GAMECOCK TALK: Trickery, Tackles & More with Kai Kroeger

Kai Kroeger is willing to do whatever his team requires from him to win football games.

The highly decorated punter out of Lake Forest, Illinois, recently joined the Gamecock Talk podcast to discuss how he became one of the best in college football. A returning All-SEC and All-American, Kroeger is not only entering the ranks as a top punter but is emerging as one of the best leaders on the team. He leads both vocally and by example on and off the field.

Kroeger has averaged 44.2 yards per punt for his career, ranking second in South Carolina’s all-time career list. On top of his phenomenal punting abilities, Kroeger is also one of the best holders in the country and has a perfect 6-for-6 in career pass attempts which includes three touchdowns.

In the excerpt below, Kai Kroeger discusses his ability to adapt and improvise to different positions while under pressure for South Carolina.

HOST: Well, obviously you’ve become popular because of a lot of the trick plays on special teams with all the fake punts and the three touchdown passes. What you’re six for six throwing the football here at South Carolina.

KROEGER: Yeah, definitely. As I said, I had trained with the local college coach or quarterback coach throughout middle school and high school. So that’s definitely helped me now in college.

HOST: What’s going through your head when you get the nod saying, “Hey, we’re running the play.” What are you thinking?

KROEGER: Yeah, I mean, I don’t really have much time to think because a lot of times we get that call right as we’re running on the field or right before. A lot of times I’ll just kind of think, you know, we’ve run this so many times in practice, hopefully, the defense should do what we think they’re gonna do. And if that happens then the play will work perfectly. And I’m not really thinking about any mechanics or anything like that.

This transcript was edited for clarity. Listen to the rest of the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and watch it on Gamecocks+.