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Tyler Newsome Striving To Keep A Leg Up At Notre Dame

Tyler Newsome's 44.5 punting average last year was the fourth best at Notre Dame in a season.
Tyler Newsome's 44.5 punting average last year was the fourth best at Notre Dame in a season.
USA Today

On paper, Tyler Newsome had one of the best seasons ever by a Fighting Irish punter. In the sophomore's debut campaign in 2015, after redshirting as a freshman in 2014, Newsome:

• Had the fourth highest punting average in one season at Notre Dame with a 44.5 average. The only ones with higher numbers were Geoff Price in 2006 (45.4), and then long-time NFL punter Craig Hentrich in 1990 (44.9) and as a freshman in 1989 (44.6). It marked only the fourth time in a season a punter eclipsed a 44-yard average at Notre Dame.

• Notre Dame and Idaho were the only two schools in the country to have their kicker and punter rank among the top 15 in field-goal percentage and best punting average.

• Among his 55 punts, 21 were placed inside the 20-yard line, the second-best figure at the school since 2005, surpassed only by Ben Turk’s 26 (on 68 attempts) in 2010.

• About a third of his punts (18) traveled at least 50 yards. The totals from the three previous years at Notre Dame were 12, nine and seven.

In his short time at Notre Dame, Newsome has displayed an NFL leg with many of his prodigious punts that has had even head coach Brian Kelly watch in awe. Yet Newsome is mature enough to recognize that stats can be misleading in the punting game.

Net punting is the more significant number because it factors in return yardage. There, Notre Dame was a more average 48th at 38.12.

“I still don’t think I was able to accomplish a lot,” said Newsome recently. “There was a lot I left on the table. I had a couple of rough games in the middle of the season: Clemson (most notably a 14-yard shank that set up a score), USC, Temple, I didn’t do too hot in those games and I think it really hurt our punt coverage unit as a whole. That’s on me. It’s really about staying consistent. Last year was an okay year, but I’m looking to improve.

“Sometimes I had a tendency to out-punt the coverage. That’s what I’ve been working on this year. It’s great to hit a 58-yard punt, but if they return it 18 yards, I don’t want that. I’d rather have a 45-yard punt with a fair catch."

His central focus is on having a more consistent hang time — a 4.5 average is the goal, from the time of the punt to the time the return man catches it — because opponents fair caught only seven of his punts last season, a figure he refers to as “awful.”

“I didn’t have nearly as many fair catches as I should have,” Newsome said.

Because Newsome’s leg is so powerful, he is also learning the art of pooch punting. Last year against USC, it was quarterback DeShone Kizer who was twice used as the pooch punter — and both of his attempts were downed inside the Trojans’ 20-yard line in the 41-31 Irish win.

Overall, the Notre Dame punt return defense was okay during the regular season, allowing 121 yards on 18 returns. But in the 44-28 Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State, the Buckeyes averaged 18.25 yards on four punt returns (73 yards total) while dominating the field position battle.

Punting is a separate art in which the object is not to just try to knock the stuffing the ball out of the punt. Directional, pooch and rugby punts are all part of the deal.

“You’ve got to learn to play the field and know where you’re at,” Newsome said. “I think that’s one thing I’ve really learned as part of being on the Notre Dame team. Know how to pooch punt and situational punt … it’s learning to do those things and be able to punt.

“When you’re at the minus-10 yard line, you’ve really got to get it out there. But against USC when I’m at the plus-48, you’ve got to pin them deeper. There are those different kind of scenarios that you’ve got to learn to practice. It’s following through and learning the mechanics for different situations.”

With his leg power and 6-2 ½, 210-pound frame, Newsome also is the kickoff man (he recorded four tackles last year, three of them solo), which also relies more on hang time and directional kicks than just booting the ball out of the end zone (although he did 21 times in 84 attempts last year). Ideally, the staff wants him to place the ball between the goal line and five on one side of the field, thereby providing a better chance to pin the return man inside the 20 rather than just accept placing the ball at the 25 on a touchback. (Ohio State pinned the Irish back at the 17, 13, 13, 12 and 10 on five of their kickoffs.)

Five of Newsome’s kickoffs last year went out-of-bounds, which put the ball at the opponent’s 35-yard line.

“It was almost frustrating at a point because I could put it inside the 5, but they would go out of bounds — and three went out at the two-yard line," he said. "You really have to be a master at your craft. I’ve been working on placing it where I want it to be.”

The NFL leg is there for Newsome. Step 2 will be honing it with consistency that goes beyond just stats.

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