Indiana Football Position Preview: Kickers, Punters, Long Snappers

Indiana will have a new kicker and long snapper its first season with special teams coordinator Grant Cain, but punter James Evans returned to Bloomington for his senior season with sights set on a pro career.

James Evans punts against Minnesota. / Indiana Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s transition from coach Tom Allen to Curt Cignetti came with personnel changes throughout the roster, including special teams.

After 10 years in Bloomington, former special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin is now part of Eastern Michigan’s coaching staff. Replacing him is Grant Cain, who spent the last five seasons as James Madison’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach. He’s in the same coaching role with the Hoosiers under Cignetti. 

There’s some continuity with Cain’s group as punter James Evans returned for his senior season, but new faces will fill the place kicker and long snapper roles in 2024. Kicker Chris Freeman transferred to UConn after making 71.4% (10 for 14) of his field goal attempts and hitting 96.7% (29 for 30) of his extra-point attempts for the Hoosiers in 2023. Long snapper Sean Wracher graduated after starting all 57 games for Indiana since 2019 and earning All-Big Ten honors each season.

Here’s a breakdown of Indiana’s kickers, punters and long snappers.

Personnel

• #39 Nicolas Radicic (kicker): redshirt freshman, 5-foot-11, 193 pounds, one game at Indiana.
• #43 Derek McCormick (kicker): redshirt senior, 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, 11 games at Louisiana Monroe, 17 games at Ave Maria University.
• #47 Mark Langston (long snapper): redshirt senior+, 6-foot, 225 pounds, 22 games at Georgia Southern, did not play in any games at Kennesaw State.
• #90 Josh Placzek (kicker): freshman, 5-foot-11, 201 pounds.
• #93 Quinn Warren (kicker): freshman, 6-foot-6, 222 pounds. 
• #94 James Evans (punter): senior, 6-foot-1, 217 pounds, 36 games at Indiana.
• #96 Alejandro Quintero (punter): redshirt junior, 6-foot, 202 pounds, two games at Indiana.
• #97 Jaxon Miller (long snapper): redshirt sophomore, 6-foot, 239 pounds, two games at Indiana, did not play in any games at Army.

Notable departures from 2023 roster: Chris Freeman, Sean Wracher

Indiana's Derek McCormick (43) attempts a kick during fall camp with punter James Evans (94) holding. / Indiana Athletics

Transfer, freshman infusions

Derek McCormick committed to Indiana during the transfer portal’s winter cycle to compete for the starting kicker position in his final season of collegiate eligibility. The 6-foot-3 kicker began his career at Ave Maria University, an NAIA program in Florida, where he handled kickoff and place-kicking duties in all 17 games across a two-year stint. McCormick made 10-of-15 field goal attempts and was named second-team All-Sun Division as a true freshman, but he regressed to a 5-for-14 mark as a sophomore. He made 38-of-41 extra-point attempts in those two seasons.

He then transferred to Louisiana Monroe, where he spent the last three seasons. After appearing in just two games his first two seasons, McCormick started the first nine games of the 2023 season before missing the final three due to injury. When healthy, he made 10-of-12 field goals and 16-of-17 extra point attempts, including two 50-yard field goals and a 3-for-3 mark from 40-plus yards. 

McCormick is competing for the starting job against redshirt freshman Nico Radicic, who made a 21-yard field goal and both extra-point attempts in his lone appearance of the 2023 season against Indiana State. Radicic received a five-star rating from Kohl’s Kicking and was ranked No. 3 nationally among kickers in the class of 2023 out of Coppell High School in Texas. Indiana also brought in two in-state freshmen kickers: Josh Placzek from Carmel High School and Quinn Warren from Brebeuf Jesuit.

Indiana added Georgia Southern transfer Mark Langston to compete for the starting long snapper job against Army transfer Jaxon Miller, who appeared in two games for the Hoosiers in 2023. Langston began his career at Kennesaw State before starting 22 games for Georgia Southern in 2021 and 2022. He missed the entire 2023 season due to injury. 

Returning Hoosiers

James Evans had never played football prior to joining Indiana from Auckland, New Zealand, but now he’s one of the longest-tenured Hoosiers. Evans has appeared in all 36 games as Indiana’s punter since the 2021 season, and he earned third-team All-Big Ten honors last season.

Evans’ longest punt last season flew 70 yards, which ranked fourth in the conference, and he ranked third with 22 punts of 50-plus yards. Now a veteran, he wants to be more of a vocal leader and continue to lead by example in his preparation. Evans said there’s been a slight schematic change under Cain, but it hasn’t been too big of a difference for him because the kick types are mostly the same. He reached out to a few of Cain’s previous players before the season and heard good things, in line with his early experiences with the new special teams coach. 

“They all spoke very highly of him as a person, like he was a genuinely good guy,” Evans said after Tuesday’s practice. “As far as his coaching style, I kind of like that he respects my technique and the coaching that I’ve had. He’ll ask me like if something was to go wrong, he’ll ask me what went wrong, but he won’t try to overcorrect things, you know. So he’ll be very open to communication and willing to listen.”

Indiana's James Evans (94) prepares to punt during a spring practice at the Mellencamp Pavilion on Thursday, April 11, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Entering his final season with collegiate eligibility, Evans is challenging himself to improve on pin-deep punting. Due to an injury suffered in Week 3 last season, Evans said he didn’t have a true gauge of his range, which made things difficult. That clearly affected Evans, who ranked last among Big Ten punters with 15 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2023 after ranking third with 30 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2022. 

“Knowing [my range], being pretty locked in on that, being able to pin teams deep inside the five or the 10, that’s probably the main thing,” Evans said. “And then in the open field, probably directionally, especially right, I have a tendency to drop the ball inside kicking right. So working on dropping it on my hip, just outside my hip and hitting a clean ball that turns over left to right.”

Evans was recently one of 33 candidates named to the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list, given to the nation’s best collegiate punter. He also has aspirations to play professionally like Tory Taylor, whom Evans has trained with in the past. After winning the 2023 Ray Guy Award at Iowa, Taylor became a fourth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“That is a goal of mine,” Evans said. “Obviously this year means a lot, being able to put good things on tape to be able to solidify a case to get there. But I’ve had the opportunity to train with guys that played in the NFL in the past, and it’s kind of nice to pick their brain, then also using that as a measuring stick for where I need to get to if I want to play at that level.”

The bottom line

Indiana should feel very comfortable with Evans in his fourth year as the team’s starting punter, especially if his health helps him perform closer to his 2022 results than those in 2023. The kicker and long snapper positions are more uncertain, but there’s some reason for optimism. McCormick showed good range with two 50-yard field goals last season, though his close-range accuracy – making 7-of-9 field goal attempts between 20 and 39 yards – has room for improvement. If he doesn’t win the job, Radicic has potential as a former high school All-American. Wracher was a reliable long snapper for years and set a high bar for his replacement, Langston or Miller.

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