Where Notre Dame Punter Jay Bramblett Goes ‘Every Chance’ To Hone His Craft
To punt like the best, you have to punt with the best.
Or something like that. Jay Bramblett can say it better himself.
The Notre Dame junior punter works regularly with kicking guru Mike McCabe, who is the founder of the One On One Kicking training venues that have become the offseason homes for the best high school and college specialists in the country.
A handful of NFL specialists work out at them, too.
How often is Bramblett in Birmingham, Alabama, to work with McCabe?
“Every chance I get,” he said.
Bramblett was most recently there in May. Los Angeles Rams punter Johnny Hekker was there too. McCabe helped Hekker go from walk-on status at Oregon State to the highest-paid punter in the NFL according to Spotrac.
“He’s 6-7, but his mechanics are amazing,” Bramblett said of Hekker. “To be able to watch guys like that and get up close with them is awesome.”
Bramblett competes with the other college punters who work with McCabe. That’s something he doesn’t get a lot of in practices at Notre Dame. The Irish have one other punter on the roster; senior Jake Rittman. Most days, those two are too worried about honing their own crafts and working on their own mechanics to go head-to-head.
Hence, being a punter can be a lonely experience. In any given game, Bramblett is the only player wearing blue and gold tasked with doing what he does between the white lines. Aside from punt returning, the only other player who can say the same is the quarterback. Everyone knows how important that guy is.
Think about it. There are two or three cornerbacks on the field at the same time. Two or three safeties. Two or three linebackers. Three or four defensive lineman. The offensive line is a five-man unit. Running backs rotate in and out. Wide receivers and tight ends too.
There is one punter, just like there is one quarterback.
No, a punter isn’t as directly involved with a team’s win/loss results as a quarterback. A punter can win and lose games just as easily in some circumstances, though. A pinned punt at the 2-yard line can win one. A shanked punt that gives the opponent promising field position can lose one. It’s happened. It will happen again.
Luckily for Notre Dame, special teams coordinator Brian Polian doesn’t worry much about that with Bramblett.
“He’s never been that guy that you come off the field and say, ‘Why did we hit a 58-yard line drive down the middle?’” Polian said. “He’s aiming for 4.5, 4.6 [seconds of hang time]. That’s what he wants. If he can hit a 48-yard ball at 4.7, sign me up.”
Those specifics are what Bramblett has improved upon since averaging less than 40 yards per punt as a freshman in 2019. Bramblett no longer thinks, “How can I kick this ball as high and far as I can?” while worrying he won't do either of those things. As he has matured as a punter, it’s more along the lines of, “How can I kick this ball to a point where my team maximizes in the field position battle?”
“It’s all situational,” Bramblett said. “Places I’m really looking to drive the ball — we’re coming up on midfield and I can shoot to a corner and get one of those rolls out of bounds where there is not going to be a return possibility.
“This year, I’m feeling pretty comfortable with my directional kicking. I like to put the ball outside the numbers, and that kind of allows me to drive the ball even more.”
Bramblett’s practice sessions mirror those of a golfer. From the grip of the club to the takeaway in the backswing to the swing plane going through the ball to the club face position at impact and lastly the follow through, there are so many factors that determine where a golf ball will go. The same can be said for punting.
Where does the punter plant his off foot? Where is most of the weight bearing taking place? How much does he rear his kicking leg back? How fluidly does he drop the ball? Where is the ball connecting with his foot? There’s a follow through in a kicking motion just like a golf swing, too.
A slight error in any of those steps is the difference between a 50-yard boomer and a 30-yard shank — or worse. Yes, that can happen too. Bramblett said the key to staying in the upper end of that range is finding consistency in practices.
“I usually take every rep and look at one specific thing,” Bramblett said. “What was my previous kick like, and what was it that caused it to not be what it was supposed to be? Critiquing. Here and there, tiny things.
“Over time, you get better and better. And that’s where that consistency will come from.”
With help from McCabe and Polian while placing more trust in himself, Bramblett believes he can transform into one of the best — and most consistent — punters in the country in 2021.
“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Bramblett said. “I know I’m capable of hitting a good punt with good distance and all that, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t do it every time you go out there. If I’m not hitting the ball I need to hit in the situation we’re in, it’s pointless.”
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