Kicking For Scholarships: An Exclusive Conversation with Coppell K/P Kevin Madigan

 

The kicking position for special teams is arguably the most important player on the team: booting extra points through the uprights and giving the defense advantageous field position against the opposition. For Coppell senior Kevin Madigan, the position was an opportunity to earn a DI scholarship with Army West Point – an opportunity that he hopes will lead him to successes on and off the gridiron.

I never interviewed a kicker before and spoke to the Coppell native in depth about his experiences at honing perfect technique as a punter, bulking techniques for maximum weight gain and the benefit of attending camps to bolster his talents in front of gathered DI coaches.

I’ve just been thinking about the Super Bowl the last couple days since Sunday. What did you think when Gostkowski missed that shot?

It was just an extra point. I knew it wasn’t going to have a huge impact. Now, looking back in hindsight, it was kind of a big miss. I think in the moment, they were down by three scores by that point anyway.

We were all watching it at a restaurant and as they were coming back, I was saying “oh my gosh, it’s going to be that point! That point’s going to decide it!” Because, all they had to do was kick a simple field goal and it would have been tied. Instead they had to do the two point conversions. Yeah, that was making me really anxious. It went from him probably getting kicked out of Boston, to them forgetting about it. It was such a fantastic game. What’re some of the kickers and punters that you look up to? Is that the position that you’re inspired by? Or are there other athletes that inspire you?

I think my favorite NFL kicker has to be Dan Bailey. He’s just always automatic and he never misses. I had to get him in like the fifth round of fantasy because he’s the biggest fantasy kicker. It’s one of those things that my friends always joke with me about, but you got to have a good one for your fantasy team; he’s a solid choice. I like Pat McAfee as a punter. He’s just a really funny guy. Outside of football, he does so much good work for the troops and the veterans. He has his own comedy show that’s just hilarious. The personality comes through and shows their just guys and athletes athletes that play at the most elite level. They just seem to have so much fun with it, so they’re not really that much different than we are in high school.

Pat McAfee has a comedy show?

Yeah, he had a standup special a couple of years ago.

I didn’t know that.

Someone put it on YouTube and I was watching it a couple weeks ago and I was laughing so hard.

Do you think that’s what he’s pursuing now that he’s retired?

I don’t know what he’s going to do. I think he’s definitely a hilarious person, so the Barstool job kind of fits him.

How broken up were you when he retired this season?

I was kind of sad. He’s one of the best punters in the league over the past few seasons. His average has gone up over his eight-nine year career.

We saw that you committed to the Army. What was the decision behind that move to go over there for your college career?

You look at what I wanted to have in a college. The location… I think first and foremost, doesn’t get much better than West Point. It’s so historic, it’s right on the Hudson River, there are mountains in the background and a valley and trees. It just looks amazing. That initially drew my attention when I visited. Academically, it’s up there with the Ivy League schools. It competes hand-and-hand with the Ivies… it doesn’t compare to any of them in particular.

But, overall, the quality of academics is at that level. That was a huge thing for me. I didn’t want to go somewhere and just play football and school not be that big of a deal. I wanted to get a good degree and a good education. Football wise, Coach Monken is making a huge turnaround with the program and that really appeals to me. It checks all the boxes that I was looking for in a college. It sets you up, not just for the four years your there, but you can get a job basically anywhere with a West Point degree.

What degree were you thinking about getting?

I was thinking about majoring in defense and strategic studies. It’s one of those unique degrees you can’t get anywhere else. I was reading about it and it seems like the most interesting one, but I haven’t quite decided for sure.

Was there anyone in your family that was part of the Army? Or was it purely from an academic standpoint?

It was pretty much the academics and serving my nation. It’s just something that I take tremendous pride in. I don’t think there’s a better school for me. Both my grandparents served in some aspects. It was a no-brainer when I sat down with my parents and talked about it. The Army coaches were talking to me and bragging about the school… trying to sell me on it and get me to commit. After thinking about it, there’s really no place to get an education like that.

The education to you is pretty important. How’re you balancing that with high school and playing football. What’s your work ethic when you’re hitting the books, but you also have to hit the practice field… after, before? How’re you managing all that?

