CHAPEL HILL – One of the last places football fans probably look when viewing their team’s depth chart is placekicker and punter.
Having multiple players capable of performing at both positions rarely is a topic of need. Other than kickers missing field goals, how often do specialists get replaced or injured? Not very, is the answer.
Yet, tenth-ranked North Carolina’s 6-0 season includes some oddities, among them that the Tar Heels have lost both their starting placekicker and punter for the season. At least it appears kicker Ryan Coe is done for the year. And even if he isn’t, Noah Burnette has been perfect so far, so it’s unlikely Coe would regain his spot if and when he returns.
“It’s unique that we’ve lost a kicker and a punter for the season,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said Monday. “That just doesn’t happen.”
Coe has not been formally listed as being out for the season, but Kiernan has. Replacing him is Australian native Tom Maginness, who hadn’t played in an actual American football game in his life until last weekend.
Maginness started playing Australian Rules Football at age five, but it’s not much like the American game. It’s closer to rugby than actual football. Needless to say, Maginness, who is 22 years old, was quite nervous heading into UNC’s 41-31 win over Miami.
“Pre-game, big time,” he said. “But I’m glad I got that first punt out there early. I think back home the biggest crowd I played in front of was probably 200 people. So, a packed-out Kenan Stadium was bloody awesome.”
Maginness kicked the ball six times averaging 38.3 yards per punt, a number trimmed some because he was asked to stick the ball inside the 20-yard-line twice, which he did. For his effort, Maginness was named Carolina’s Special Teams Player of the Game.
Coe went down at the end of UNC’s second game of the season, a double-overtime win at home over Appalachian State. Coe missed a 39-yard field goal attempt as time expired that would have given the Tar Heels a victory in regulation. He also injured his leg on the play and hasn’t been available since.
In his place, Burnette has converted all nine of his field goal attempts, including from 43 and 48 yards in a 41-24 win at Pittsburgh, four field goals in a 40-7 trouncing of Syracuse, and two more last weekend versus the Hurricanes.
Burnette lost the job in the preseason after struggling down the stretch last year. But he’s made the most of this opportunity, that only came because Coe got banged up. Maginness got his shot because Kiernan was injured at the end of a 17-yard run after a punt was blocked.
Depth in the kicking game is as important as anywhere else on a roster, as UNC has seen come to life this fall.
“So much,” Brown said, agreeing about the importance of having depth in the kicking spots. “We’ve told our team, ‘Next man up,’ and when you say it they don’t hear it. But you can show it.
“We’ve got examples of you don’t know when you’re going to get your opportunity; you usually get one. And when you get it, you better be ready for it because if you don’t take advantage of it, you don’t get it again, you lose it.”
In addition, Liam Boyd, a walk-on transfer from Clemson, is now UNC’s kickoff specialist, which was also a duty Coe filled before his injury. Boyd has recorded 20 touchbacks in 31 kickoffs, with three kicks called pooches by the UNC staff.
So, his intended touchback rate is 71.4 percent, which is considered exceptionally high.
“So proud that Noah has stepped up, he’s made every kick,” Brown said. “Liam Boyd is kicking the ball where we want to on the kickoffs even though we’re not always kicking it out.”
Not often noticed, UNC’s depth in its kicking spots has been an enormous part of the team’s success this season, and should serve it well moving forward.
