Longtime Coach: Narveson Wants Pressure Kicks

After releasing Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph, the Packers claimed kicker Brayden Narveson off waivers from the Titans. He’s got a big leg and relishes the big kicks.

New Green Bay Packers kicker Brayden Narveson makes a field goal during the preseason while with the Tennessee Titans. / Casey Gower-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – New Green Bay Packers kicker Brayden Narveson will face immediate pressure. Not long after claiming Narveson off waivers from the Tennessee Titans, general manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday said Narveson would have a “short leash.”

Fortunately, Narveson thrives under pressure.

“He knows he’s going to make the field goal,” Narveson’s longtime kicking coach, Adam Tanalski of Hammer Kicking, told Packers On SI on Thursday. “He wants the 59(-yarder). He wants the game-winner. He wants to be that person who’s out there when it matters. Between the ears, he’s pretty outstanding.”

With the Titans, Narveson lost out to veteran Nick Folk. Narveson did his part, though. Against Seattle in the second week of the preseason, he made three fourth-quarter field goals. The second was from 59 yards, which had enough leg to be good from 64, Tanalski said. Then, he hit a 46-yarder on the final play for the win.

“He’s one of the more confident people that you’ll ever meet,” Tanalski said. “He’s one of those kids who very much believes in himself and will bet on himself and trust himself. Super-confident kid in his abilities and a meticulous hard worker. He is meticulous with his steps, meticulous with his approach.

“Just a great kid, and one thing I would say more than anything, he’s just a super-confident personality that you need to be an NFL kicker.”

Narveson went 6-of-7 on field goals during the preseason, his only miss was short from 58 yards. He made both point-after tries after making all 196 extra-point attempts in his collegiate career.

Narveson, who connected with Tanalski when a sophomore in high school, started his college career at Iowa State in 2018 and 2019 before transferring to Western Kentucky, where he was the starting kicker for three seasons. He finished his college career last year at North Carolina State. He made a 33-yarder to beat Virginia and a school-record 57-yarder at Duke.

“You’ve got to believe in yourself,” Tanalski said. “You have to believe you’re the best kicker in the room. You have to make sure that you believe you can do it, and that’s really the first step.

“If you’re there to get a jersey and a helmet for training camp and put it on social media, you’re not going to do it. If you’re there because you think you belong there, you’re going to be there. It really is mental because there are so many good kickers right now who don’t make it. You’ve got to be in the right spot and you’ve got to have to have the right mindset.”

Obviously, Narveson is in the right spot. Gutekunst’s hand-picked replacement for longtime standout Mason Crosby, sixth-round pick Anders Carlson, missed one kick during almost every game during the final two-thirds of last season, a slump that included a miss in a three-point loss at San Francisco in the playoffs.

After Carlson, veteran Greg Joseph and three young kickers failed to take control of the job during training camp, Gutekunst released Carlson on Tuesday and Joseph on Wednesday.

“I looked on Packer Twitter yesterday,” Tanalski said. “Everyone is infatuated with the 59. You know that Brayden has that leg. More important, you go watch the 33 vs. Virginia. You watch the 46 when he was at the Titans. Every game-winner, he wants to stand there and watch it go through and he’s confident. He wants that moment. I would tell you mentality is what sets these guys apart because everybody has talent at this level.”

For Narveson, the road to Green Bay has been quite a journey. At Iowa State, he redshirted in 2018 and got only four attempts in 2019. He transferred to San Diego for the 2020 season, but it was canceled due to COVID, so he jumped back into the transfer portal and landed at Western Kentucky, where he led the nation in scoring in 2021.

Wanting to finish his career at a Power-5 school, he transferred to North Carolina State for the 2023 season, finishing 18-of-23 on field goals and 36-of-36 on extra points.

After going undrafted and falling short in Tennessee, Narveson was claimed off waivers by the Packers.

It was the perfect landing spot, and not just because the 5-handicap golfer is fired up to play at Whistling Straits next offseason.

“Let me give you a really cool story,’ Tanalski said. “Just know that his wife is from Wisconsin. His kicking coach is a Packer fan. It was meant to be.

“Mentally, he’s going to lock in. You guys are going to love his personality. He’s a person who is a smiler, wants to be there, and he wants to be great. And let me tell you, as a Packer fan, I hope we go to the Super Bowl this year and I hope he’s a major part of it.

“Obviously, every rookie has growing pains. I don’t think there’s going to be growing pains that cost him any games. I think that he’ll be a consistent ball striker and, hopefully, he solidifies the position like Mason did for a nice long run.”

Latest Green Bay Packers News

At the start of OTAs, when there were three kickers on the roster, Rich Bisaccia said the #Packers might have six kickers at some point.

Brayden Narveson is No. 6. ⬇️https://t.co/iXlzBJXGzN

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 29, 2024

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