#UNC place-kicker Rece Verhoff
Sep 9, 2025
#UNC place-kicker Rece Verhoff
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0:00
Noah Weissoff Tardial 247. I just was
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curious on your mental side of the game,
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obviously with kicking, it's such a
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mental game. Um, how what are some of
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the things that you do regularly to stay
0:09
mentally strong? Is there some routine
0:10
that you have during the week and then
0:11
on game days?
0:12
Um, yeah. So, a lot of things I do is a
0:15
lot of like mental reps on air and like
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you probably ask a lot of specialists. I
0:19
do a lot of just like leg swing kicks
0:21
off the side during the game or I mean
0:24
at practice as well, just focusing on
0:25
it. But I mean my routine is just
0:27
usually like typical like stretch, you
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know, do my like no steps, one steps, go
0:33
into FOs and lives. I try to keep it
0:35
simple because I feel like if I try to
0:37
make it complicated on myself, I'll just
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I'll be trying to I like to keep it
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simple and easy.
0:43
A lot of you I thought I saw where when
0:47
you're practicing before a kick, rather
0:50
than kicking the ball into a net, you
0:52
just like to do the motion of the kick.
0:55
Could you explain that how you prefer to
0:57
do that?
0:57
Um, so for me like it's always like hard
0:59
on the sidelines to even get a kick in
1:02
the net cuz you know everybody's on that
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side over there especially when you're
1:05
in the red zone area and it's tough but
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like for me like when you're kicking in
1:10
the net you don't get to see that ball
1:12
and like how like you hit it. And also
1:14
as a kicker you want to get downfield
1:16
through your kicks. And for me if I
1:17
would get downfield I'd hit the net and
1:19
probably trip over the net make fool of
1:20
myself. But um for me that's where like
1:23
the mental part is of just doing on air
1:25
reps and like mentally knowing like a
1:27
good swing is so that's why I do it.
1:30
Let's go to Jeremiah.
1:31
Yeah. Jeremiah Hallway with inside
1:33
Carolina. I wanted to ask you what's it
1:35
been like working with the kicking
1:36
operation team and just what were before
1:39
the season started what were some of the
1:41
things that you were able to do with
1:42
them to kind of form a I guess chemistry
1:44
with them and the cohesion with them
1:46
all. So yeah, actually on my official
1:48
visits when I actually first met Spencer
1:50
and um that's where on my visit I was
1:54
looking for an apartment. So and Spencer
1:56
happened to be the guy looking for a
1:58
roommate. So that kind of worked out
1:59
really well. So me and him lived
2:01
together. And uh Tom wasn't like totally
2:04
here for the whole summer. He was still
2:05
in Australia. So he got back in like
2:08
late June, early July. But um the
2:10
chemistry has always been there. All the
2:12
specialists are like amazing. Like it's
2:14
such a great group. Nobody's ever like
2:17
mad at each other and it's just like
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everybody's like together and with my
2:21
operation with Tom and Spencer it's
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amazing like I have never no doubt and
2:25
Spencer and Tom does a great job and I
2:27
mean just together it's just a great
2:29
operation. So,
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as a kicker, is there like you have
2:32
certain preferences on I guess timing,
2:35
just the way he maybe the nuances of
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holding the ball like is there any of
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that or is it
2:40
So, for Tom, I just tell him to put the
2:43
ball straight up and down. And I mean,
2:45
if it's lac's back or something, I tell
2:48
him like if you can spin it, do it. But
2:50
like in my mind, I've always been taught
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like a great kicker can kick any ball no
2:54
matter what it looks like. And that just
2:56
means even if it is a bad hold, which
2:59
that's rarely out of Tom, like I just
3:01
can kick it and put it through because
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that's my job to do as well. And we're
3:05
not I mean our job is to be perfect and
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that's what everybody expects, but like
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when it's not perfect, one's got to step
3:11
up and fix it. So let's go to Brian.
3:14
Hey Ree, can you talk a little bit about
3:16
the process of getting it? I know Carol
3:17
Brown had some kickers in the spring and
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then
3:19
kind of turn that room over again after
3:22
the spring. Were you looking to leave
3:23
Marshall? What was the process sort of
3:25
like?
3:26
So, uh, I mean, a lot of people probably
3:28
know like we won a conference
3:30
championship there and then the whole
3:32
coaching staff left and a lot of players
3:34
left. I stuck it out for the spring
3:36
because I wanted to try a new staff. I'm
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never going to doubt a staff and it was
3:39
a great staff there. It was just for me
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like I just wanted to see if I could
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take my abilities to like the next
3:44
level. And so, when I entered the portal
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and UNCC hit my phone, I was like, it's
3:49
kind of hard to take an opportunity down
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like that. So it that it was pretty
3:53
simple and basic, but there's no ever
3:55
hate to Marshall or anything. Marshall
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never did anything wrong. I just for
3:58
myself wanted to try to next level is
4:01
all.
