This Texas football freshman could be in line to start in 2024

While meeting last month with members of the local media, Texas football special teams coordinator Jeff Banks shared an obvious observation.

"Michael Dickson's not here. Cam Dicker's not here. Ryan Sanborn's not here," Banks said.

Sure enough, Dickson is not in Austin anymore. He's entering his seventh season as the Seattle Seahawks' punter. Dicker recently kicked a 58-yard field goal in a preseason game for the Los Angeles Chargers, and Sanborn is trying to land a job in the NFL. That's all to say: Texas needs a new punter.

So who is up next at a school that's less than seven years removed from winning a Ray Guy Award with Dickson? Sophomore Ian Ratliff and freshman Michael Kern are the only two players listed as punters on the roster. Junior Charlie Feris is identified as a kicker on the team's website, but Banks has said he's also a candidate for the position.

Feris and Ratliff are both walk-ons who have yet to appear in a game at Texas. That leaves Kern as the likely front-runner for this position since he was a member of UT's 2024 recruiting class .

Kern is a Florida native who attended  St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. While he was with the Raiders, he won three state championships. As a senior, he averaged 46.3 yards per punt, was the No. 4 punter in the class of 2024 in 247Sports' composite rankings and participated in the All-American Bowl.

"We think (he's) the best punter in the country," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said on signing day. "We think this guy's got a skill set for the future."

Kern will be tutored by Banks, who punted at Washington State from 1996 to 1997. Banks was once an all-conference honoree for the Cougars, and his average of 43.5 yards during Washington State's 1997 Rose Bowl season remains the ninth-best mark in school history.

Since Banks arrived at Texas ahead of the 2021 season, his punters have averaged 43.6 yards per attempt. He's been a special teams coordinator at four Football Bowl Subdivision schools since 2004, and 12 of his teams have ranked among the nation's top 25 in net punting (punting yards minus the yardage gained on returns and touchbacks). Banks mentored Ray Guy Award finalist Drew Kaser in 2013. Idaho State led all Football Championship Subdivision-level schools in net punting during three of Banks' four years as the special teams coordinator there.

So what does he want from a punter ?

"I'd like the guy to hit the ball and punt the ball directionally well. I think that's something right away that we look for," Banks said. "From a technique standpoint, if he can be two steps and get the ball off quicker, I'd like that. That's probably where we start is just formwise, getting him to be compact, and to be able to strike the ball the same every time."

Banks conceded that with three inexperienced punters on the roster, "we've got to figure out how to call the game correctly to their strengths." That is what the fall camp is for. Banks added that the Texas coaching staff understands that it will have to have patience with the punting unit.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of patience," he joked.

Ratliff was an all-district punter at Humble Atascocita. Feris was a successful place-kicker at Houston Cypress Ranch and was his Class 6A district's best baseball player during his senior year.

At 6 feet 3, the 195-pound Kern is taller than every UT receiver except for 6-4 Parker Livingstone. But Texas isn't interested in Kern's hands. He's in Austin because of a leg that got off punts sailing 65 and 61 yards last year. Fourteen of his 25 punts were downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

"I love his build. I think he's got really good tools physically, athletically to punt, not only ... to catch the ball and get the ball off quick enough, but I think he's got a very good, strong leg, flexible," Banks said. "I like that he's coming from St. Thomas Aquinas, which is a heralded high school program where they played for championships. So he has the competitive nature we're looking for."

After joining the Longhorns last year as a graduate transfer from Stanford, Sanborn averaged 45.7 yards during his only season at Texas. That was the seventh-best season ever for a UT punter, and Sanborn earned an honorable mention on the All-Big 12 team.

He signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in April and averaged 45.3 yards over nine preseason punts but was released this week.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: This Texas football freshman could be in line to start in 2024