Countdown to 2018 IUFB Kickoff: 94 Days (Haydon Whitehead)

Written By Evan McShane (@veryreasonable)

Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 94 Days (Haydon Whitehead)

Haydon Whitehead (RS Junior)

-Height: 6’2”

-Weight: 205 pounds

-Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

-Position: Punter

Haydon Whitehead helped fulfill head coach Tom Allen’s mission to improve special teams last season. Allen vowed to revamp the kicking game and it all started with the addition of Whitehead in December of 2016. Just one week after Allen was promoted to head coach, he went down under to Melbourne, Australia to get his punter. Whitehead’s first ever trip to the United States was during his official visit in Bloomington. Whitehead played Australian football for 15 years and participated in the lauded ProKick Australia program – an organization known for sending Aussie kickers to American colleges. In fact, ProKick Australia has produced five consecutive Ray Guy Award winners.

Whitehead arrived in Bloomington as a redshirt sophomore. The lefty punter had no problem winning the starting job after he enrolled at IU last spring. Whitehead showed no signs of struggle adjusting to American football last year. He posted an average of 40.7 yards per punt. Whitehead finished his first college football season tied for third in the nation with 33 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. 15 of his kicks were downed inside the 10-yard line and four inside the five-yard line. Nearly 40% of Whitehead’s punts were secured in the 20 and opponents only returned 25 of his 85 punts for a total of 124 yards – good for an average of just five yards per return.

Haydon Whitehead proved to be a marksman right off the bat. Against Ohio State, Whitehead pinned the Buckeyes inside their own 20 three times. He accomplished such feat five times in a win against Illinois in November. Perhaps his best game came against Virginia where Whitehead landed three punts inside the 10-yard line with a long of 56 yards en route to a key road victory for the Hoosiers. Whitehead’s punting prowess consistently put opposing offenses at a disadvantage. He was named three-time Indiana special teams player of the week. Whitehead was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List and received honorable mention for the All-Big Ten Team.

Whitehead is poised for another productive season in 2018 with a year of experience under his belt. He has all the tools and necessary kicking power to have a chance at becoming an NFL punter someday. For now, the Hoosiers will rely on Haydon Whitehead to flip field position and lead a continually improving special teams unit.

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