4:01
Did you have a chance to go to Southern
4:02
Miss with with the rest of your
4:04
teammates basically?
4:05
Uh yeah, and I appreciate that and
4:07
everything and what that coaching staff
4:09
did, they were great people. It was just
4:10
like for me it was just like UNCC was a
4:12
great place and with the coordinator we
4:14
have and the coaching staff, it's really
4:16
experienced and that's what I was
4:17
looking for. Did you take any other
4:19
visits or or think of other places once
4:21
Carolina hit you?
4:22
Um, Carolina hit me like the first day
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in the portal. So, like it was hard not
4:26
to like go see other places, but I just
4:29
saw Carolina and once I came here, I
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loved it. It was beautiful and amazing
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cuz I'm just a kid from Ohio, small town
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Ohio. So, North Carolina is pretty
4:37
awesome. And yeah, I really set in when
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I came here on my visit.
4:42
Let's go to Adam.
4:43
Adam Smith with Inside Carolina.
4:45
Um, couple different parts of this
4:47
question. You hit from 49 the other
4:49
night. What would you consider to be
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your range? Like how far can you take it
4:53
out?
4:54
Do you have a left hash or right hash
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preference? And also,
4:59
what sort of knowledge did you try to
5:01
pick up from from Mike Rifer who has
5:03
obviously so much experience in the
5:05
NFL. So to start with the range, I mean
5:07
depends on the weather, temperature, and
5:09
then how you're feeling that day. As a
5:11
kicker, you want to be fresh every game,
5:12
obviously. But I mean, I would say I'm
5:14
good within like 60. Like, I'm not
5:17
saying I'm going to make every kick from
5:20
60, but I'm saying it's like I'm
5:22
comfortable through there. And then what
5:25
was the second one?
5:25
Right hash or left hash?
5:27
Um, for a righty kicker, you probably
5:29
want the left hash cuz you can stay open
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a little bit more and like get
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downfield. While when with a right hash
5:35
kick, you're kind of cut off a little
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bit, so it's hard to get to your target
5:38
as much. But with Prefer, um, it's just
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awesome having him. Like, he's so
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knowledgeable. Obviously, he's been in
5:45
the league forever. And he knows how to
5:48
work with kickers. He's not going to be
5:50
the coach that like, you know, yells at
5:52
a kicker or throws him down. Like, he
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understands the mechanics of kicking and
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he understands the mindset, which helps
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a lot because sometimes as a kicker, you
6:00
might have a bad game or like a bad
6:02
practice and he's not he doesn't sit
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there and, you know, like try to make
6:05
you feel bad. He sits there and you go
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through the film with him and we break
6:08
it down. And for me, I always like to
6:10
keep it simple, like just see one thing
6:12
that's wrong and like, "All right, fix
6:13
that." Like because if you go into too
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much, you start to overthink. It's kind
6:16
of like golf, you know?
6:17
Yeah, absolutely.
6:18
Yeah, it's going to be great.
6:20
Hey, um just first of all, uh first
6:23
question. Um what was that conversation
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like when you first got that call from
6:27
North Carolina?
6:28
Um it was so preferred me. It was funny.
6:31
actually just got back from the store
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cuz me and my girlfriend both lived
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together at Marshall and um I got the
6:38
call from him and it was I was a random
6:40
number and I saw Mike Prefer and I was
6:42
like okay and I answer and he's telling
6:45
me everything I was like wow no way like
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I can't believe this is happening cuz
6:50
I've always thought about Carolina and
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just like how cool it was is like the
6:54
Jordan school and everything but it was
6:56
just amazing to know like people at this
6:58
level are interested in me
6:59
and what does it mean for to be uh be to
7:02
be part of a team with a staff that
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really cares about special needs. I
7:05
mean, I think we've all seen the little
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10-minute uh video of Belg.
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So, what does that mean to you as a
7:11
specialist?
7:12
It means a lot because it knows that
7:14
your head coach is thinking about
7:15
special teams all the time and that's
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like a part of the game that some people
7:21
don't always look into because it's just
7:23
not as like looked at. But it's awesome
7:26
because Belich will like talk to me at
7:29
times and there'll be things I didn't
7:30
even think of as special teams on the
7:32
field and it's great cuz the knowledge
7:34
he gives me is amazing.
7:36
Anybody anything else for Reese? All
7:39
right. Good stuff, Fesa.
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