Adam Korsak talks about new Rutgers addition Jakob Anderson.
Jakob Anderson has a big fan in Adam Korsak, the Rutgers football legendary punter. And Korsak believes that Anderson has the potential to help the Scarlet Knights.
Last week, Anderson committed to Rutgers football where he is expected to step in and immediately compete for the starting job. Like so many punters in college football and the NFL, Anderson comes to America having originally played Australian Rules Football.
He replaces Flynn Appleby, who was with the program two years and won the starting punting job last year following a redshirt season in 2022. Appleby, like Anderson, is a convert from Aussie Rules.
Korsak, who in 2022 during his final season at Rutgers won the Ray Guy Award, sees in Anderson the ability to come in and make an impact. The Ray Guy Award is given to the nation’s top punter.
“Jakob is a great talent with a natural ability to punt the ball,” Korsak told Rutgers Wire on Tuesday.
“He is an enthusiastic person and I am excited to see him compete. Fortunately, I have been to punt with him a few times and he has impressed!”
Anderson, a 20-year-old, is a product of Prokick Australia. The developmental group helps to train Aussie Rules players for American football.
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One of the big names powering Prokick Australia is Tim Gleeson, a former Rutgers punter.
“He has a great ability to look very natural punting the ball, and he is very enthusiastic in regard to getting started,” Korsak said.
“I’m excited for Jakob to compete for Rutgers nation this upcoming fall.”
Korsak and Appleby were both developed by Prokick Australia.
Flynn Appleby is settling in with Rutgers football.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — A season of acclimation has set up Rutgers football punter Flynn Appleby for this spring. The past year to learn from a legend, the Australian punter says, is invaluable.
The legacy of Australian kickers at Rutgers dates back to Tim Gleeson, who was one of the nation’s best punters in 2015 when he averaged 40.3 yards per punt. In the last five seasons, Rutgers has been fortunate to have Adam Korsak as their punter, giving them a truly elite advantage on special teams.
“I think it was part of the recruiting process looking for someone that sort of had similar attributes to Adam and we’re pretty similar in style – the skill set and that sort of stuff,” Appleby said.
“So, everybody’s got their own little different aspects of their technique and so it’s just understanding that and trusting it – just been refining that for the last eight months probably since I got here. It’s been a great process to learn all that. It’s a whole new sport to understand the rules and all that sort of stuff as well. So it’s been been a great time.”
Gleeson was one of his mentors, helping to train Appleby on the ins and outs of the American game.
“I played Australian football – AFL – for three years, playing full time there and didn’t play quite well enough in my final year and moved to like a semi-professional league and played a year there,” Appleby said.
“And I was looking to further my education as well – not studying in Australia at the time but wanted to change degrees. And, you know, I was really still sort of had a thirst to pursue some professional football or at least continue in sport and I knew a couple of people that have come over in the past from Australia over the last 10 years. Prokick Australia has done a great job getting guys over here. So just through different connections, had a had an idea of coming over and reached out to Prokick and I was probably there for about 10 months, I think. I just spent time with them learning about the game. Really I was just looking for a new opportunity.”
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Ross is from Prokick Australia in Melbourne, Australia. Ross also played two years with Hawthorn Football Club of the Australian Football League.
“I am honored to announce that I have committed to study and play football at the University of Tennessee on full scholarship,” Ross announced.
Tim Gleeson served as Ross’ coach with Prokick Australia. Gleeson played punter at Wyoming, Santa Barbara City College and Rutgers.
Gleeson discussed Prokick Australia and Ross committing to Tennessee with Vols Wire.
“He’s a gun, most versatile punter I’ve seen,” Gleeson said of Ross. “Tennessee is definitely lucky to have him. It’s been in the works for a while. We had him pencilled in there, on our big board, probably around a year ago. He came in to the program around a year back during COVID-19 lockdowns, tricky time of the year as it’s probably just a tad too little time to get him prepared and out as a mid-year January transfer.
“We knew Tennessee had a senior punter, so pushed for a redshirt option behind Paxton (Brooks). His film speaks for itself, pretty incredible. We haven’t worked with (Josh) Heupel or (Mike) Ekeler previously, so this was a big deal for Prokick Australia. We wanted to give them our best guy available and Rossy was the best option, hands down.”
Prokick Australia
Prokick Australia was developed in 2007 with a mission to train, guide and transition Australian athletes to perform at the college and NFL level.
With a natural Aussie instinct of kicking a ball, Prokick Australia is widely respected in the United States for developing punters and kickers.
“With Prokick Australia, the kids do not do their own recruitment, nor do they know who we share their profile with,” Gleeson said. “No one is lucky to receive an offer — if they get one they accept. You won’t see any of the lads promoting their highlight film online — it’s all done quite discreetly.”
Coaching Jackson Ross
Dylan Moore, Harrison Jones, Jackson Ross and James Worpel of the Hawks hold their new guernsey numbers at the jumper number reveal during a Hawthorn Hawks AFL training session at Waverley Park on December 16, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Throughout its history, Tennessee has fielded talented punters.
Gleeson believes Tennessee will continue its tradition with Ross.
“Tennessee is, in my opinion, Punter U,” he said. “Some of the best punters have come out of Knoxville. He’ll carry on the tradition, no doubt.”
Ross trained holding field goal attempts and punting under Gleeson.
“We would run field goal simulations under a countdown clock, where 11 players (or sometimes 10) would run out while one of our kickers would kick,” Gleeson said. “It’s obviously a critical part of the game as the holder must keep calm, count players, deal with external noise, communicate with the kicker, and execute the hold.
“Punting-wise, he’s very natural and picked up the spiral punt very quickly. A lot of Aussie rules guys we see have a tendency to create torque with their hips and throw the ball down instead of float it up. It’s a complete different style of kicking to Aussie rules, so we effectively have to eliminate 18 years of muscle memory, but he didn’t really have any (bodily) mechanical floors. To touch on the punting aspect, he will allow coaches to be flexible with their calls. Spirals left and right, roll out spirals, roll out right kick right (high and low), roll right kick left (low). Roll left kick left, right etc.”
A 2022 Australian punter commits to Tennessee football.
2022 punter Jackson Ross has committed to Tennessee.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Ross is from Prokick Australia in Melbourne, Australia.
“I am honored to announce that I have committed to study and play football at the University of Tennessee on full scholarship,” Ross announced.
About Prokick Australia
Prokick Australia was developed in 2007 to train, guide and transition Australian athletes to perform at the College/NFL level. With our natural Aussie instinct of kicking a ball, we have developed a successful program to enable this.
Prokick Australia is widely respected in the USA for developing punters and kickers, which has US coaches demanding more and more players from our program. Coaches don’t just ask for any Australian punter, they ask for Prokick Australian Punters, something we are super proud of.
Our mission is to get you educated at a US College and we promise that you will learn, laugh and sweat if you are invited into the Prokick Australia program. – Nathan Chapman and John Smith
