No. 45: Long snapper Casey Kreiter

LONG SNAPPER CASEY KREITER

Arrival: Yes, long snapper. Don't scoff. Remember any botched punt or field goal snaps in 2011? If there was one, then junior Casey Kreiter missed his target by millimeters. The 6-3, 250-pound junior from DeWitt stepped into some formidable shoes when he took over for Andrew Schulze, a four-year starter at long snapper, last fall.

Kreiter was flawless. What's more, he chipped in one special teams tackle. Another what's more, Kreiter was named to the 2012 leadership group, which is saying something coming from the long snapper spot. (Kreiter also was on that group in '11.)

2012 takeoff: This is a clear case of "keep doing what you're doing," "don't fix what's not broken" and "live and let live."

What more can you say?

In the throes of dread after the Hawkeyes' 2010 loss at Minnesota, Kreiter was asked to jump into the game in the fourth quarter when Schulze suffered an injury. Head coach Kirk Ferentz took note and Kreiter was put on scholarship before camp last August.

As it turns out, this job is in Kreiter's blood. His dad, Kurt (who'll move from football coach to athletics director at DeWitt Central this year), did the job when he played football at Augustana (Ill.). According to this QC Times post, Kurt Kreiter took his junior-high son to the practice field to perfect the craft of long snapping.

"I always tell people," Kreiter told the QCT, "if you start hearing my name out there in the media and on TV, I'm probably not doing my job very well."

That's a wise thought, something you'd expect from an academic all-Big Ten pick in 2011. Kreiter majors in science education.

Every season a special teamer winds up as a "permanent captain." Ferentz has rotated his captainships from game-to-game since he arrived in Iowa City in '99. At the end of the season, permanent captains are named. Last season, punter Eric Guthrie represented the special teams.

It's a good bet that Kreiter earns consideration for special teams captain in 2012.