Nebraska walk-on Kelen Meyer in a position to handle kickoffs in August
KEARNEY, Neb. - All eyes are on future Nebraska football walk-on Kelen Meyer as he shows off his kicking abilities during the 63rd annual Nebraska Shrine Bowl on Saturday night.
Meyer could earn the Huskers’ starting kick-off role this fall barring a solid adjustment to college football when he reports to UNL on June 7.
“My coaches (at Nebraska) have been telling me that I'm good enough to be there and do well and earn the starting spot,” said Meyer who helped earn a Nebraska Class C-2 championship for the Ord Chanticleers his senior season.
Meyer kicked a 58-yard field goal that tied for the second-longest field goal in Nebraska high school history during his final season at Ord. During his career, Meyer averaged 57 yards per kickoff, with a career-long of 78 yards, and 39 yards per punt.
Head coach Kurt Frenzen coaches at Columbus Lakeview high school and is the head coach of the North team during the 2021 Shrine Bowl. In his 20 years with the Vikings, Frenzen said he has never seen a kicker like Meyer.
“We've got some pretty accurate kickers over the years,” he said. “I've been able to see, in high school, guys that are pretty good medium-range but to have that live of a leg and on that consistent of a basis, I gotta be honest with you, I don't know if I've seen anything like that before.”
Along with punting and kicking, Meyer was the Chanticleers top wide receiver and cornerback. At wide receiver, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete averaged over 20 yards a catch and caught four touchdown passes during his senior year.
Playing in all three phases of football doesn’t scratch the surface of proving Meyer’s athleticism.
He won a silver medal in the 182-pound weight class at the 2020 Class C state wrestling tournament. Meyer is also a two-time qualifier for state golf. He qualified as an individual and as a team his senior year. In the summer, he also played American Legion baseball for Ord.
While participating in four sports and four positions in football, Frenzen believes that once Meyer focuses his time on one position, he’ll begin to touch his potential.
“If he goes in and focuses on it, really gets specialized in it and gets coaching that a Division I program can provide, I can see him taking it to another level and be pretty special,” Franzen said.
While Meyer’s talent is unique, he can be compared to the late Sam Foltz, who also played several football positions and sports at Grand Island High School. Foltz walked on at Nebraska and worked his way to be one of the greatest Husker football punters of all time before his death in 2015. Foltz really began to make a name for himself as a punter at the 2012 Shrine Bowl game in Lincoln.
Meyer, who according to him only kicked three returnable balls this past season, said he always looked up to Foltz and his all-around talent.
Like Foltz, Frenzen believes Meyer will make his mark on Nebraska football and the Big Ten.
“To watch him just be able to leg it like he does every day in practice is pretty amazing and it makes you think that he's got the ability to do something pretty special at the next level,” he said.
Meyer could easily feel pressure with a great opportunity to earn a starting job his freshman year but he said he is ready and excited for the challenge.
Frenzen said Meyer has the demeanor necessary to be a good kicker at the next level, calm and unbothered. Transitioning from playing in class C-2 to the Big Ten will be a big swing but Frenzen believes Meyer can handle the pressure.
The coach hopes to take advantage of Meyer’s skills during the Shrine Bowl in the University of Nebraska Kearney’s Ron and Carol Cope Stadium. Frenzen said Meyer told him he can kick a 70-yard field goal. The North coach said it’s possible his team will let Meyer prove it on Saturday.
At Ord, which is in the middle of Nebraska and 160 miles from Lincoln, the kickoffs are from the 40-yard line. In Division I football, Meyer will be kicking from the 35-yard line. If he can send eight kick-offs through the uprights from the 40 during his senior season, Meyer will be able to do just fine five yards backward.
Just like his demeanor was described by Frenzen, Meyer isn’t worried about kicking further back. Nor is he worried about the wind.
“I know that I’ve got to kick it a little harder and keep it a little lower so I'm confident doing that,” Meyer said.
Meyer grew up loving Husker football and is living out his dream as a walk-on in Lincoln.
“I've always loved watching Husker football and always wanted to be a part of it,” he said. “that's what I'm looking forward to the most.”
For instate kids, wearing the ‘N’ on the side of their helmet typically means more. Thus, bringing along extra pressure. Meyer has a great opportunity to lock down the starting kickoff role early in his career but, just like most kickers, Meyer thrives under pressure.
Frenzen believes Meyer will do just that for the Huskers.
“My personal interactions are that he's a little bit more mature for his age than some kids,” Frenzen said. “So I feel really good about his possibility of going down and handling the college environment.”