Another kicker? Hey, why not?
Published: 4/20/2011 7:00 PM
Last Modified: 4/20/2011 7:00 PM
Here we go again.
Oklahoma has another new kicker.
Bob Stoops, presumably fed up with wasting scholarships on placekickers, has reportedly invited a kicker from Sherman (Texas) High School as a preferred walk-on.
Eric Hosek, according to the Sherman Herald Democrat, was seen by an “OU scout” in a game against Texarkana (Texas) High last fall. OU contacted Sherman coach Gary Kinne, Stoops checked out Hosek’s highlight video and invited him to camp. The newspaper reported that Hosek’s mother, DeDe, passed on the information via email.
Hosek also reportedly was invited to walk on by TCU and Tulsa. Kinne’s son, G.J. is the TU quarterback.
OU fans, of course, have heard all this before. Jimmy Stevens is a high school All-American. Tress Way can kick it to the moon. Paddy O’Hara never played but his highlight reel was legendary. Bryce Easley is better than all of them. And this Michael Hunnicutt, wow, where’d he come from?
And still, OU’s kicking isn’t settled. Stevens can’t hit from inside 40, Way is a stud punter, O’Hara’s best skill might be kickoffs, Easley left the team, and Hunnicutt had a great spring but has never stepped on the field.
I’ve gotten the questions dozens of times: why can’t OU recruit kickers? (They can, apparently. Way and Stevens were All-Americans, remember.) Who coaches OU’s kickers? (Stoops gives them golf analogies from time to time, but really, they’re sort of on their own.) How can dozens of other teams nationwide have clutch kickers who can kick from 50 and out, but OU has neither? (That one…well, I got nothing.)
Whatever the case, don’t doubt for a second that Stoops will put the best kicker out there that he feels gives the Sooners the best shot at scoring and, ultimately, winning. This is a national championship-caliber team, remember. If you’ve got a guy whose only job is to score, he’d better be pretty darn good at it.
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
