This is a kid we need and have a good chance of landing...
Omaha World Herald LinkNebraska had a big Junior Day on Saturday full of prospects, one of which was 2019 Gilbert (Arizona) kicker/punter Austin McNamara.
The Huskers just signed kicker Barret Pickering in the 2018 class, but they'll need a punter by 2020, as Caleb Lightbourn is already a junior.
The 6-foot-4, 160-pound McNamara is the nation's No. 2 punter according to Chris Sailer — who runs one of the nation's kicking, punter and long-snapping scouting services — and has offers from Arizona and Arizona State. He is trained, according to his Twitter profile, by former NFL kicker Mike Vanderjagt.
McNamara averaged 40 yards per punt according to his Hudl profile, with a long of 74 yards. He had 37 touchbacks on 54 kickoffs. He made 8 of 14 field goals and 33 of 36 extra-point tries, so he's the kind of player who could kick and punt.
By the end of football practice Saturday afternoon, the Hawks Center was buzzing.
Beyond Nebraska players and staff members, roughly 100 former Huskers and dozens of recruits and their families — part of NU’s Junior Day event — lined the sideline of the indoor field.
Running backs coach Ryan Held said the Huskers adjusted part of their practice to accommodate the high school prospects. NU scrimmaged situationally as opposed to full-on so the visiting prospects could get a preview of how working with the coaching staff would be.
“We wanted our recruits to see individual (drills), not just make it a full scrimmage,” Held said. “We wanted our recruits and everybody to kind of see us coach and teach and not just have it be a scrimmage situation so they can see — if they decide to come here — how the coaching interaction is and how a practice works.”