After serving as the team’s primary kicker in 2022, walk-on [autotag]Adam Mihalek[/autotag] has been awarded a scholarship for the spring semester, according to head coach Billy Napier during his national signing day press conference.
While Mihalek is the only walk-on being put on scholarship right now, Napier said that the team would continue to evaluate over the spring with one spot still freed up. For Napier, the move was an obvious one after Mihalek served as a starter for the entirety of the 2022 season.
“We did. Adam in particular,” Napier replied when asked if the team had put anyone on scholarship for the offseason. “He’s certainly very deserving. His role and how he contributed to our team this past year. We’ll have a handful more, but I think we’re going to observe the work this spring before we make those decisions.”
Mihalek passed up scholarship offers out of high school from Liberty, Navy and Stetson to play at Florida, and that gamble is paying off after two years with the program. He didn’t appear in a game in 2021 but quickly became the team’s only option after [autotag]Chris Howard[/autotag] transferred and [autotag]Jace Christmann[/autotag] graduated. Mihalek was the lone kicker on the team for a month or two before true freshman [autotag]Trey Smack[/autotag] enrolled over the summer, giving him a head start on the competition.
He made 14 of 21 field goal attempts for Florida in 2022, but three of those misses were from 50 yards or more. Mihalek hit as many 50-yarders as he missed too, nailing three throughout the year. He also extended the school’s historic scoring streak to 436 games with a late field goal against Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
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