Memphis and former special teams coach James Shibest. According to Elliott, it didn't take Memphis long to make him a Tiger.
"Coach Shibest came up and saw me kick," said Elliott. "He had planned to see other kickers, but he called me the following day and told me he cancelled his other recruiting trips and offered me a scholarship.
"I was star-struck at the moment and nearly accepted the offer then. But, I had to talk it over with my family before I accepted."
Elliott accepted Memphis' offer, and unbeknownst to him at the time, joined a special "fraternity" in the Tigers football program. Memphis has a long history of highly-consistent place-kickers that have earned national recognition and moved on to the NFL. For Elliott, knowing the program's strong history of kickers made the decision easy.
"That's one of the main reasons I chose Memphis, the tradition of great kickers here," Elliott said. "You talk about Joe Allison, a Lou Groza Award winner, and Stephen Gostkowski, an NFL All-Pro. Knowing those guys and how successful they've been, any pointers I can get from them can only help me. Having them as mentors and know they have your back is special."
Elliott stays in touch with the former kickers such as Allison and Gostkowski and appreciates the advice they give. And, Elliott's "fraternity" brothers also are quick to return with high praise for him.
"I think a good kicker is someone that understands the game and doesn't allow the pressure get to him," said former standout Joe Allison, the 1992 Lou Groza Award winner. "He also is a person that has a strong work ethic and also knows what's expected from him at the position.
"There are some that have the persona of being that 'weird' kicker, but in talking with Jake, he's a football player that just happens to kick. A good kicker is one that doesn't get caught up in the highs and lows of the game, but goes out and does his job. He stays level-headed. From what I've seen of Jake, he doesn't let the moment bother him. He nonchalantly goes out there and does his job."
A part of Elliott's job is one that goes unnoticed by many fans – the kickoff. It's an area of his kicking game he didn't pick up until his senior year of high school, and according to him, kickoffs have been his focus since joining the Tigers.
"I've improved on kickoffs in my time here," said Elliott. "When I got to Memphis, my kickoffs were okay, but not one of the best in the nation. The last couple of seasons, we've been one of the nation's leaders in kickoff coverage and touchbacks.
"It's (kickoffs) something that flies under the radar on the stats sheet. When you can hang a kickoff high enough, it gives the coverage team time to get down the field and pin the opponent deep. And when we kick touchbacks, it gives the defense an idea of where the opponents' offense is going to start. It's a part of the game that goes unnoticed."
One person that takes notice of Elliott's improvement on kickoffs is head coach Mike Norvell. In 2016, the Memphis kickoff coverage squad leads the country, allowing opponents only 14.92 yards per return. Elliott has 53 touchbacks, which are fifth-best nationally this season. In 2015, the Tigers kickoff coverage unit was second nationally.
"Jake's done a remarkable job all season, especially with the job that he's done on his kickoffs," said Norvell. "Everyone talks about his field goals. That's the easy way to point out success because he has been very consistent.
"He's a leader on our kickoff coverage unit. The way he locates the ball, he is almost 80 percent on touchbacks this year. Even when he doesn't kick a touchback, he has great hang-time and location on his kicks. That's why we have the No. 1 kickoff coverage team in the country, because of his leadership. His preparation is as good as any specialist I have ever been around."
Players Mentioned
PK
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