The Cincinnati Bearcats have added lefty kicker Josh Pasley from Highland Community College on National Signing Day. This was revealed via UC’s recruiting Twitter account who also announced he signed and faxed in his letter of intent.
Another #Bearcats early enrollee, K @joshpasley5 out of Highland Community College #NSD2015 http://t.co/QZkJhFF2f3 pic.twitter.com/E4QjzPJdLR
— Cincy FB Recruiting (@UC_Recruiting) February 4, 2015
Pasley joins a Bearcats football team that loses senior kicker Tony Miliano to graduation in a couple of months. While he lost his place kicking role to redshirt freshman Andrew Gantz this past season, Miliano was an integral part of kickoffs. His all-of-a-sudden monster leg generated a touchback rate of 41%, 46th best in the country. That will definitely be missed next season and it’s still unclear if Gantz has developed the leg strength to boot kickoffs like Miliano could.
So in comes Pasley to provide a little competition.
The kicker from Highland CC was 9 for 13 on field goals and nearly perfect on extra points last season, nailing 40 of 41. Based on his highlights, which you can see at the bottom of this post, Pasley has the leg to boot the ball through the end zone like Miliano. It’s just a few snaps but the kicker seems to have the strength in his 5’11”, 200 lbs body to really put a charge into the football on kickoffs.
It’s unclear how Tommy Tuberville and new special teams coach Ty Linder plans to use Pasley but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s plugged in here from game one. This way, Gantz can continue refining his abilities on field goals and kickoffs while improving his leg strength at his own pace.