No. 31 — The kickers

No. 31 ... Marshall Koehn has been the consummate 'program” player for the Hawkeyes. The fourth-year junior has spent his entire career waiting behind Mike Meyer, who graduates as the No. 2 or 3 kicker on most Iowa career lists. If that wasn't enough to leave a chip on the Solon native's shoulder, the fact that he probably begins fall camp as a walk-on is more than enough. At least for right now, and it can change this summer, Koehn is the Iowa specialist not on scholarship.

Mick Ellis is an incoming freshman kicker who does have a scholarship (special teams coordinator Chris White is high on him, 'He's got a really strong leg, I know that. He's going to have every opportunity to come in here and compete with Marshall and Alden [Haffar, another walk-on who's also in this]”). Iowa has two scholarship punters (OK, won't mention that again during this series). But Koehn, who might be the guy in position to win games with his foot, remained a walk-on through spring. It's on Koehn to change that.

This spring head coach Kirk Ferentz was asked what the optimum number of scholarships is for specialists. Iowa has committed to at least three and probably more if Koehn and long snapper Tyler Kluver earn it.

'Like in every position, we're going to investigate what we have to do to have the level of competition that we're hoping for,” Ferentz said. 'In the old days we'd have specialists come in as walk-ons and earn a scholarship. The thing about Rob Houghtlin, that's how he got here. Things have changed, too. Nate Kaeding came in as a scholarship player, and I'm glad he did. All of our deep snappers have been walk-ons and they've earned it. They've been walk-ons. And they've been exceptional. We're going to do what we have to do to create the competition on the practice field we think is necessary.”

All systems go for Koehn ...

Granted, we don't get a ton of looks in the spring. Koehn was perfect in the spring game, hitting 3 of 3 attempts (42, 37, 22). Haffar was 0-for-2 (49, 44). It feels like Koehn is the guy, but there's Ellis, Haffar and walk-on Migeul Recinos from Mason City.

Still, feels like Koehn is the guy.

'He's a tremendous worker. He's great in the weight room. He's completely focused,” White said. 'He knows this is a huge opportunity for him, and he wants to take advantage of it. He's got a really strong leg, he really does. The ball jumps off his foot.”

Best of the rest ...

Ellis comes to Iowa with a strong kicking camp resume. Kicking camp? It's the heavily scouted camps that are designed for kickers who believe they have scholarship potential to really show their stuff, something high school football games aren't often built for.

Chris Sailer runs one of the bigger camps. White mentioned reaching out to him when Iowa knew it had a kicking scholarship to give out.

Here was Ellis' evaluation from the Sailer camp: 'Mick is simply an outstanding kicker. He has one of the biggest legs in his class and kicks with excellent consistency off the ground. Field goals are D1 ready right now. He is also big on kickoffs. Kicks very well under pressure. A focused and mentally ready kicker. Mick is a fine young man with a great attitude and work ethic.”

Ellis is the scholarship guy, but there was some recruiting competition for Recinos, who also could be a punter. Iowa and Iowa State offered preferred walk-on opportunities (which means he reports to camp in August). Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northern Iowa and Vanderbilt also showed interest. Last season for Mason City High School, Recinos hit on 10 of 16 field goals with a long of 58 yards. As a punter, Recinos had a 43.7 average.

Outlook ...

Again, you feel like this is Koehn's job to lose.

White threw in some technical cautions this spring. 'He needs to work on his consistency. At times his ball flight isn't good and sometimes he doesn't get the lift on the ball he needs to, and he knows all that stuff and he's really working hard at it. He's a worker now, and he's a great athlete, too. I'm looking forward to seeing him compete in training camp with Mick Ellis.”

Feels like Koehn, but, just like punter, there's heightened competition.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net