Up Close & Personal: Incoming recruit Pinegar not a typical kicker

Jake Pinegar doesn’t want to be constrained by the presumed limitations of his position, and James Franklin doesn’t want that, either.

Franklin’s mission to pursue to nation’s best high school athletes has spilled over into the specialist positions. Pinegar’s commitment is an illustration of that mindset.

A kicker, Pinegar earned an All-State recognition as a defensive back during his junior season. He also owns school records in track and field and has garnered accolades on the soccer field as well.

In other words, Pinegar is not a typical kicker. As he prepares for his arrival at Penn State in the summer, he’s training far more than just his leg.

“I’m still trying to be as strong as I can and be the best athlete that I can, and do all the other stuff that I do like running and footwork, because I believe that makes me the best kicker when I’m the most agile and quick,” Pinegar said. “So I’m trying to take all aspects of it [and] take my game to the best [level] it can be before I head up.”

Pinegar, who is expected to compete for the starting place-kicker position this summer, adds another versatile presence for the Nittany Lions on special teams.

He says his mold is similar to that of Penn State punter Blake Gillikin's, whose athleticism has benefited the Nittany Lions on more than one occasion in his two-year career.

“I’d like to think that I’m like that,” Pinegar said, “a specialist but also [someone with] a little bit of athleticism who can help when certain situations come up.”

The Ankeny, Iowa, native also has a cannon for a leg. A popular video posted in October showed Pinegar drilling a kick from 75 yards out, and he said he feels comfortable attempting kicks from about 60 yards during game action.

Rated as a two-star recruit by Rivals with a second Power Five offer from Indiana, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Pinegar connected on nine of the 13 field goals he attempted during his senior season at Ankeny Centennial High School.

Two of those makes came from 50 yards out, and Pinegar said his range was put to the test often throughout the season.

“I think the season went OK,” he said. “Some field goals I wish I could take back because there were just small things or little twitches that I could work on. I thought it went well overall. I tried a lot of deep field goals this year, a lot of ones where they were probably 60, 65 yards. I was pretty consistent on the ones closer than that.”

Pinegar also said he believes his leg strength took a significant step forward during his final high school campaign, and it’s that, combined with his athleticism, that compelled Franklin to speak enthusiastically about the young kicker.

“We’re excited about it,” Franklin said during his signing day teleconference in early February. “[Pinegar] has played other positions and has been successful and is an athlete and comes from an athletic family. We were able to watch him kick live in one of our satellite camps. He was crushing the ball. So we’re excited about it.”

After averaging about 60 yards on 37 kickoffs during in his senior season, it’s possible that Pinegar could find himself in that role as well at Penn State. Tyler Davis handled the majority of kickoff and field goal duties for Penn State last season, but he graduated following nearly three full seasons as a starter.

Franklin has said more than once that he prefers to have one player specialize in field goals and another take care of kickoff duties.

Pinegar, however, is out to prove he can handle both roles. “There’s not one that I want to do more than the other,” he said. “I’m looking to come in and do both right away.”

His eagerness to see action as quickly as possible reflects a mindset that is fiercely competitive. In that respect, he’s very much like his fellow recruits. And he’s like them in another respect, too: When he arrives in University Park, Pinegar will be another exceptional athlete on a team that is full of them, not just a specialist with a distinct and narrowly defined skill set.

“There are not a lot – if any – guys who are also good athletes who kick,” he said. “So I kind of take a lot of pride in it, being one of very few.”