TicketsCINCINNATI - You don't necessarily have to watch freshman kicker Cole Smith to know that he has potential.
In his case, you only have to listen.
"There's a different 'pop' when the ball comes off of his foot," said head coach Luke Fickell.
The former Middletown High School standout joined the team in January 2018. Although he was not on the team a year ago, Smith didn't take the season off.
"I came down here and kicked once a week and whenever I got the opportunity I kicked on my own," Cole told me. "I also went up to New York with my kicking coach and I trained with him."
Smith's coach is Adam Tanalski from the Hammer Kicking Academy, but he also calls former UC kicker Andrew Gantz a mentor.
"About two or three years ago, he reached out to me after a camp here at Cincinnati," said Smith. "We've trained together since then. I worked with him two or three times a week going through high school. He's like a brother."
Gantz earned Second-Team All-Conference honors in 2014 and 2015 before missing most of the last two seasons due to injuries. Gantz transferred to Northern Illinois in November and Josh Pasley graduated, meaning that Smith will compete with junior Ryan Jones to be the Bearcats placekicker this season.
"There's a really good competition right now between him and Ryan," said special teams coordinator Brian Mason. "They're both kicking as well as I've seen them kick over the last year."
Inconsistent kicking has hurt the Bearcats over the past two seasons. Last year the trio of Gantz, Pasley, and Jones combined to go 9-for-17 (53%) on field goal attempts, including 1-for-6 on kicks of 40 yards or longer. The previous season, Pasley was 11-for-17 (65%), including 2-for-5 from 40-plus.
The Bearcat coaching staff does not sound worried about possibly awarding the job to a freshman in Smith.
"Coming in after taking a year where he was a part-time student and training, he's certainly more mature than most freshman normally are," said Mason. "He's definitely more prepared and hungry after taking that year off.
"He's prospered when we've put him in pressure situations because I think he took a year to build himself up and handle those things."
Smith grew up playing soccer in Middletown and was on one of the top club teams in the state before switching to football in high school.
"In my freshman year they needed some kickers so I went out for the team," he said. "It came naturally for me."
Smith earned First-Team All-Greater Miami Conference and Associated Press Second-Team All-Southwest District honors as a kicker and punter for the Middies and set the school record for longest field goal with a 44-yarder.
Now he's aiming to claim a starting spot in his first season of eligibility at UC.
"He has the potential to be an elite kicker here," said Mason. "You can tell right away if you come out and see him in warmups that the ball jumps off of his foot."
Or come out and listen.
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In his case, you only have to listen.
"There's a different 'pop' when the ball comes off of his foot," said head coach Luke Fickell.
The former Middletown High School standout joined the team in January 2018. Although he was not on the team a year ago, Smith didn't take the season off.
"I came down here and kicked once a week and whenever I got the opportunity I kicked on my own," Cole told me. "I also went up to New York with my kicking coach and I trained with him."
Smith's coach is Adam Tanalski from the Hammer Kicking Academy, but he also calls former UC kicker Andrew Gantz a mentor.
"About two or three years ago, he reached out to me after a camp here at Cincinnati," said Smith. "We've trained together since then. I worked with him two or three times a week going through high school. He's like a brother."
Gantz earned Second-Team All-Conference honors in 2014 and 2015 before missing most of the last two seasons due to injuries. Gantz transferred to Northern Illinois in November and Josh Pasley graduated, meaning that Smith will compete with junior Ryan Jones to be the Bearcats placekicker this season.
"There's a really good competition right now between him and Ryan," said special teams coordinator Brian Mason. "They're both kicking as well as I've seen them kick over the last year."
Inconsistent kicking has hurt the Bearcats over the past two seasons. Last year the trio of Gantz, Pasley, and Jones combined to go 9-for-17 (53%) on field goal attempts, including 1-for-6 on kicks of 40 yards or longer. The previous season, Pasley was 11-for-17 (65%), including 2-for-5 from 40-plus.
The Bearcat coaching staff does not sound worried about possibly awarding the job to a freshman in Smith.
"Coming in after taking a year where he was a part-time student and training, he's certainly more mature than most freshman normally are," said Mason. "He's definitely more prepared and hungry after taking that year off.
"He's prospered when we've put him in pressure situations because I think he took a year to build himself up and handle those things."
Smith grew up playing soccer in Middletown and was on one of the top club teams in the state before switching to football in high school.
"In my freshman year they needed some kickers so I went out for the team," he said. "It came naturally for me."
Smith earned First-Team All-Greater Miami Conference and Associated Press Second-Team All-Southwest District honors as a kicker and punter for the Middies and set the school record for longest field goal with a 44-yarder.
Now he's aiming to claim a starting spot in his first season of eligibility at UC.
"He has the potential to be an elite kicker here," said Mason. "You can tell right away if you come out and see him in warmups that the ball jumps off of his foot."
Or come out and listen.
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
And I'm on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.hoard.1