Rutgers kicker eyes consistency entering senior season
Kyle Federico is the first one to say his first three years with the Rutgers football team haven’t always been up and good.
At the same time of proving he’s had the big boot in when the game is on the line, he’s also been victim to the misperception of failure that one missed kick can bring.
“I feel like all kickers out there have bad days,” he says. “It’s just a matter of going out there and being more consistent. That’s my goal.”
Tabbed as the heir apparent to a pair of four-year-starters in former placekickers San San Te and Jeremy "The Judge" Ito, expectations for the 18-year-old kid from Ponte Verda, Florida, skyrocketed from the moment he stepped foot on campus as an early enrollee back in spring 2012.
Fast forwarding to his senior year, Federico enters his final season with the same placekicking duties and the same No. 1 stitched onto his jersey donned during their times in Piscataway.
With a 68-percent field goal percentage to his name, the numbers tell their own story for Federico.
In a homecoming of sorts in the third game of his career, Federico converted 3-of-4 field goal attempts in a critical 23-13 road win over South Florida on ESPN — including a gutsy 52-yarder that still stands today as the longest of his career and the fourth-longest in program history.
But misfortune ensued.
He went cold, going just 2-for-6 in his next string of attempts before a hip injury forced him to watch a walk-on, Nick Borgese, take every rep.
The next two years extolled mixed results. After a sophomore year where he made 66.7 percent (12-for-18) of his field goals, Federico made the necessary adjustments as a junior with a 76.2-percent mark (16-for-21).
Now a senior, he ensures the adaptation hasn’t stopped.
“I got hurt my freshman year. My sophomore year, I started off terrible and had to bounce back from that,” Federico said. “So, I’m also seeing that with practices, coming from a bad scrimmage. Today, my main goal is, no matter how many opportunities I get, I want to make everything.”
Last weekend serves as a prime example.
After whiffing on a pair of potential game-winners during a two-minute drill near the end of the Saturday scrimmage, Federico finished his day with an uneasy 2-for-5 on field goals with one missed extra point.
But the confidence never wavered — not for a second.
“Unfortunately, I thought Kyle had a pretty good day until we got to the end,” head coach Kyle Flood said after the scrimmage. “But I’ve got a lot of confidence in Kyle I know that won’t be ultimately what we get during the year.”
Following the down day, Federico went back to basics in search of any additional help he could find.
He dialed up his former high school coaches. He diligently studied the film and locked in on the miscues from each miss. He asked for his fellow kickers within the Rutgers special teams unit to watch him step-by-step on each field goal attempt in practice on Monday, despite being the seasoned vet as a three-year starter at the position.
Regardless of the success or failure he’s been through or going through, Federico keeps pushing for perfection — or at least the closest thing to it.
“Just focusing on my form a little more. There’s always stuff to be working on,” he said. “… Just trying to fine-tune everything to be the best I can be.”
