Alabama Football: A new kicker commit brings Tide new hope

Alabama football added a new commit on Wednesday. Will Reichard from Hoover, AL announced his decision to join the Tide’s 2019 recruiting class. Reichard is the No. 2 rated kicker in the nation.

Alabama football has had some great field goal kickers in its history. Yet, the memories of Tide fans are bittersweet when thinking of kickers. Most recently, the usually dependable Andy Pappanastos came close to derailing a national championship. He made an important kick against Georgia but badly missed a potential game-winner.

Adam Griffith had a very good Crimson Tide career. He made five field goals against Auburn in 2015 but he will forever be remembered for the ‘Kick Six’ in 2013. Jeremy Shelley made five field goals in the 2012 national championship game against LSU. But, the strongest 2012 kicking memories are the missed field goals in the loss to LSU in the 2012 regular season.

Van Tiffin, Leigh Tiffin, Phillip Doyle, Michael Proctor, Jamie Christenson, along with Shelley and Griffith all made game-winning field goals in their Crimson Tide careers. ‘The Kick’ by Van Tiffin, beating Auburn in 1985 will never be forgotten.

Nick Saban and recruiting kickers

Going back even more decades, too many other kicking memories for Alabama football fans are painful. Why, Crimson Tide fans ask, can’t Nick Saban’s recruiting prowess include kickers? And did that change with the commitment of Will Reichard?

In the past few years, Alabama football has struggled to turn its kicker commits into signees. In 2015 and 2015, Eddy Pineiro and Brandon Ruiz committed to the Crimson Tide. Pineiro ended up at Florida and Ruiz at Arizona State.

Hopefully, Reichard being from Hoover, AL means he will not change his mind before he signs. How good is Reichard? SEC Country reported on the opinion of kicking-Guru, Chris Sailer who has trained kickers for almost 15 years.

"If I brought him to any campus of where my current college starters are, they would be fearful of their job if Will came to compete. I will go a step further. I even believe you could put him in an NFL camp right now. He’s that good."

Going into the 2018 season, Alabama football has two placekickers. Redshirt freshman, Joseph Bulovas made five field goals in the A-Day game. Temple graduate transfer, Austin Jones will join the team this summer. Jones has a history of consistency. In his last three seasons at Temple, Jones made over 80 percent of his field goal attempts.

Next: Full List of 2019 Football Commits

Maybe 2018 and beyond will become relatively stress-free in terms of making field goals. At least there is the satisfaction the Tide did not pass on the state of Alabama’s top kicker as it did with Daniel Carlson. Carlson was a long-time Tide fan who became an Auburn star because the Crimson Tide did not offer him a scholarship.