It’s not easy. It takes a lot of time management skills, managing out my school work and having a test your first period thirty minutes after football practice after you’ve been up since 5 a.m. It builds that mental toughness and the drive to just want to do better and the discipline that it takes. I think that was one of the contributors to my success in high school: being able to budget my time properly and making sure I wasn’t leaving things until the last minute and that I was planning ahead of time.

You definitely can’t be lazy if you’re going to the Army. What did Coppell do for you on National Signing Day? Was there a presentation? I know that the entire day we were busy; constantly looking at our phones, social media – everything like that to see who was going where. It seemed like every high school had a ceremony for people that were going on to the next level. What did they do for you and what was their ceremony like if they had one?

There were 12 or 14 of us. They invited everyone to come down and watch the National Signing Day ceremony. The high school video team made little videos about us and they asked us a few questions about why we chose the school we are going to. My head coach said some words about each of the football players that were signing. All the other coaches said words about their players. And then we signed… took pictures. It was just a nice celebration of all the hard work we had put in since we were able to walk basically.

What did it mean for you to reach that point where you were being celebrated for all the hard work that you put into it. When you’re sitting there in that ceremony and you’re seeing classmates, teachers… whoever was there – I’m assuming your parents. What did that mean to you personally to go through that?

It was something that I took tremendous pride in. I know I worked my butt off in the classroom and outside of school… during the off-season, during the season. To be recognized for all that hard work… to have the gratification knowing that the time I put in is finally paying off… that all the effort I put in is setting up the foundation for my future. I was extremely honored and privileged to be up there with my classmates and my teammates. It’s one of those days I’ll never forget.

I saw that you were doing a lot of different camps. The Chris Sailer Kicking Summer Camp apparently gave you the award for “Field Goal Champion”. What are the other summer camps you’ve went to and what’re some of the things you get out of those?

Chris Sailer game since between my sophomore and junior year. The biggest thing in those camps was competing against kids in my glass and getting ranked nationally. Last summer, me and one of the guys that Chris Sailer has ranked went head-to-head all day long and I beat him in one of the field goal competitions. To know that I can kick better than one of these top 10 guys was a tremendous honor.

Then in the summer, I went around to colleges through the whole month of June basically. I wasn’t even home. I had to go coast-to-coast and college-to-college and kicking in front of these coaches. That’s the only way to really get your name out there if your special. Because coaches can find a running back, a quarterback, a star linebacker pretty much anywhere, but they’re going to want a kicker that really wants to come to their school… that’s interested in their program and what they have to offer. You have to market yourself really well. I’m thankful that my parents could financially the summer travel plans and be there to take me to all these camps.

At the end of the day, being able to look in hindsight, being able to compete basically for one spot at every school I visited against some of the best guys in the country has made me grow as a kicker. I learned some things I wouldn’t have been able to learn from Chris Sailer or any of my high school coaches. Just from a different perspective… I think at the end of the day, it was a growing experience that helped me get better as an athlete, and ultimately got me to West Point. It was a good experience overall.

What was the point where you realized this was something you wanted to do? Because, obviously – like you said – it’s not the most glamorous positions… it’s always the running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks, whatever. What’s that point where you realized you had these gifts and decided to take it to the next level, which you did?

I think it was back in 8th grade. I told my 8th grade football coach that I just wanted to play kicker. I didn’t want to play receiver, cornerback or safety. He said, ‘Why don’t you play (positions) and kick for us as well?’ Then, in high school, if you want to specialize you can. So, I did and that 8th grade to 9th grade summer, I got in touch with a local kicking coach. After that summer, I knew if I worked hard enough, I could get into college on a kicking scholarship. That moment, I knew I didn’t want to constantly get tackled or risk getting injured. Kicking was something I was always good at. Basically, at 8th grade, I knew kicking would someday get me into a college that I normally couldn’t get into.

How is it something you improve? Obviously, to get to the next level, you’ve got to be one of the best in the nation, which you’re ranked. What’s your practice routine to make sure you’re the best you can be?

