How Andy Vujnovich of Wisconsin has become one of the top punters in college football
It was not that long ago that Andy Vujnovich graduated from Columbus High School in Wisconsin as a 6-foot-1 and 185-pound senior.
A multi-sport star in Columbus, Vujnovich played wide receiver on the football team and was an all-conference performer in baseball and track and field. Vujnovich was a great overall athlete in high school, but his skill as a punter for his football team set him apart, ultimately leading him to participate in the 2018 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Game after averaging just over 37 yards per punt as a senior.
Like many young punters looking to improve and display their abilities for college coaches, Vujnovich became involved with Chris Sailer Kicking, one of the preeminent professional training programs which hosts camps for specialists across the country.
For Vujnovich, his performance at the various camps and showcases made him a 4.5-star rated punter and afforded him an opportunity to play Division III football at the University of Dubuque.
At Dubuque, Vujnovich quickly earned the starting punting role as a freshman and handled field goals for the Spartans for two seasons. While the experience he gained at the DIII level would prove invaluable, the gains Vujnovich made in the weight room were far more noticeable.
Wisconsin punter Andy Vujnovich posing with long-time mentor Aaron Perez of The Punt Factory.
Courtesy of Aaron Perez
After his sophomore year, "Vuj" reconnected with one of his key mentors, Aaron Perez, a former first-team All-Pac-10 punter at UCLA from 2004-2008 and the director of punting for Chris Sailer.
The two met for a training session in Minnesota, and Perez was blown away by the physical transformation that Vujnovich underwent since they last saw one another in high school. Perez was so dumbfounded that he thought it was the wrong Andy on his phone at first.
During that workout, by the fourth punt, which went 61 yards and had a hang time of 5.3 seconds, Perez turned to Vujnovich and said, "what are we doing here. You have so much potential and can do this at a higher level."
If there is anyone who knows about the art of punting, it is Perez, who has been the lead punting coach for Chris Sailer Kicking since 2004 and privately trains some of the best college and NFL punters in the game through his organization, The Punt Factory.
By the following season, Vujnovich was on the Wisconsin Badgers roster, a dream school of his after growing up a little over 30 minutes away from campus. During the COVID-shorted year of 2020, Vujnovich once again quickly won the starting role and provided an immediate boost to a struggling unit. He finished the season with a 41.7-yard average and had a season-long 60-yard punt at Iowa, which was instrumental in flipping the field for the Badgers.
After a strong first season with the Badgers, Vujnovich gained national attention for his work in the weight room. Last summer, he was named to Bruce Feldman's annual "Freaks List" published by The Athletic. The list typically highlights some of the most physically impressive athletes across college football.
It is not common for a punter to make Feldman's list, but at 6-foot-3 and weighing 228 pounds, Vujnovich's strength numbers are eye-popping. He can bench press nearly 400 pounds, squat almost 550, power clean 315 pounds, and run a 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds. As a result, his added strength has allowed him to generate more power in terms of his punting, and he has seen a steady increase in his punting average throughout his career.
For example, last season, Vujnovich averaged 46.4 yards per punt, a program record by nearly two yards, previously set by Ken DeBauche. Equally impressive is the growth that Vujnovich has consistently had. His 46.4-yard average is almost five more yards than the 2020 season and nine yards above his freshman year at Dubuque.
When asked about Vujnovich's development, Aaron Perez noted that his physical maturity has been important, but Andy's tireless work in the other areas of his game has been equally vital.
"One thing I have been really impressed with is his directional punting. He has been really good at hitting the sideline, and we have done a lot of gray area and mid-field work, which I think is important in the Big Ten," Perez told All Badgers.
This summer, Vujnovich went down to Houston to work with Perez and competed against some of the top college punters in the country with The Punt Factory. A season ago, Vujnovich won the entire competition, which featured three punters currently in NFL training camps. This year, he once again shined, as the two specifically worked on flatting his drop to allow him to come up on the ball to generate additional hang time and practiced intermediate punting.
Having known each other for several years, Perez is not overly surprised by Vujnovich's progress over the few seasons. "He has figured out how to maximize all that force and mass, but he is a very technical punter," Perez said. "His drop is fantastic, he has a relaxed drop arm. He gets a lot under his shoulders and hips, so he gets his shoulders forward and attacks the ball. For as big of a guy he is, he is technically brilliant as well."
Entering the 2022 season, Vujnovich is one of the top returning punters in all of college football, and there is talk that with a big season could be the first punter drafted from Wisconsin since Brad Nortman back in 2012.
When I asked Perez if he thought that "Vuj" could be one of the top punters and end up playing in the NFL, he had little doubts, saying:
"One-hundred percent. He obviously has the physical ability. The big thing for him this year, as I said, every year he has been at Wisconsin, he has essentially gained more and more notoriety. There is a difference between being really good, and being the guy. You have to be able to handle the expectations and the pressure. I tell Andy all the time, that it is no longer about your best punt. It is about your best punt in that situation. You have the physical tools, but if you can go punt-by-punt and say what helps us right now. If he can do that, which I think he will [in 2022], I think he will go as far as he wants."
While Andy's work ethic is one of the primary reasons for his rise to being one of the top returning punters in the Big Ten, he has not done it alone. In addition to help from Aaron Perez, Andy's father, Steve, has been his biggest supporter and a tireless advocate for him. When Andy went down to Houston, his father was beside him and believed in him every step along the way. Additionally, Wisconsin special teams analyst Taylor Mehlhaff, who enters his eighth season in Madison, and is a longtime friend of Perez, has had a crucial role in helping the development of Vujnovich.
With fall camp just around the corner, there is little doubt that Andy Vujnovich enters camp as the No. 1 punter for the Wisconsin Badgers. His career 44.5-yard per punt average is tops among any Wisconsin punter in program history with double-digit punt attempts, and he has a chance to be a certified weapon for the Badgers next season.
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- Five seniors who could be full-time starters for the first time in 2022
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