Kai Kroeger putting in extra work to return to All-American self
Although Kai Kroeger is one of the most decorated punters in South Carolina history, the fifth-year senior is eager to turn the page to a new season.
“I definitely do have a chip on my shoulder,” Kroeger told GamecockCentral during an NIL event with Palmetto Autographs. “Obviously, this last season wasn’t the season that I personally wanted to have, and that the team wanted to have. But for me, I try to takeaway things that I was able to overcome. There was a lot of stuff that was happening off of the field, and on the field. Just learning how to handle the mental side of it because that was definitely the hardest part about last year.”
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A First Team All-American in 2022, Kroeger saw a slight drop in his distance on kicks in 2023. Averaging 43.2 yards per punt, he still was one of the better punters in the country — 36th best average on punts. Combined with a strong kick coverage from his teammates, of Kroeger’s 62 punts last season, only 11 were returned for a combined total of 41 yards. Or in other words, for just 3.7 yards per return.
While some punters wouldn’t lose much sleep over those numbers, Kroeger admits that he’s been doing everything he can to be one of the best punters in the nation, again.
“It’s been the most work I’ve put in (during an off-season while at South Carolina); punting specifically and in the weight room. I’ve put on good weight this year and I’ve been seeing a lot of good improvements in the weight room. Some of these drills that (new special teams coordinator Joe) DeCamillis has been having us do, they’ve been making me a lot better as a punter and as a holder, as well.”
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Some of those drills include breaking a bad habit that Kroeger admits at times hurt him with his accuracy last year. While he’s only been working with DeCamillis for a few months, he’s already noticing a difference.
“For me, getting technical, my biggest problem is sometimes my elbow will come in too much on my drop. It makes it turn inside and then I kind of swipe across it. Some of those miss hits will kind of go down the middle of the field. So, (coach DeCamillis) has us doing a lot of these drills that keeps my elbow extended outside of my hip. That makes us way more consistent. We’re able to hit the direction we want on punts. He’s been drilling that into us everyday that we do it. Whether we’re kicking or just at workouts, we’re doing those drills everyday and it’s helped a lot.”
