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Reasoning why we got Durant Brooks with insight from current GT student

SkinsMaster88

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SkinsMaster88

SkinsMaster88

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Another article on Durant Brooks: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10771401

Consistent punter Brooks ready to take game to next level

Clark Judge

April 10, 2008

Georgia Tech's Durant Brooks is my kind of punter, and not because he's the best one in this year's NFL draft, but because he has an appreciation for the best one in any NFL Draft.

I'm talking, of course, of Ray Guy, and consider Brooks an expert on the former Oakland star. He knows him. He was coached by him. And he won the award named after him.

Brooks nailed more than half his punts inside the 20. (US Presswire)

"It all started when my mom sold him a horse," Brooks said of their relationship. "He was buying a horse for his daughter and she mentioned me; that I was a punter in high school. He was like, 'You know, you ought to send him to one of my camps.' I went that summer before my senior year and got to know him really well."

So well, in fact, that before the February NFL scouting combine, Brooks went back to Guy to brush up on a few basics. Something must have clicked because when you talk to scouts and special teams coaches Brooks is the first name they mention among punters in this year's draft class.

He can punt directionally. He can launch bombs. He can deaden the ball inside the 20. And he never had a kick blocked.

"He's all about consistency," said an NFL special teams coordinator. "He really takes pride in his profession. Everything equates and relates to what he does on the field. He has a strong leg and enormous hang time, and he's as consistent as they come."

Guy might have something to do with that. When he was the Raiders there was no better punter anywhere. In fact, there hasn't been a better punter anywhere since. Guy was the platinum bar by which others were -- and are -- measured, though you wouldn't know it stopping in at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ray Guy isn't there, and don't ask me why. Don't ask Brooks, either.

"I didn't realize how many times he's been up for the Hall of Fame and hasn't gotten it," he said. "It's a shame. I've talked to special teams' coaches around here, and they say he's the best and should be in the Hall of Fame. I said I'm going to vouch for him if I make it to the next level."

If? Better make that when.

It's not Durant's 45.1-yard average that was so impressive last season as it was his ability to stick kicks inside the 20. He dropped 33 -- or over half his 65 punts -- inside the 20, with another 21 that were fair catches.

But that's not all, folks. He hammered a career-best 77-yarder against North Carolina. He hit one for 66 against Army and another for 61 yards against Virginia. He had five punts of 50 or more yards against Boston College, with four downed inside the 20.

I think you get the idea.

But if that doesn't catch the attention of an NFL head coach, maybe this will: The average starting point for opponents following a Brooks' punt was the 18-yard line. With the emphasis in today's pro game on field position, a punter like Brooks becomes more than an asset; he becomes a weapon.

Brooks was also a two-time first-team All-ACC choice and holds the league record for career average (45.31), but his greatest accomplishment was outpolling 55 other punters last season nominated for the Ray Guy award.

"It was just awesome," Brooks said. "He (Guy) taught me everything -- especially in high school. He taught me hang time, about (kicking) inside the 20 and about drop. He gave me his mindset of what he went through and how he did drills and what he did before games."

If Brooks can produce a pro career similar to his teacher's some NFL club will be better, much better, for it. Heck, the NFL will be better, too. I never saw a punter as proficient as Ray Guy, but I'd sure like to see his prized pupil.

"I can't think of a greater guy to have as a mentor," Durant said.

I'll second that.

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SkinsMaster88

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Also, another one. More personal on his development. Keep in mind that he never really focused on punting until more after high school. He could become even better as he gets experience in the NFL.

Link: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/110907/mic_151782.shtml

Horse sense helps give punter a leg up

By Scott Michaux | Columnist

Friday, November 09, 2007

Any way you look at it, the punting career of Georgia Tech's Durant Brooks traces back to a horse.

There were the hunting and jumping horses Brooks grew up riding on his mother's farm in Warrenton, Ga., which the all-time Atlantic Coast Conference leader in punting average credits for his leg strength.

Then there is the Irish sport horse his mother sold about seven years ago that gave Brooks a foot in the door, so to speak, with the most renowned punter in history.

Ray Guy bought a horse named Moe from LuAnne Durant's Persimmon Hill stock for his daughter to ride. A few months later, Durant asked Guy to assess her son's kicking skills at the annual camp the former NFL legend conducts every year in his hometown of Thomson.

"I was very impressed with him the first time he came to one of our camps," Guy said of Brooks before his junior high school season. "I just walked out on the field and was looking at him and thought, 'Boy, he's got something.' It's what you'd call a natural talent and ability."

Now a senior at Georgia Tech, that natural talent could earn Brooks the national award named after Ray Guy. For the second consecutive season, Brooks is a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award presented by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. Last year he narrowly finished runner-up to two-time winner Daniel Sepulveda of Baylor.

"Last year was exciting and awesome just to be nominated," Brooks said. "This year was motivation to work harder to get back."

Leading the nation in net punting yardage, which factors in punt returns and touchbacks, Brooks is a virtual lock to be one of the three finalists invited to Augusta for the banquet where the winner will be introduced. Guy admits a personal bias that he felt last year as well.

