The Gators Get Their Punter

Brownsburg (IN) punter Kyle Christy visited the Florida camp last week and impressed the coaching staff. Monday, he got a call from Florida head coach Urban Meyer, and Meyer offered Christy a scholarship. It didn't take long for Christy to make up his mind where he wanted to go to school, he gave Meyer a good response before the head Gator could hang up.

“I talked to Urban Meyer on the phone yesterday, he offered me a scholarship and I told him I wanted to go to Florida,” Kyle Christy said by phone Tuesday. “I pretty much told him before we hung up the phone. I had offers from LSU and Florida and Florida is the only school I would have picked over LSU.”

The Florida Urban Meyer kicking camp is where the Gators have landed their last three prospects at punter and kicker and so it was pretty clear this would likely happen again this year with punter Chas Henry moving on after the 2010 season. One priority for Meyer and his staff in recruiting is to find a hand full of prospects that can come to school early and be prepared to play when the fall rolls around. Finding Christy at this camp was essential.

“I was at camp last week and I liked kicking in The Swamp,” Christy said. “The Swamp is really cool and I liked everything about the camp. Coach Meyer and I talked about a lot of stuff, he wants me to come down again and meet him. He also wants me to graduate early so I can come down and punt. I have plenty of credits, I just have to talk to my counselors and work it out. I never really thought about it, but I am sure I can do it.”

“Urban was doing a lot of the coaching with me and a few others too. They were all really impressed with me and offered up a lot of instruction.”

Florida is a place he really wanted to earn that scholarship from.

“It has kind of been my top school, they have been really good and have good academics too,” he said. “It has been my dream school that I always wanted to go and its kind of crazy that I get to do it. I have always liked them.”

Assistant coach D.J. Durkin is heading up the special teams at Florida and has been the point man on Christy's recruitment. Durkin, Meyer and the rest of the staff did a great job of selling Christy and his parents.

“My parents let me make the decision and completely supported me,” Christy said. “My dad came to camp and liked it just as much as I did.”

LSU was a school that was going to be tough to beat, but Christy found the one he wanted to go to.

“LSU offered me a few weeks ago,” he said. “I liked their facilities too and I really liked the food. I loved the atmosphere there as well.”

It was an SEC battle till the end and Christy is pumped about playing in the nation's top football conference.

“It is going to be cool and probably my first big time experience with big time college football,” he said.

Christy will make another trip to Florida with his family before the season starts.

“They want me to come down for Friday Night Lights, but I can't come down then because I have a school function,” he said. “So, I will come down another time.”

Florida is getting a kicking prospect that just started punting, but has been putting his foot to the leather for quite some time.

“I have been kicking since junior football, but just started punting this past season,” he said. “I always played soccer and football and kicked on the junior league team because I knew how to kick a ball. I got better because I knew I had the potential and stuck with it.”