Iowa kicker operating with newfound confidence in third year with program (2024)

ETHAN PETRIKIowa Hawkeyes Beat Reporter

IOWA CITY — “Amateurs practice until they get it right. Pros practice until they get it wrong.”

The quote appears in The Twin Thieves: How Great Leaders Build Great Teams though Iowa placekicker Drew Stevens is sure it did not originate in the 2021 book by Lucas Jadin and Steve Jones.

Regardless of its origins, however, the quote stuck with Stevens following his sophom*ore season with the Hawkeyes.

It, among other things, served to help transform Stevens into what Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz described as a completely different person.

“(He) is just carrying himself a little bit differently,” Ferentz said. “He is kicking the ball well, kicking it with confidence.”

The 2023 season started unremarkably for Stevens as the North August, South Carolina native went 8-of-9 on field goal attempts and 11-of-11 on PATs in the first five games. His early successes culminated in a 4-of-4 performance, which included a long of 53 yards, in a 26-16 win over Michigan State.

However, he struggled down the stretch, going 6-of-11 on field goal attempts in the final seven games of the season, and finished the season with a 69.2% field goal percentage. Stevens’ struggles were highlighted by a 1-of-3 game against Nebraska. With the game on the line, the Hawkeyes opted for backup kicker Marshall Meeder over Stevens for the game-winning field goal attempt to earn a 13-10 win over the Huskers.

Stevens did not attempt a field goal or PAT for the remainder of the season as Iowa was shutout in its final two games.

With a sour taste in his mouth following the 2023 season, Stevens sought to change his approach during the offseason.

“Last year, I was focused on my body,” Stevens said. “I have always been a ‘feel’ kicker, but this offseason I wanted to be detailed with what I do.

“There were a few (NFL) guys I talked to in Charlotte … None of them were ‘feel’ guys. I was like, ‘Who am I to think I am going to be the first one to do this?’ And, I tried to be a ‘feel’ guy last season and that did not work out percentage-wise to where I wanted to be. The definition of insanity is to do what you did last season, do it again this season and expect a different result. I obviously want a different result than last season.”

It became apparent to Stevens he needed to turn his field goal procedure into a science.

“So, I focused on noticing the details,” Stevens said.

He started to pick apart every part of his field goal routine.

“Why do I do this? Why do I do that?”

According to the rising junior, he found the small pause between the nod of his head, to signal to the field goal holder of his readiness for the field goal try, and the actual snap of the ball to be the cause for his field goal woes.

“It could be a second, it could be half of a second — who knows?” Stevens said. “In that small instant … your thoughts could race.”

Right before the start of his try, Stevens mind tended to wander — though not always to his own detriment.

“I could wander into good places,” Stevens said. “I would say 75% of the time I would wander in those good areas, but it is the 25% that I wanted to eliminate. I would rather it be 100% and think of that one thing.”

After identifying the source of his struggles, Stevens said he took a trial-and-error approach to find the solution.

Throughout the offseason, Stevens tried a multitude of different techniques to fill the “small instant” between nod and snap.

Stevens admitted practice was not always pretty — though he noted that was what practice is about.

“It is just about where you finish at,” Stevens said.

He tried thinking “I want to hit a fast spinner.”

“But, that is not a good thought process because I do not want to hit a fast spinner,” Stevens said. “It would cause me to aim lower with my foot — was the idea.

“That did not work.”

He also tried repetitively counting in his head.

“1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5,” Stevens said. “That got me too locked out. I was not focused enough on the actual kick.

“So, that did not work.”

Stevens’ eureka moment came shortly after the start of the Hawkeyes fall camp.

“Day three of fall camp is actually when I came up with a breakthrough in my game,” Stevens said.

Stevens found filling the small instant with the most important part of his field goal rep — his approach and technique — prevented his mind from wandering into other areas.

Once he found that to be a potential solution, Stevens remembered the quote from The Twin Thieves.

“Amateurs practice untilthey get it right. Pros practice until they get it wrong.”

And, he repeated the process, practicing his field goal procedure while envisioning his approach and technique in the small instant between the nod of his head and the snap of the ball.

“I did that until I felt comfortable enough that I could do it repeatedly,” Stevens said. “That is why you do big samples data. So, it cannot be a fluke. I know it works because I have practiced it enough times to know it works.”

The breakthrough transformed Stevens and turned him into a completely different person.

"I feel like Drew has made huge strides as a person and a player,” Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods said. “…I feel like we see a different ball strike, a different person, how he carries himself about his business, much more mature person.”