Competing for the Kicking Job: Winning It, Keeping It, and Being the Backup
Football has one kicker. Not a rotation, not a platoon — one. Which makes the depth chart a binary that most positions never have to face.
Here is what makes kicker competition unusual. A backup receiver still plays. A second-string lineman gets snaps. The backup kicker gets nothing, for months, and then occasionally gets everything with no warning at all.
That structure produces a specific set of problems: how to compete without becoming someone your teammates dislike, how to stay genuinely ready through a season of not playing, and how to hold a job once you have it without kicking scared.
This guide covers what coaches actually decide on, how to compete honestly, how to be a useful backup, and what to do when the decision goes against you.
📋 What’s in this guide
What Actually Decides It
Rarely what kickers assume, and knowing the real criteria changes how you compete.
| Factor | How much it weighs | Why | Can you influence it quickly? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consistency at working range | Highest | Coaches are predicting October, not admiring August | Yes — over weeks |
| Performance under pressure | Very high | The job is done in front of people | Somewhat — via pressure practice |
| Reliability of the whole operation | High | Timing with the snapper and holder matters | Yes — practise with them |
| Composure after a miss | High | It reveals what happens in a bad game | Yes — rehearse the reset |
| Coachability | High | Coaches invest in people who take instruction | Yes — immediately |
| Being a good teammate | Moderate to high | Specialists who isolate get less support | Yes — immediately |
| Kickoff ability | Moderate to high | One person doing both is worth more | Somewhat |
| Maximum range | Moderate | Matters, but less than kickers believe | Slowly |
| Seniority | Varies by programme | Real in some places, not in others | No |
Look at the bottom half of that table. Maximum range — the thing most kickers compete on — sits well below consistency, composure and coachability. Kickers spend the summer adding five yards and lose the job to someone who makes more from 35.
Coaches are not choosing the best kicker. They are choosing the one whose Friday they can predict.
Competing Well
There is a version of competing that improves you and a version that just makes everyone uncomfortable.
Compete against the standard, not the person. Your make rate from 35 is the thing you control. What the other kicker does is not.
Be excellent at the ordinary kicks. That is what the job mostly is, and it is where the decision is mostly made.
Practise the operation with the actual snapper and holder. A kicker whose timing with the unit is smooth looks considerably more reliable than one who is excellent alone.
Take coaching visibly. When given a cue, try it. Coaches notice who adjusts and who defends.
Ask what they want you to improve. Directly. The answer tells you what they are actually weighing, which is often not what you assumed.
Do not campaign. Talking yourself up, or the other kicker down, reads badly and is remembered.
Do not fake your range. It gets exposed in one competitive session and it costs you the credibility that decides close calls.
Behave the same whether you are ahead or behind. Coaches are watching that too.
Being the Backup
The genuinely hard part, and the part nobody prepares kickers for.
The role is real even when it is invisible. One injury, one bad run, one illness and you are kicking on Friday. That is not a hypothetical — it happens every season somewhere.
Your job is to be ready, not to be resentful. Those are the two available responses and only one of them leads anywhere.
Stay in the operation. Ask to take reps with the snapper and holder. If the starter goes down, you need timing you have actually built.
Keep your own training structured. It is easy to drift when nothing is riding on it. A structured session template matters more, not less, when nobody is watching. Our session structure guide covers it.
Be useful on game day. Help with balls, track the wind, support the starter. Coaches remember who behaved well from the sideline.
Do not root against your teammate. Beyond being a poor way to live, it is visible, and it ends any chance of the coaching staff trusting you.
Keep a record. Your own numbers are the evidence that you deserve another look. Impressions fade; a log does not.
⚠️ The backup’s real risk is going cold. Months without competitive kicks erodes the pressure skill first — not the mechanics. A backup called on in week nine frequently has perfectly good technique and no recent experience of kicking while it counts. Manufacture that deliberately: consequence streaks, kicks in front of people, sessions that end on a single attempt. It is the one thing the role does not give you and the one thing you will be judged on.
Staying Genuinely Ready
- Warm up on game day as though you are playing. Full routine, full pre-game sequence. If you are called in the second quarter there is no time to start then.
- Stay warm through the game. Layers, movement every ten to fifteen minutes, a few net kicks when drives start.
- Track the game situation. Down, distance, wind, field position — exactly as the starter should be doing.
- Know your range today. If you are called on, someone will ask immediately.
- Practise with the operation weekly. Timing is not transferable from the starter to you.
- Manufacture pressure in practice. Consequence drills, an audience, sessions ending on one kick.
- Keep your volume sensible. Backups sometimes over-kick out of frustration, which is how they are injured when the chance arrives.
- Stay physically prepared. Strength, mobility and conditioning do not depend on playing time.
Keeping the Job
Different problem, and it has its own failure mode.
The main risk is kicking scared. A kicker who is thinking about being replaced decelerates, steers and protects — which produces exactly the misses that get them replaced.
Keep doing what won it. Kickers who win a job on consistency sometimes start chasing distance to look impressive. That is a poor trade.
Do not change technique mid-season. The dip that follows a correction is a genuinely bad thing to experience while someone is competing for your place.
