Ed Foley talks punt, kickoff returners and Tristan Alvano’s potential

Golfers and football kickers have something in common: they’re both trying to put a ball in a certain area.

Golfers use a club to do it. Kickers use a foot. (Thanks, Captain Obvious.) But to be good at hitting and kicking a ball where you want it, consistency on the swing is important. To Ed Foley, Nebraska’s special teams coordinator, he equates the kicking foot to a clubface.

Foley, who made a recent appearance on Huskers Radio Network to break down his special teams units, uses that golf analogy when he’s working with his specialists.

“When I talk to them and we’re watching the film, I say, ‘I really like your clubface here,’” Foley said. “And the clubface to me is the way that the foot hits the ball in the right spot, just like a golf ball, and the angle of a club, so the angle of a foot. So we try to keep the foot and the angle flat, and we try to kick the same meaty part of the ball all the time.”

There’s much more to it than that, Foley said. There’s the kicker’s approach, his hip angle, aiming at a specific part of the stadium and more. But again, consistency on that leg-swing motion is key. When kickers are in a rut, most likely it’s the swing that needs attention. Just like golfers.

And when Foley sees Tristan Alvano kick field goals, the kid’s swing is consistent. That’s what you want to see.

“We’ve done this over the years, recruited a lot of kickers,” Foley said, “and you’re looking at a guy and you’re like, ‘OK, he’s got a big leg and he can make a 55-yarder, but does he have a repeatable swing? Is he swinging the same way every time? So whether it’s a 50-yarder or a 12-yarder, does he have a repeatable, very consistent swing?’ Yes he (Alvano) does.’”

Alvano, of course, is the star kicker in the 2023 class from Omaha (Neb.) Westside. Westside won the Class A state championship over Gretna last November, and that wouldn’t have happened without Alvano’s right leg.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder drilled five field goals that night of 50, 45, 44, 42 and 26 yards. The 45-yarder was a walk-off connection with two seconds left with his team trailing 41-40. That’s clutch.

“To see a guy make the pressure kicks in high school, especially at that level in our stadium on our field, that’s a big part of the evaluation for me,” Foley said of Alvano.

This fall camp Alvano will compete with returning starter Timmy Bleekrode, who went 9-of-12 on field goals and 34-of-35 on extra-point tries in 2022. The last time Alvano kicked in Memorial Stadium, he was a perfect 5-of-5. Bleekrode went a combined 4-of-6 inside Memorial Stadium last season, but was 3-of-3 at Purdue with a long of 43 yards and 2-of-2 vs. Minnesota with a long of 26.

Husker fans will watch closely who trots out for the first field goal attempt of the season. Will Bleekrode hold off the talented true freshman?

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Foley touched on several other specialists and the return units during his interview. Here are the highlights:

>> While there’s a battle for the starting place kicker, there’s not one at punter. Brian Buschini owns that role.

The former transfer from Montana — “Boomchini” as some fans call him was the FCS Punter of the Year in 2021 — averaged 44 yards per punt in 2022, which was 25th nationally and the eighth-highest season average in school history. He had 16 punts of 50 yards or more and pinned 14 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

“Brian is a real guy, he’s a real player. He’s a joy to coach and a challenge to coach because he wants so much information all the time,” Foley said. “I love working with him. He does a really good job with location, the different kinds of kicks we’re going to do. I think he’s going to have a really good year next year.”

Buschini, who along with Bleekrode may need to help out with kickoffs following Brendan Franke’s transfer to Georgia Southern, spoke during spring ball and gave credit to strength coach Corey Campbell and football nutritionist Kristin Coggin for helping him better his body. Buschini said he dropped nine pounds of fat and gained six pounds of muscle. He dropped four percent body fat, too. You can read more about Buschini’s offseason here.

>> Fans might remember Bleekrode’s less-than-stellar spring game performance last April. The former transfer from Furman went 1-of-3 during the scrimmage, making a 49-yarder but missing from 43 and 46. Spencer Pankratz, another former transfer from Furman, made his only attempt in the spring game, a 38-yarder.

“The spring game, he needs to make the kicks,” Foley said of Bleekrode. “And then we need to do a better job on the operation, too, so those goals go hand in hand. Without good operation, we’re going to have a harder time making the kicks. We’re working with Timmy about becoming more consistent and he’s done that. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to make a lot of kicks and be perfect. He’s working on being better.”

>> There’s no question who the long snapper will be this season — Marco Ortiz. The transfer from Florida spent the past five seasons with the Gators and played in 16 career games.

Foley called Ortiz a “junkie” when it comes to long snapping. And if you’re going to long snap for Foley, he’s going to expect several different snaps.

“We’re asking him to put the ball in a certain spot, whether it’s a directional punt — if we’re punting to the left, to put the ball on the left hip; to put the ball on the right hip on a punt right,” Foley said. “But we’re also trying to get him to get it so there’s very little ball rotation on the field goals and extra points. So we’re snapping the ball and we can catch the ball and put it down, and not have to spin the ball to get the laces away from the kicker.”

>> Foley said the job for kick returner is open right now. He knows what Baylor transfer Joshua Fleeks can do since he coached him while working for Matt Rhule in Waco. During his Baylor career, Fleeks averaged 19 yards on 40 total returns.

Foley also “liked Tommi Hill back there” during the spring and said Virginia transfer Billy Kemp IV will be in the discussion for both kick and punt return.

“That one (decision on kick returner) is going to carry through the preseason I think a little bit more than maybe some of the other jobs,” Foley said. “There are some guys who can do it, I’m not worried about it because I think there are a number of guys who can do it. But I want to get a better feel for it. We didn’t do a lot in terms of contact. And really, the kickoff return itself is still formulating, we’re still in a growth stage there. But we’ll find us a kickoff returner somewhere in camp.”

>> Kemp is the favorite right now for punt returner. He has “a little bit of that swagger to him when he catches it and he can make the first guy miss,” according to Foley.

Kemp recorded 367 punt-return yards in five seasons at Virginia and was the first Cavalier ever to lead the team in punt returns and punt-return yardage in four-straight seasons (2019-22).

But before naming Kemp the guy at punt returner, Foley wants to see what some of the young, fast athletes coming into the program are capable of in that role.

“I think there’s going to be some young guys who emerge as competition in both (punt and kick return),” Foley said.

Foley also mentioned wideout Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda has experience as a punt returner and that he “looks really smooth back there catching the ball.”

Alex Bullock, a walk-on from Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep and brother to walk-on-turned-scholarship linebacker John Bullock, also got a shout out from Foley as another player who received punt-returner reps during the spring and was “showing some promise.”

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