2024 Husker Signee Analysis: Punter Kamdyn Koch

The son of former Nebraska and NFL punter Sam Koch jumped at the opportunity to join the Huskers

Kamdyn Koch via Hudl

The margin for error is razor thin for Nebraska football while the staff continues rebuilding the roster, and it's only going to get thinner when the Big Ten welcomes Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA this coming season.

So many games are won and lost during the third phase of the game, and this staff knows it's imperative to continue improving.

It's critical this staff continues to emphasize special teams moving forward. To that end, they went into this recruiting cycle looking to find a successor for Brian Buschini, who will exhaust his eligibility after the 2024 season.

Westminster (Md.) Winter Mills punter Kamdyn Koch had been talking to Ed Foley for a few months by the time camp season rolled around last June. He'd sent film and game tape to the Husker special teams coordinator, who had been tracking his progress and communicating with Kamdyn and his father - Husker punting great Sam Koch.

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It eventually led to an invite to one of head coach Matt Rhule’s football camps. On June 10, 2023, Koch attended Nebraska’s specialist camp that featured his father - as well as current/former NFL/CFL punters/kickers Brett Maher, Greg Zuerlein, Alex Henery and Sandro DeAngelis.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Koch had a strong showing and after the camp concluded was told by a Husker staff member that Rhule wanted to talk to him. Koch had come to the camp hoping to do well but never expected to get an offer. He was pleasantly surprised when Rhule did just that.

Kamdyn didn't need long to think it over and publicly announced his commitment to Nebraska on Instagram the following day, June 11. He had been receiving heavy interest from Penn State, Wake Forest and Kansas State and had planned on attending an upcoming camp in Manhattan, but canceled after getting his dream offer.

Kamdyn grew up playing soccer but in eighth grade decided to start focusing on football. He's spent the last several years attending kicking camps and has been tutored extensively by Kirk Maggio, a former NFL punter and prominent kicking instructor with Kohl's.

He's also gotten hands-on coaching from his father, who is considered one of the best punters in Nebraska history. The elder Koch still holds the program's best single-season punting average (46.51 yards) that he set as a senior in 2005. He has Nebraska's second-best career punting average (44.04 yards), and is tied for the second- and fifth-longest punts in Husker history (84 yards against Pitt in 2005 that was preceded by a 76-yarder against Wake Forest the previous week). As a senior, he was named a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.

Sam played 16 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He ultimately became the best punter in franchise history and is the team's all-time leader in career yards per punt with a mark of 45.3. Koch set the franchise record for most games played (256), won a Super Bowl ring in 2012 and earned a second-team All-Pro honor and Pro Bowl bid in 2015.

Koch, who is now a special teams consultant for the Ravens after retiring in May 2022, gained a reputation as a pioneer in the NFL community for changing the way punters execute due to his array of kicks that included a low-ling rugby kick that multiple NFL punters still use to this day.

Naturally, Kamdyn has learned a ton from working out and training with Maggio and his father. Sam Koch excelled at hitting punts with consistent precision and different styles to the sideline. If Kamdyn can master the same techniques in the coming years, Nebraska could have an enviable punter/kicker combo with Koch and Tristan Alvano.

Kamdyn was the punter, placekicker and kickoff specialist for Winter Mills throughout high school. As a senior, he averaged 38.5 yards per punt and had 23 touchbacks as a kickoff specialist.

Koch was selected by the Maryland Football Foundation as first-team consensus (all public and private schools) all-state punter, as well as first-team all-state 1A/2A punter. He is ranked as the No. 5 punter in the class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Though technically not a scholarship player — Koch will be one of several NIL-funded walk-ons in this class — he became Nebraska's fourth high school signee from Maryland since 1990, joining DE David Harvey (2005), DE Jason Ankrah (2009) and LB Marcus Newby (2013).

It would take a pretty big upset in fall camp for Koch to beat out Buschini for the job in 2024. The plan is for Koch to redshirt and take the baton in 2025.