Manage your load. Injury is the most common way jobs are lost, and over-kicking under competitive pressure is common.
Keep the operation relationship strong. Your snapper and holder are part of your reliability.
Handle a bad game visibly well. Everyone misses. What coaches watch is the fortnight afterwards.
Stay honest about your range. The temptation to inflate it grows when you are being pushed. Resist it — a miss from a distance you claimed is far more damaging than declining the attempt.
💡 The paradox worth internalising: the way to keep the job is to kick as though you already have it. Every protective adjustment — the shorter swing, the safer aim, the cautious range estimate — makes you worse in exactly the way that loses positions. Kickers who play freely miss sometimes and stay in the team. Kickers who play scared miss differently, and it shows.
The Other Kicker
Worth handling deliberately, because you will spend a great deal of time together.
You are on the same unit. Whatever the depth chart says, you both want the team to win, and both of you will benefit from being coached well.
Practise together rather than separately. It is more productive, it makes both of you better, and coaches notice which pairs work well.
Give honest feedback if asked. You are one of very few people who can see their kicking closely.
Do not compare publicly. Not favourably, not unfavourably. It reads badly either way.
Congratulate genuinely. Including when it is difficult, and it will be.
Accept that one of you plays. That is the position. It is not a comment on either of you as people, and treating it as one makes a hard situation worse.
Equipment
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Training Log
The Evidence That You Deserve a Look
Depth chart decisions are made on impressions, and impressions favour whoever kicked recently. A record of your make rate by distance is the only way a backup can present evidence rather than an argument.
✅ What’s good
- Turns a claim into data
- Also keeps your training honest
- Cheap and simple
- Credible with coaches
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Requires the habit
- Easy to abandon when not playing
👤 Best for: Any backup who wants another look on merit.
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Football Kicking Net
Keeping Your Own Standard Up
A backup gets fewer team reps and needs more of their own. A net removes the dependency on field time you are not being allocated, which is the practical constraint on staying sharp.
✅ What’s good
- Keeps your volume up independently
- Works solo
- Folds for storage
- Portable
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs space
- No accuracy feedback
👤 Best for: Backups whose practice time is limited by the depth chart.
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Sideline Kicking Net
Staying Ready On Game Day
A backup who has not kicked since warm-up is not ready. A few moderate kicks when drives start keeps your motion alive across three hours of not playing.
✅ What’s good
- Keeps you genuinely ready
- Ball returns to you
- Fast to set up
- Also useful in warm-up
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Easy to overuse
- Takes sideline space
👤 Best for: Backups expected to be ready at no notice.
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Insulated Sideline Jacket
Three Hours of Standing Still
The backup stands still longer than anyone. If you are called on in the fourth quarter of a cold game, staying warm is what determines whether your first kick is any good.
✅ What’s good
- Keeps legs ready for no-notice use
- Better than re-warming from cold
- Wind and water resistant
- Quick to shed
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Bulky to carry
- Unnecessary in warm weather
👤 Best for: Backup kickers in autumn and winter.
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Phone Tripod
Self-Coaching Without the Reps
Less team coaching attention goes to the backup. Film is how you keep diagnosing your own faults rather than waiting for someone to notice them for you.
✅ What’s good
- Replaces coaching you are not getting
- Also evidence for a coach
- No helper needed
- Cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs stable ground
- Requires a consistent position
👤 Best for: Backups who need to improve without much staff attention.
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Training Cones
Pressure Drills You Can Run Alone
Consequence streaks — ten in a row, restart on a miss — are the closest a backup can get to competitive pressure. Cones set the positions so the drill is genuinely repeatable.
✅ What’s good
- Enables solo pressure work
- Also the key mechanics tool
- Packs completely flat
- Trivially cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Move in wind
- Need collecting
👤 Best for: Backups manufacturing the pressure the role does not provide.
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If You Lose It
It happens, and how you respond matters more than the decision did.
Ask why, once, calmly. Most coaches will tell you something specific and useful. That answer is worth more than the position was.
Do not argue the decision. It rarely changes anything and it costs you the next opportunity.
Take the answer seriously. If they say consistency from 35, that is your entire off-season, not a slight to be dismissed.
Stay in the operation and stay ready. Seasons turn over. Kickers get injured, lose form, or graduate.
Do not withdraw. A backup who disengages is a backup who does not get the next chance.
Keep the log going. Evidence of improvement is what gets you looked at again.
And keep it in proportion. Kickers who define themselves entirely by the depth chart find this period unbearable. Our mental preparation guide covers keeping the position one thing you do rather than the whole of who you are.
Common Mistakes
❌ 1. Competing on maximum range
The thing kickers optimise for and one of the least weighted factors in the decision.
✅ Fix: Be excellent from 30 to 45. That is where the job is decided.
❌ 2. Kicking scared once you have the job
Protective adjustments produce exactly the misses that lose positions.
✅ Fix: Kick as though you already have it — because you do.
❌ 3. Going cold as a backup
The pressure skill erodes before the mechanics do, and it is what you are judged on.
✅ Fix: Manufacture pressure — consequence streaks, an audience, one-kick finishes.
