Next Man Up, Justin Wain Ready to Handle Punting Duties
The ‘kick squad’ has had some characters over the years and another leader is ready to take his perch. From the highly criticized Matt Nuzie, to the ever clutch leg of Dave Teggart, the unique character of Desi Cullen, to last year’s combo of kicker Chad Christen and punter Cole Wagner, UCONN has had some individuals fans remember over the years.
Next up is placekicker Bobby Puyol and punter Justin Wain. Following practice on Monday, Wain, a native of Wilmington, NC, was kind enough to give his views on where he falls in the grand scheme of things with the football program.
“It’s a lot different than it used to be,” Wain said. “For me, it was always just myself and the special teams’ coach, that’s the only one who really knew me. The other coaches did know who I was, but now we all have a relationship with everybody. It’s nice, definitely more energetic and we are happier around each other.”
It is clear with this group, no one is JUST a punter. Wain is getting a lot of support from not only his special teams coach and teammates, but from head coach Bob Diaco himself.
“He’s really knowledgeable in punting,” Wain expressed. “He’s been able to help me out a lot. It’s nice to have someone here that can correct things if I hit a bad punt one time and can say change this or that. It usually gives me a different result, so it’s nice to have him here.”
The redshirt sophomore keeps in touch with previous Huskies who have held his current position, including last year’s punter, Cole Wagner. Wain will have a tough time surpassing Wagner’s debut, who booted his first ever collegiate punt 66-yards in 2010 at Michigan Stadium, pinning the Wolverines inside their own 5-yard line.
“Cole helped me as much as he could when we were here together, but every punter is different, so not necessarily what worked for him is going to work for me. There’s definitely things I took and try to use to the best of my abilities. I still talk to him all the time and I actually talk to the punters that were in this program a while back, including Desi. They’re all trying to help me.”
Fellow redshirt sophomore Bobby Puyol has the placekicking duties locked up and will serve as the emergency punter.
“There’s always competition and I’m not going in saying I am the man,” Wain responded. “You always have to think we have to work today, so we are all working to make each other better.”
One thing the special teams group is most known for at UCONN besides putting points on the board and pinning opponents inside the twenty, are the fun they have during practice and the jokes and pranks they play on the rest of the team to keep them loose.
“We have some fun,” Wain said. “For our practice, we do a lot of drills on the side, so we have to keep ourselves entertained as we go. We do a look-a-like every now and then for the team after practice to give them a laugh, but we are serious when it’s time to be serious. However, we do have some fun in between, too.”
Let’s be honest, however, fun will be had by all, if Wain doesn’t see the field very often, a.k.a. the UCONN offense is clicking on all cylinders in 2014.
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