Sports : NFL rookie sensation had former V-S punter Jay White as college coach

Jay White punts for the VS Alumni team in July.

Jay White

Former VS punter Jay White is now coaching at the college level; former protege is now NFL rookie.

Jay White's official Missouri Western photograph.

Even though Jay White never made any All-District teams as a kicker/punter for the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings, he later taught himself to kick a football so well that he became a Division 2 All-MIAA Conference punter.

Now Jay is teaching college kickers and punters how to kick a ball through the uprights or make it soar high and far into the opposing team’s territory. One of his former players is now making NFL headlines.

The incredible journey from what Jay calls a “below average” punter to the career opportunities he now enjoys on college and NFL level has recently landed Jay’s name in national newspaper stories and even in Sports Illustrated.

Jay, a 2002 V-S graduate and the son of Bill and Jane White of Vinton, is the first specialist coach at Missouri Western, where he was a two-time All-Conference punter before becoming a coach and facilities manager at the St. Joseph, Mo. Division II college.

The Greg Zuerlein story

This year in the NFL, one of the rookie sensations is St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein, who made field goals of 58 and 60 yards on Sept. 30.

Last year, Zuerlein’s coach was Jay White.

The stories about Zuerlein and his successful rookie season have included interviews with Jay about his experience as Zuerlein’s coach.

Jay also spends Sundays with the Kansas City Chiefs, helping the NFL team with its equipment. As he stands along the sidelines during the games, he shares ideas with the team’s kicker and at times brags about the guys he is coaching at MW.

Jay told the Associated Press this month that last year, he would watch a kick at Arrowhead Stadium and then announce that the kid he had seen on the college field the day before had done a better job.

Many NFL scouts visited Missouri Western last year to watch Zuerlein and talk to Jay about him.

Long journey

Jay’s collegiate kicking journey began in Mason City, where as a NIACC punter, he began his coaching career by coaching himself.

“I did not have a kicking coach in high school or college,” he said.

Jay spent hours on the practice field, working on his stance, his technique, his leg kick. He learned to tell which of his kicks were the best by the way the ball felt – and even sounded – as it left his foot.

That lesson is something Jay now tries to pass on to his underlings.

“I tell them I want them to see the ball, hear the ball and feel the ball,” he said. Coaches listen for the authoritative boom of a good kick, he adds.

Jay performed well enough in his two years at NIACC to earn the attention of scouts from larger colleges. Iowaoffered him a chance to walk on. Missouri Western offered him a scholarship. He took that deal and has been there since.

At Missouri Western, Jay continued to coach himself. He was named to the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) All-Conference team and ended his senior season with a 41.6-yard average.

Some NFL teams took notice of Jay’s success at Missouri Western, but his NFL dreams did not come true as he had hoped. His football coach invited him to stay on campus as the school’s first specialist coach. He works with two punters, two kickers and the long snapper.

“Our head coach puts a high priority on the kicking game and our kickers and punters have won some games for us,” said Jay. The Griffons are 6-0 on the 2012 season.

The kicking specialists have become a close-knit group, says Jay.

Having to coach himself has helped Jay to learn to coach others better, he said. He tries to teach them to think through the same things he taught himself on the fields at NIACC and MW.

Coaching techniques

While he looks for ways to help the kickers and punters improve their techniques, Jay says he does not try to change their basic styles.

“I do not try to clone kickers,” he says.

While the kickers and punters only actually make up to actual 30 kicks per day, they spend hours each week perfecting their leg kicks and working on the other fundamentals of the kicking game. This year’s Jay’s guys are averaging just under 40 yards per punt, just over 60 yards per kick-off and have made all 33 of their PAT attempts and four of eight field goal tries.

Arrowhead sidelines and future aspirations

Jay says the only opportunity he has to watch football solely as a fan occurs on Monday night. On Saturday he is with the Griffons (ranked in the top five in Division II). On Sundays, he works with the Kansas City Chief, who use the Missouri Western facilities for training. That alliance led to a job for Jay helping with the Chiefs’s football equipment, which gives him the opportunity so see them play from the sidelines.

During the off-season Jay manages the Missouri Western training facilities, which are used for softball and other sports as well as football.

The weekly work with the NFL team, and the success at Missouri Western has Jay hoping for a chance to coach for a Division 1 team or perhaps even at the NFL level.

Jay said he doesn’t return to Vinton very often, but he did come back last July for the Alumni Football USAgame vs. Center Point.’

And yes, he was the VS team’s punter.

See the Sports Illustrated story including quotes from Jay White HERE.

See Jay's coach profile page on the Missouri Western web site HERE.