❌ 4. Not practising with the operation
Timing with the snapper and holder is not transferable from the starter to you.
✅ Fix: Ask for regular unit reps regardless of depth chart position.
❌ 5. Campaigning or comparing publicly
Talking yourself up or the other kicker down is visible and remembered.
✅ Fix: Compete against the standard and let the numbers speak.
❌ 6. Inflating your range under competitive pressure
Exposed within a few kicks and it costs the credibility that decides close calls.
✅ Fix: Report your honest eight-from-ten figure, always.
❌ 7. Over-kicking out of frustration
Backups do this, and it is how they are injured when the opportunity finally arrives.
✅ Fix: Keep a structured, capped session plan regardless of playing time.
❌ 8. Changing technique mid-season while competing
The post-correction dip is a bad thing to experience with someone pushing for your place.
✅ Fix: Make technical changes in the off-season.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do coaches look for when choosing a kicker?
Consistency at ordinary distances above everything, followed by performance under pressure, reliability of the whole operation, composure after a miss and coachability.
Maximum range matters considerably less than kickers assume. Coaches are not choosing the best kicker — they are choosing the one whose Friday they can predict.
How do I compete for the kicking job without being difficult?
Compete against the standard rather than the person. Be excellent at ordinary distances, practise with the actual snapper and holder, take coaching visibly, and ask directly what they want you to improve.
Do not campaign, do not compare yourself publicly to the other kicker, and never inflate your range — it gets exposed in one session and costs the credibility that decides close calls.
How does a backup kicker stay ready?
Warm up on game day as though you are playing, stay warm through the game with layers and light movement, track the situation, and take a few net kicks when drives start.
The bigger risk is going cold on pressure rather than mechanics, so manufacture it in practice: consequence streaks, kicking in front of people, and sessions that end on a single attempt.
How do I keep the job once I have it?
Keep doing whatever won it — usually consistency — rather than chasing distance to look impressive. Do not make technical changes mid-season, manage your kicking volume so you stay uninjured, and stay honest about your range.
The main risk is kicking scared. Protective adjustments produce exactly the misses that lose positions, so play freely.
Should I practise with the kicker I am competing against?
Yes. It is more productive for both of you, coaches notice which pairs work well together, and you are on the same unit regardless of what the depth chart says.
Give honest feedback if asked — you are one of very few people who can see their kicking closely — and avoid public comparison in either direction.
What should I do if I lose the job?
Ask why once, calmly, and take the answer seriously — a specific reason is worth more than the position was. Do not argue the decision; it rarely changes anything and costs you the next opportunity.
Then stay in the operation, keep your log going as evidence of improvement, and do not withdraw. Seasons turn over more often than people expect.
The Two Roles, Side by Side
Starter and backup are genuinely different jobs with different daily priorities, and confusing them is why backups drift. Here is what each week actually asks of you.
| Aspect | Starter | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Main risk | Kicking protectively under threat | Going cold on pressure, not on mechanics |
| Competitive reps | Supplied by games | Must be manufactured in practice |
| Operation timing | Built continuously | Must be requested deliberately |
| Coaching attention | Most of it | Considerably less — film fills the gap |
| Volume risk | Over-kicking to prove a point | Over-kicking out of frustration |
| Game-day job | Perform | Warm up fully anyway; stay ready and useful |
| Evidence needed | Results speak | A log is the only record you have |
| Biggest mistake | Changing technique mid-season | Disengaging |
| What earns the next season | Reliability | Visible readiness and good conduct |
The row worth dwelling on is competitive reps. A starter receives pressure experience automatically, four or five times a game, whether they want it or not. A backup receives none — and pressure performance is one of the top two things the job is decided on. That is the structural disadvantage of the role, and it is the only one you can genuinely engineer around.
The final row matters too. Backups sometimes assume the next opportunity arrives on merit alone. In practice it arrives via a coach deciding you are ready and trustworthy, and both of those judgements are formed from a season of watching how you behaved while not playing.
Competition Checklist
- Competing on consistency at ordinary range, not on maximum distance
- Regular reps with the actual snapper and holder
- Coaching taken visibly and tried immediately
- Asked directly what to improve
- Honest range reported, always
- No campaigning or public comparison
- Same behaviour whether ahead or behind
- Pressure manufactured in practice — streaks, audience, one-kick finishes
- Game-day warm-up done fully even as backup
- Staying warm and tracking the situation through games
- Kick volume capped regardless of playing time
- Technical changes reserved for the off-season
- Make rate and miss directions logged as evidence
- Playing freely rather than protectively
- Genuine relationship maintained with the other kicker
- Identity kept broader than the depth chart
The bottom line: the job goes to whoever the coach can predict, which means consistency from ordinary distances beats five extra yards nearly every time. Compete against the standard rather than the person, practise with the real operation, report an honest range, and take coaching visibly. If you are the backup, the thing that erodes is pressure experience rather than technique — manufacture it deliberately. And once you have the job, the only way to keep it is to kick as though you already do.
Keep Going
🧠 Mental PreparationPlaying freely under pressure
📊 Measuring ProgressEvidence rather than argument
📅 Session StructureTraining well without supervision
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