#UNC place-kicker Rece Verhoff

Noah Weissoff Tardial 247. I just was

curious on your mental side of the game,

obviously with kicking, it's such a

mental game. Um, how what are some of

the things that you do regularly to stay

mentally strong? Is there some routine

that you have during the week and then

on game days?

Um, yeah. So, a lot of things I do is a

lot of like mental reps on air and like

you probably ask a lot of specialists. I

do a lot of just like leg swing kicks

off the side during the game or I mean

at practice as well, just focusing on

it. But I mean my routine is just

usually like typical like stretch, you

know, do my like no steps, one steps, go

into FOs and lives. I try to keep it

simple because I feel like if I try to

make it complicated on myself, I'll just

I'll be trying to I like to keep it

simple and easy.

A lot of you I thought I saw where when

you're practicing before a kick, rather

than kicking the ball into a net, you

just like to do the motion of the kick.

Could you explain that how you prefer to

do that?

Um, so for me like it's always like hard

on the sidelines to even get a kick in

the net cuz you know everybody's on that

side over there especially when you're

in the red zone area and it's tough but

like for me like when you're kicking in

the net you don't get to see that ball

and like how like you hit it. And also

as a kicker you want to get downfield

through your kicks. And for me if I

would get downfield I'd hit the net and

probably trip over the net make fool of

myself. But um for me that's where like

the mental part is of just doing on air

reps and like mentally knowing like a

good swing is so that's why I do it.

Let's go to Jeremiah.

Yeah. Jeremiah Hallway with inside

Carolina. I wanted to ask you what's it

been like working with the kicking

operation team and just what were before

the season started what were some of the

things that you were able to do with

them to kind of form a I guess chemistry

with them and the cohesion with them

all. So yeah, actually on my official

visits when I actually first met Spencer

and um that's where on my visit I was

looking for an apartment. So and Spencer

happened to be the guy looking for a

roommate. So that kind of worked out

really well. So me and him lived

together. And uh Tom wasn't like totally

here for the whole summer. He was still

in Australia. So he got back in like

late June, early July. But um the

chemistry has always been there. All the

specialists are like amazing. Like it's

such a great group. Nobody's ever like

mad at each other and it's just like

everybody's like together and with my

operation with Tom and Spencer it's

amazing like I have never no doubt and

Spencer and Tom does a great job and I

mean just together it's just a great

operation. So,

as a kicker, is there like you have

certain preferences on I guess timing,

just the way he maybe the nuances of

holding the ball like is there any of

that or is it

So, for Tom, I just tell him to put the

ball straight up and down. And I mean,

if it's lac's back or something, I tell

him like if you can spin it, do it. But

like in my mind, I've always been taught

like a great kicker can kick any ball no

matter what it looks like. And that just

means even if it is a bad hold, which

that's rarely out of Tom, like I just

can kick it and put it through because

that's my job to do as well. And we're

not I mean our job is to be perfect and

that's what everybody expects, but like

when it's not perfect, one's got to step

up and fix it. So let's go to Brian.

Hey Ree, can you talk a little bit about

the process of getting it? I know Carol

Brown had some kickers in the spring and

then

kind of turn that room over again after

the spring. Were you looking to leave

Marshall? What was the process sort of

like?

So, uh, I mean, a lot of people probably

know like we won a conference

championship there and then the whole

coaching staff left and a lot of players

left. I stuck it out for the spring

because I wanted to try a new staff. I'm

never going to doubt a staff and it was

a great staff there. It was just for me

like I just wanted to see if I could

take my abilities to like the next

level. And so, when I entered the portal

and UNCC hit my phone, I was like, it's

kind of hard to take an opportunity down

like that. So it that it was pretty

simple and basic, but there's no ever

hate to Marshall or anything. Marshall

never did anything wrong. I just for

myself wanted to try to next level is

all.

Did you have a chance to go to Southern

Miss with with the rest of your

teammates basically?

Uh yeah, and I appreciate that and

everything and what that coaching staff

did, they were great people. It was just

like for me it was just like UNCC was a

great place and with the coordinator we

have and the coaching staff, it's really

experienced and that's what I was

looking for. Did you take any other

visits or or think of other places once

Carolina hit you?

Um, Carolina hit me like the first day

in the portal. So, like it was hard not

to like go see other places, but I just

saw Carolina and once I came here, I

loved it. It was beautiful and amazing

cuz I'm just a kid from Ohio, small town

Ohio. So, North Carolina is pretty

awesome. And yeah, I really set in when

I came here on my visit.

Let's go to Adam.

Adam Smith with Inside Carolina.

Um, couple different parts of this

question. You hit from 49 the other

night. What would you consider to be

your range? Like how far can you take it

out?

Do you have a left hash or right hash

preference? And also,

what sort of knowledge did you try to

pick up from from Mike Rifer who has

obviously so much experience in the

NFL. So to start with the range, I mean

depends on the weather, temperature, and

then how you're feeling that day. As a

kicker, you want to be fresh every game,

obviously. But I mean, I would say I'm

good within like 60. Like, I'm not

saying I'm going to make every kick from

60, but I'm saying it's like I'm

comfortable through there. And then what

was the second one?

Right hash or left hash?

Um, for a righty kicker, you probably

want the left hash cuz you can stay open

a little bit more and like get

downfield. While when with a right hash

kick, you're kind of cut off a little

bit, so it's hard to get to your target

as much. But with Prefer, um, it's just

awesome having him. Like, he's so

knowledgeable. Obviously, he's been in

the league forever. And he knows how to

work with kickers. He's not going to be

the coach that like, you know, yells at

a kicker or throws him down. Like, he

understands the mechanics of kicking and

he understands the mindset, which helps

a lot because sometimes as a kicker, you

might have a bad game or like a bad

practice and he's not he doesn't sit

there and, you know, like try to make

you feel bad. He sits there and you go

through the film with him and we break

it down. And for me, I always like to

keep it simple, like just see one thing

that's wrong and like, "All right, fix

that." Like because if you go into too

much, you start to overthink. It's kind

of like golf, you know?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, it's going to be great.

Hey, um just first of all, uh first

question. Um what was that conversation

like when you first got that call from

North Carolina?

Um it was so preferred me. It was funny.

actually just got back from the store

cuz me and my girlfriend both lived

together at Marshall and um I got the

call from him and it was I was a random

number and I saw Mike Prefer and I was

like okay and I answer and he's telling

me everything I was like wow no way like

I can't believe this is happening cuz

I've always thought about Carolina and

just like how cool it was is like the

Jordan school and everything but it was

just amazing to know like people at this

level are interested in me

and what does it mean for to be uh be to

be part of a team with a staff that

really cares about special needs. I

mean, I think we've all seen the little

10-minute uh video of Belg.

So, what does that mean to you as a

specialist?

It means a lot because it knows that

your head coach is thinking about

special teams all the time and that's

like a part of the game that some people

don't always look into because it's just

not as like looked at. But it's awesome

because Belich will like talk to me at

times and there'll be things I didn't

even think of as special teams on the

field and it's great cuz the knowledge

he gives me is amazing.

Anybody anything else for Reese? All

right. Good stuff, Fesa.