Nebraska Football looking to continue walk-on tradition at kicker

Nebraska football has had tremendous success with its walk-on program over the years but it has gone especially well for kickers.

When you look at what head coach Scott Frost has done with walk-ons at Nebraska football, it really has been incredible. With their most recent addition, Gabe Heins, the Huskers now have 15 walk-on commitments.

That is pretty astounding and truthfully, it feels like the old days of Nebraska football. Some of the top players in the state have chosen to play for the Huskers instead of taking college scholarships elsewhere and when you think about it, that’s pretty special.

Heins, a kicker from Kearney, Nebraska, was the latest walk-on to join the fray and he announced his decision Thursday morning on Twitter.

Heins becomes the second walk-on kicker in this group, but he is hoping to follow in the footsteps of another former Kearny great, Brett Maher, who walked on at Nebraska and is now kicking in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys.

Heins will join Dylan Jorgensen at Nebraska, who is also going to walk on for the Huskers. That gives Nebraska football two potential shots at recreating its storied past with walk-on kickers. Maher is one that went to the NFL, another is Alex Henrey, who also made that incredible 57-yard field goal against Colorado back in 2008.

That was a great moment and it was brought to you by a walk-on. That’s something that certainly Heins and Jorgensen were thinking about when they agreed to join the program. Kicker is also a position where a walk-on is generally going to have a good shot to make an impact.

All in all, it was another solid move for the Huskers, who also grabbed a walk-on commitment from John Bullock Wednesday, an athlete from Creighton Prep. Bullock, who is 6-foot-1, 195 pounds said he will likely start his Nebraska career at safety.

Both Bullock and Heins turned down offers from other schools, some at the Division II level, as well as interest from various FBS and FCS programs. Neither may make an impact with Nebraska football, but the fact that they are willing to bet their future to play for the Huskers is all we need to know.

At the very least, their heart is going to be in the right place and at worse, their motivation will drive the entire program to be better. And who knows, maybe when it comes to Heins, the kicker, history just might repeat itself and gives us another NFL-caliber kicker from Kearney.