PEMBROKE — When considering what makes a good punter a great punter most believe that it is the power of their kicking leg or that they have a gaudy net average. In actuality, it is often not the strength of the leg, but more accurately the precision in which he can place the punt.
The ability to flip the field with end over end punts can be done with a booming boot and good coverage, but the skill of being able to pin opponents back deep inside their own 20, or even 10-yard lines, on a consistent basis is truly an impressive feat and a masterful art.
That is exactly what redshirt sophomore Isaac Parks has been doing for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke football team this season, and he continues to exhibit his prowess for excellent punting with surgical precision week in and week out for the Braves.
Parks had the best outing of his career against Newberry on Sept. 29 at Grace P. Johnson Stadium. In a losing effort by his team, a 20-0 shutout, his outstanding punting was one of the lone bright spots.
He amassed 328 yards on seven boots with a 46.86 average and his longest of the night was a 53-yarder. He boomed two punts of over 50 yards and was able to down four inside the 20-yard line of the Wolves. Two of those four were perfectly placed and downed at the one-yard line on back-to-back drives in the first half.
“That was definitely one of the best career performances I’ve ever had. A little bit of luck involved just on the 53-yarder that bounced at the two (yard line) and hit that slow roll to the one-yard line. That was a little bit of luck. Aside from that, a lot of that was practiced,” Parks said.
As impressive as his performance was against the Wolves, Parks doesn’t want it to be the highlight of his season. He instead wants to use it as a mile marker or “building block,” as he referred to it, in the sense that it is a glimpse of not only what he is capable of, but also a sign of what it is to come as the season rages on.
“The first time I was really excited because it was just a great (kick). I saw the returner just run for it, that’s a tell-tell of you hit a good ball because they’re trying to get your team away from it. The second time I actually didn’t know where the ball landed until I got to the sideline and people told me,” said Parks.
He also credits a lot of his success to his coaching staff and the confidence they have in him and the decisions he makes.
“Isaac punted fantastic, absolutely. He had actually practiced that way too and so that was just a great reflection of how hard he worked and what he looked like in practice so that was very pleasing to see,” UNCP coach Shane Richardson said of his punter’s performance against Newberry.
Parks credits his precise punting to the amount of time he spends practicing and honing his craft into a fine art, or even more appropriately, a deadly weapon that is used to pin opponents back deep.
“I don’t have the biggest leg out of everyone. You don’t see me hitting 65-yard punts…That was never a strong point of mine, so for me, I try to make my money on the short distance side of the field,” Parks said
Parks transferred in from North Carolina A&T last season after redshirting his first year and not seeing any game action the following year. He was essentially buried on the team’s depth chart because he couldn’t hit the long bomb punts with as much regularity.
He said that he prefers to do a majority of his damage between the 40-yard lines of both his team and the opposition because, in a game of inches, the least amount of field a punter can allow by avoiding touchbacks can often swing the pendulum of field position in his team’s favor.
“Over the summer and just in season, I’ve probably hit like a couple thousand footballs just in that range just trying to get that sort of area right and I think it has paid off at this point,” said Parks.
He credits this skill to the fundamental mechanics behind punting.
“If you hit it just right and you can kind of think about it’ll actually come off (upward) and roll off your foot in a way… it will just spiral off,” said Parks.
He divides the pigskin into four panels and when he drops the ball and approaches the attempt he aims, assuming that the laces are up and facing him, for the front/middle part of the bottom left panel.
Despite admitting to spending countless hours kicking thousands of footballs, the humble Parks refuses to take sole credit for his astonishing feats. He credits his teammates on his designated special teams’ unit for parts of his success.
The result of his precise punts is something all three phases feed off of and when executed properly, benefit from each other and set one another up for success.
“When we pin them deep we’re really putting our offense in a good position to score because it’s like the 1-2 punch. We put them at the one, our defense keeps them inside the 10 (yard line) and then we (the offense) get the ball on our own side of the 50 (yard line),” Parks said.
He wasn’t always a punter and like most great specialist he started out at a position that coaches assumed would fit that players build and or skill set at the time. In Parks’ case, he was first designated as an offensive lineman by his high school coaches due to his short and portly stature.
Parks missed time due to a concussion he suffered in a practice tackling drill and after seeing limited action he decided to take up punting in the following offseason of his freshman year because he was determined to find his niche, see the field and not ride the bench.
“I wasn’t even good at it. It’s not even like I started off and was natural at it. I was really bad. I was just barely good enough to start at JV (junior varsity), so it’s not even like I came in and took the varsity spot right away,” Parks said.
His future as a stalwart punter began but didn’ take shape until the summer before his senior season when he sought out the tutelage of a specialized kicking coach to help him refine his form and skills.
“Building up to the season, I was like oh man, this is about to be my season. I could probably hit 45 to 50 yards every other time, so I was feeling really good,” said Parks.
In a rather tumultuous season for the Braves, the performance of their consistently proficient punter who is currently third the nation among all punters at the Division II level with a 45-yard average per boot, has been a pleasant silver lining.