"Buddy, wouldn't this be nice if I could walk up on that stage on ESPN and say the winner of the sixth-annual, or however long its been, is Durant Brooks?" Guy said. "It didn't happen last year, but I did find out later it was very, very close. It would be great to stand up there and call his name this year."

It would be another chapter in the remarkable tale of Thomson-connected punters. Long-time NFL stars Guy and Chris Mohr (who also has helped hone Brooks) both hailed from the region. While Brooks grew up living with his father near Macon and attended Tattnall Square Academy, he spent many of his weekends at his mother's farm in Warrenton.

"They wonder what's in the water around here," Guy said of the region's punting wealth.

With Brooks, it wasn't the water, but the fox-hunting horses he's been riding since he was 7 that built his uncommon leg strength.

"You have to have strong legs to stay on a horse, that's for sure," his mother said.

Guy agrees: "And you've got to have coordination too. That's why he's so natural. He was so rhythmic, so easygoing and relaxed. You've got to have ability and you've got to have rhythm in your whole body. That transposes with the riding. You have to have timing and coordination with the horse, or you'll find yourself on the ground at some time."

Brooks was an all-around athlete in high school, playing wide receiver and defensive back as well as punter. He thought very little of the special teams chore he seemed naturally inclined to do. His mother actually recognized the potential first.

"I kept asking his high school coach, 'Don't you think he can punt on the next level?' " Durant said. "He might have thought I was just a dumb momma or something. That's why I took him to Ray Guy's camp because I thought he could do it."

Guy's celebrity stature was lost on Brooks.

"I didn't know who he was until I got into punting," Brooks said. "My mom told me he lives where she lives and I asked, 'Who's Ray Guy?'"

Pretty soon it was Guy wanting to know more about Brooks. He quickly assessed Brooks and put him on his talent search video.

"I told him he didn't have to do that just because he has the best horse he ever had," his mother said of the jumper she'd sold Guy. "He said, 'LuAnn, the kid's got talent.' "

"The main thing I was impressed with was his work ethics and attention span," Guy said. "He listened to what you were telling him and was accepting to change, always looking for that something a little better."

The hands-on guidance Brooks received from Guy -- in areas of technique and hang time -- opened his eyes to opportunity.

"That's when I saw I could keep up with people who had been doing it longer than me," Brooks said. "I knew my best shot to make it (in college) was by punting."

After two years getting on track at Georgia Military College and a red-shirt season at Georgia Tech, Brooks burst onto the national punting scene. Almost half of Brooks' punts last season left opponents pinned inside the 20. Of his 79 punts, 27 went for more than 50 yards and seven for over 60.

This year, his gross average is slightly down but his efficiency is better than ever. Of his 47 punts this year, 23 have been downed inside the 20 and only 12 have been returned. He has 16 more punts of at least 50 yards, including a career-long 66-yarder against Army.

"I've stopped trying to hit it so far, trying to kill it every time," Brooks said. "That's hard to do sometimes. But I've worked on getting consistent, doing the bitty things."

Those bitty things are what impress Guy the most.

"He is a team player," Guy said. "He sacrifices a lot of stuff, and that was one of the criteria I was looking for (in the Guy Award). Not just punting for yourself. He punts for the team."

Now Brooks hopes his improvement will make the difference in winning the Guy Award and getting a chance to follow Sepulveda into the NFL. He's relished the role as favorite.

"All the eyes are on me now," Brooks said. "I have to be able to deal with all the pressure and all the talk. Last year nobody knew anything about me, so I could just go out and do my stuff and it ended up a pretty good year. Now everybody is expecting you to be on top and have a good year."

Whether he wins the bronze replica trophy of Guy or not, Brooks has something even more important on his quest to make his own name as a punter. He has Guy's phone number and an open invitation to call.

"He's always said if I run into a problem or develop a glitch, he's glad to help out," Brooks said. "How great is that?"

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JRAB

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Yeah, he's a decent college punter but it's still a wasted pick because with no defensive line help for the 100th year in a row, we will be so far behind on the scoreboard that we'll have to always go for it on 4th down. :laugh:

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SkinsMaster88

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To update, Durant Brooks was also the holder at GT for all FGs and PATs.

This was mentioned in another thread, as that's been Frost's role.

I don't recall any bad holds by Brooks, and he helped our kicker, Travis Bell, also break a few school records: http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/bell_travis00.html

*1st in Tech history for season field goals (23)

*1st in Tech history for career field goals (61)

*1st in Tech history for career field goal percentage (.726)

*1st in Tech history for season points scored by kicking (106)

*1st in Tech history for season field goal percentage (.882 in 2004)

*2nd in Tech history for career points scored (321)

*2nd in Tech history for career PATs (138)

AT TECH: One of the top kickers in college football and one of the top specialists in Georgia Tech history... a 2007 semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award... a first team All-ACC selection in 2007 after a record-breaking senior year... a three-time Academic All-ACC selection... a four-year starter... scored at least one point in 51 consecutive games, tying for the longest active streak nationally... came one point short of tying Georgia Tech's all-time career scoring record... leaves his name atop the Yellow Jacket record books for field goals made in a season and a career, as wellas career field goal percentage and single-season field goal percentage.... made all 138 career PAT attempts.

Brooks can handle all holding duties along with providing us consistently good field position. :)

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