When I was young – freshman or sophomore year – I was refining my technique and technically being able to kick a football the way a football is supposed to be kicked… breaking the soccer habits. One of my biggest problems was I couldn’t put on weight. So, I worked really hard all throughout high school to get stronger and put on weight so I could compete at a DI level. That strength really started to show this past summer. All the technique work I’d done in practice was starting to show.

When you go to a camp and you’re able to kick a football six-seven yards further than the next best guy, you have to take a step back and think: I’m really glad I did those extra reps on the squat rack or I just spent that extra day kicking when it was cold and I didn’t really want to kick. It was a lot of fine tuning the craft and hitting the weight room and maintaining my flexibility. That’s one of the biggest things. I was just always a really flexible kid, and Chris Sailor always comments: If you’re going to be a good kicker or a good punter, you’ve got to be flexible so that you can be explosive and make up for a lack of strength.

Did you ever end up putting on the weight? Because, I know for me personally, I could never put on the weight until after high school. I think the most weight I put on was – maybe – five pounds. It wasn’t until I was older that I was able to put on the 10-15-20… whatever it was that it needed to be. Where are you at with the weight gain?

Fall ball freshman year, I came in about 130. This year, I came in to fall camp about 185 so I put about 55 pounds of just pure mass and my mom is just amazed that every single time she goes to the grocery store. She’s like ‘I just went grocery shopping a couple of days ago. Where’s the food?’ and I think really hitting the weight room was helpful because I was just constantly lifting and getting stronger and the muscle just gets added on.

I had to force myself to eat. I’d come home from school and eat something and then a couple hours later, you’d eat dinner, a couple hours later, I’d have a protein shake before bed. The constant intake…That was probably the biggest struggle I had was forcing myself to eat more, really grinding in the weight room, getting every single rep in and supplementing my diet at home.

Do you get sick of all the eating? I mean, I’m sure that after a while it gets pretty tedious because I have to do the same thing and there are some days that are definitely better than others. I’ll tell you that much.

I think I found about every single way that I can cook a chicken breast. I can only a couple weeks of making it one way and then I have to change it up. Who knows how many chicken breasts that I’ve barbecued, baked in the oven, put this sauce on or this breading? You just have to be creative with what you’re eating and making sure that you’re eating the right stuff. My mom was always pretty good about buying groceries that would supplement that muscle growth and the weight gain and not buying the Fruity Pebbles or the Snickers bars.

I don’t know man. That’s going to be hard being in college and being a poor college student to be able to keep that up. Is that something that you’re going to try and take with you to the Army too?

At West Point, they have a pretty good nutritionist that makes sure that they feed the cadets everything that they need so that they can not only perform well in class, but in athletics and military training. So I don’t know how hard it will be; I’m sure there will be adjustments that won’t be as convenient as going down to the kitchen.

At least it’s all set up for you because I remember I was a UTSA student and I just had to stretch my food out and still have to maintain my physicality and that weight and it was pretty tedious but if they have your back, that should be pretty good for you to keep it on. Did you say it was 50 pounds that you gained or 15?

 It was about 55. It seems like a lot but 15 pounds one year, 20 pounds one year, 10 pounds in a summer; I just worked really hard in the weight room and making sure that I was eating the right stuff. Sometimes, I would just look at myself in the mirror and I would tell myself, ‘Man, I was tiny.’ I’m not like The Hulk but I still can’t believe I was once that small.

I remember from junior year to senior year was when I put on 10 to 15 pounds of muscle then I had like the six pack and all the definition and now, I went from high school at 120 to 130-something and 5 foot-nothing to now, I weigh 175 and it’s all just muscle mass and I really look back and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I was so frail and skinny. I thought I was so cool.’

It was easier to put on the weight after I stopped playing soccer since I wasn’t doing as much cardio work. I was just doing a lot of weight training.

So how much do you weigh right now?

I’m about 188, 189, 190-ish. It kind of fluctuates just based on how much I eat during the week. I’m trying to get to about 200 pounds of just solid muscle by the time I leave to West Point.

Can you tell me about some of the memories and lessons that you learned from last season? I know that you all went to…I believe the third round of the playoffs this year?

