Iowa punter Tory Taylor prepares for Kinnick finale as storied Iowa career nears end

IOWA CITY — Tory Taylor will have a “pretty special” moment on Saturday when he punts at Kinnick Stadium for the final time. When exactly that special moment happens for the Iowa senior and fan favorite is unknown.

“This is Iowa football,” Taylor told The Gazette. “You think it’s your last punt with five minutes to go in the game, and then I might be out there one or two more times.”

Whenever it does happen, it will be one of the final milestones in Taylor’s storied Iowa football career.

“If we sit back and watch, we’re watching one of the all-time great players at the position,” Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods said last week. “It’s fun to watch.”

Taylor, a native of Melbourne, Australia, received first-team All-America honors last year from the Football Writers Association of America and second-team honors from the Associated Press. Several entities named him a midseason first-team All-American this season, and more postseason accolades seem inevitable.

Taylor’s story “puts a smile on my face,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said this week.

“Talking about the ills of college football right now, he was the anti-story of that,” Ferentz said. “He got here, and I remember pulling up to Purdue. … His first game ever, and he was so naive to college football, American college football. It was kind of refreshing.”

Now, Taylor has “become Americanized,” Ferentz said.

He also has become a better punter. His 47.8 yards per punt this year is a career-high and leads the Big Ten (with more than a 2-yard difference between him and the next-best punter).

“He was obviously talented then, had raw ability and talent,” Ferentz said. “The one thing about him this year that I'll never forget is just the way he's practiced. He's a real craftsman now. … He has such clear focus and intent every time he's out there at practice. He's really practiced at a high level.”

Woods has similarly seen “huge growth” from Taylor on the mental side of football.

“Tory, I think, is mentally is as strong as I’ve ever seen a guy,” Woods said. “He rises to challenges.”

Ferentz said he has been a “really strong team leader on top of that.”

“He cares about his teammates deeply,” Ferentz said.

Taylor’s success also has put a spotlight on the art of punting. Usually, the sight of a punter is not a good sign for the offense. But fans have embraced Taylor, at times giving him raucous applause as he takes the field on fourth down.

“Tory’s like an icon out here,” quarterback Deacon Hill said.

Taylor’s popularity is especially visible with the thousands of “Punting is Winning” shirts sold by Raygun. The proceeds of the shirts benefit Count the Kicks, which works to prevent stillbirths. For Taylor, it is a matter of “making a change in the world.”

“I’m fortunate enough to have a T-shirt out that’s doing a little bit of that,” Taylor said.

Some fans have suggested Taylor should win the Heisman — sometimes even saying it directly to him on social media or when they see him in person — but one person who will not be joining the Taylor for Heisman bandwagon will be Taylor himself.

“I don't buy into that stuff,” the self-deprecating Taylor said. “I think people were just having fun, or they're just a little bit delusional.“

Taylor for Heisman won’t happen, but a Taylor for Heisman podcast did happen. The Heisman Trophy has an official podcast, and it had Taylor on it as a guest earlier this year.

Taylor does not like “doing too many podcasts,” but Iowa’s sports information director Matt Weitzel reached out to him about the opportunity.

“I thought it was actually like some little joke when (Weitzel) texted me,” Taylor said.

After a “little bit of research,” Taylor learned it was legitimately the Heisman Trophy’s official podcast and accepted the unique opportunity.

“I like doing things that no one else has ever done,” Taylor said.

Taylor, who turned 26 this summer and is the oldest player on the team, unsurprisingly does not plan to use his extra COVID-19 year of eligibility. As he looks ahead to an NFL career next year, he is “really grateful for the guys I’ve met here.”

“Came over here, gave it a little bit of a leap of faith, and wasn’t really sure what to expect,” Taylor said. “It’s been some of the hardest years of my life, but some of the most enjoyable, too, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Taylor, one of the best punters in Iowa history, has especially grown close with Woods, who is one of the highest-regarded special teams coordinators in college football.

“I don’t want to sound cringe or anything like that, but he’s kind of been like a dad to me really since I got here,” Taylor said. “He’s really been a really strong figure for me since I got here, someone I can rely on not just on the football field. … I hope he knows I’ll always have his back because I know he has mine, and same with his family as well.”

As Taylor pursues his NFL career next year, he anticipates missing the “small little things” about Iowa the most.

"Messing around, whether it be with players or coaches or even in the treatment room and things like that,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of banter that goes on in there, and I’ve built really strong relationships with the athletic trainers. I’ll miss them, too, because they’re great people, and they’ve helped me a lot.”

In the more immediate future, Taylor’s final Kinnick punt might not be his only special moment on Saturday. He is seven punts away from breaking Jason Baker’s Iowa record of 272 career punts.

That is one special moment some will surely hope happens at a later date, though.

“Obviously, we’re trying to keep him off the field,” Hill said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com