 Yeah, it was the third round. My freshman year we head a head coaching change with Coach DeWitt, who’s the current head coach right now. The senior class that we had that year were talented, but just weren’t quite as cohesive as this year’s senior class was. That varsity team really lacked solid leadership and this year and during my junior year and offseason, Coach DeWitt really emphasized strong leadership and cohesiveness and really playing as a team and playing for each other.

More than anything, I came into this season thinking: I’m a senior, I’ve got nothing to lose, and I’ll just have as much fun as possible. I know that if I just have fun and relax, I’ll perform well and my game film will look really good and a school will come knocking at the door so I wasn’t too worried this year about the recruiting process. I was just worried about having fun and perform as well as I could.

I know Coach DeWitt was really impressed with my kickoff ability and being able to pound a touchback when we needed one and pinning them inside the 10-yard line on the kickoff coverage team and get them inside the 12 or the 7; I know that was huge for him. We got a young guy that’s really talented and one of the top guys in his class already and that’s really impressive. He did field goals for us. It took a lot of maturity to step back and recognize the talent that he had and how good he was at his position and the power that I had and how good I was at my position.

As a special teams unit, we had one of the more successful years…I don’t want to say in the history of Coppell football but we were good. We had a fifth-ranked long snapper, our punter was really good, kickoffs and field goals were clutch, we would always be counted on. As the season went on, we just bonded as a specialist unit and the team just got closer and closer together as were winning. When we played Allen, we just wanted to come out and rip their throats out and put their faces into the turf. We were doing it for the first half, but Allen is just one of those teams that they’re loaded with 15 D1 guys and we’ve only got a few on our team and they just out-skilled us at the end there so I know that was one of the tougher losses of the year. We were pumping ourselves, we knew that we could step on the field and compete with anybody so that game had a lot of momentum and obviously senior night, beating Skyline and dominating them even though the scoreboard didn’t show it.

We had two really lucky breaks the first two rounds where our quarterback just made a couple of really good plays only he could make and so, it just didn’t happen for us in Round 3 but it was a successful season and I really couldn’t be happier with it. I would’ve like to have gone out with a state ring, but next year I think they’ll compete at a really high level and I think that they can go further. It’s something that I’ll never forget and I wish that I could just replay the season over and over and over. There’s just nothing like playing under the lights on Friday night.

What were some of the lessons that the coaching staff taught you after you all had such a successful season? Have you spoken to them since then?

 I have. The coaching staff is all really ecstatic about my decision and my commitment. Really, from Day 1, Coach DeWitt just really preached about being mentally tough and persevering through adversity and never giving up. Any football cliché about building toughness, that passion for whatever you do; it couldn’t be any more true. We break out with TPD, which stands for trust, passion, discipline. You have to have trust in your teammates, passion to play the game, and you have to have the discipline to do the little things right.

Everyone really bought into it and I think that was one of the biggest reasons that we were successful. 80 guys buy into the mindset that it’s not really about me, it’s about the team and with the team’s success will come individual success and that’s evident with 15 or 16 academic All-State players, numerous All-District players, kids getting scholarship offers. Coach DeWitt and his coaching staff really just preached if you play for your brothers to your left and to your right, the team is a success and that unselfish mindset is what they really preached.

 All this fitness talk and diet talk made me really hungry so I’m about to go eat two or three chicken breasts. But, before I do that, last thing, next four years, what are your expectations for yourself at Army?

 I made a challenge to myself to do everything in my power to just go at Beat Navy every one of those four years. That’s pretty much the only game that really matters for any Army football player and Army football fan so to be a part of that rivalry for the next four years is going to be insane. I’m really looking forward to it to just grow as a man and build my character and leadership skills so that when I do graduate so when asked to lead the next group of soldiers into battle, I can be trusted with that, maintain the safety of all the guys that I’m responsible for.

I think that’s the biggest thing. It really comes down to wanting to serve your country and make that commitment. It’s not just a four-year commitment, it’s a nine-year commitment and I couldn’t be more excited to learn those skills so that I can become a leader of tomorrow.

 

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