• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

K Mike Nugent (All American, Lou Groza Winner, National Champion)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Jets? Nugent Hopes to Build on Last Season?s Success
By CLIFTON BROWN
Published: August 3, 2007


Nugent will enter the Sept. 9 season opener against New England having made 18 consecutive regular-season field goals, which was followed by a 3-for-3 performance in a playoff loss to the Patriots. Over all, Nugent made 24 of 27 field goals last season, the most accurate campaign in team history since 1990, when Pat Leahy hit 23 of 26.

Some fans booed at the 2005 draft after the Jets selected Nugent in the second round with the No. 47 pick over all. Many thought the Jets had wasted a valuable pick, taking a specialist instead of an every-down player. But as Nugent watched the draft from his home in Centerville, Ohio, he insisted that he was too excited to be offended by the booing.

?I knew I had to prove myself anyway,? Nugent said. ?My main goal is to do what I can on the field to make sure we come out with a win. I?d like to instill in my teammates that dependable confidence. I?d like them to know that once we get to a certain yard line, we?ve got at least 3 points.?
Click to expand...

Nugent?s has focused on his kickoffs during camp, an area that Coach Eric Mangini wants to see improvement. ?Mike spent a lot of time this off-season working on total-body strength,? Mangini said. ?One of his points of emphasis was kickoffs, more distance and hang time. He?s done a good job with that.?

Nugent normally wears a size 9 ? shoe, but for football he squeezes his right foot into a size 8 ? for more power and accuracy.

?It?s tough at first, but if you can get them broken in, it?s like socks with cleats on,? Nugent said. ?The shoe just forms to your feet.?

Unlike some kickers, who prefer to be loners, Nugent has formed a bond with many teammates, like center Nick Mangold, a friend since preschool.

?Nick?s mom was my swim-team coach when I was in kindergarten,? said Nugent, who also attended Ohio State with Mangold. ?When I saw his name pop up during the draft, I called my mom and said, ?Did that really just happen?? I was really happy he came here.?
Click to expand...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/sports/football/03jets.html
 
Upvote 0
Nugent made 24 of 27 field goals last season, the most accurate campaign in team history since 1990, when Pat Leahy hit 23 of 26.
Click to expand...

Yo, Clifton...math lesson: 24 of 27 (88.89%) is more accurate than 23 of 26 (88.46%). I guess math isn't a required subject at journalism school, is it pal?
 
Upvote 0
NUGENT HOPES ADDED POUNDS KICK-START YEAR
By DAN MARTIN
MIKE NUGENT Gained 10 pounds.August 6, 2007 -- Mike Nugent lined up with five seconds left on the clock and got rid of his usual thought process.

?From 65 yards, you just want to crush it,? the kicker said of his third field goal attempt in the Jets? simulated game yesterday at Fordham University. ?You never want to think that way, like in golf, but in that situation, you have to go for it.?

His kick came up about five yards short, giving the White team a 24-21 win over the Green team, but that was about the only thing that hasn?t gone Nugent?s way this training camp.

Nugent, entering his third year in the league, put on about 10 pounds in the offseason - he?s listed at 5-9, 188 pounds - and said he is already seeing the results.

?I can definitely feel the difference,? said Nugent, who drilled kicks from 48 and 26 yards, as well as a 53-yarder at the end of the first half, before missing the final attempt that would have forced overtime. ?Now, the key is not to lose it, so I have to stay in the weight room.?
Click to expand...

NUGENT HOPES ADDED POUNDS KICK-START YEAR | By DAN MARTIN | New York Jets
 
Upvote 0
Jet adds weight to Nugent's kicks
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
By J.P. PELZMAN
STAFF WRITER


HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- During the off-season, one of Mike Nugent's accomplishments was finishing his bachelor's degree in logistics management from Ohio State.

something else Nugent worked on during the off-season was improving on getting the ball from here (the 30-yard line) to there (the end zone) on his kickoffs. And he's doing a better job of that, judging by his performance in the Jets' scrimmage at Fordham University on Sunday, in which he had three touchbacks. Nugent had only two all last season.

The 5-foot-9, 188-pound Nugent said he added about eight to 10 pounds during the off-season as he tried to improve his leg strength.

"Nothing really too dramatic," he said. "I just worked really hard in the weight room."

Nugent added that the Jets' strength and conditioning staff helped him in this, so that "you're not just gaining strength and losing all this flexibility and getting all stiff.

"I definitely feel like there's a little more pop on the ball," Nugent added. "I watch some of these guys in the NFL like Olindo Mare, Adam Vinatieri -- they're not much taller than me. But they weigh about 20 pounds more. I just want to do everything I can to get to their kind of level on kickoffs."

"He hasn't got the biggest frame," punter Ben Graham said, "but he's been able to put [the weight] on and keep it on, which has been important for him. It's showing with his kickoffs and his long field goals."

Nugent "has really put a lot of time into that area or point of emphasis," coach Eric Mangini said. "And his overall body strength has improved as well. And that's going to be an ongoing process of maintaining that strength during the season [and] maintaining the technique work throughout the season."
Click to expand...

North Jersey Media Group providing local news, sports & classifieds for Northern New Jersey!
 
Upvote 0
Nugent kicks weight around
BY KRISTIE ACKERT
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, August 9th 2007, 4:00 AM

This offseason, Mike Nugent went back to school. The Jets' third-year kicker finished his studies at Ohio State, earning his bachelor's degree in logistics management.

But it wasn't his homework in how to move and ship products from one place to another that had the Jets' coaching staff giving Nugent high marks this training camp. The 25-year-old also hit the weight room during his time off. He returned to camp on the Hofstra University campus with about 10 pounds of added muscle.

"I watched some of these guys in the NFL, like Olindo Mare and Adam Vinatieri, and they are not much taller than me," the 5-9 Nugent said. "But they weighed about 20 pounds more than I did. I just want to do everything I can to get to their kind of level on kickoffs.

"If I am averaging (kickoffs) to the 5- or the 6-yard line, they're averaging (kickoffs)to the 1 or the 2. I want to get there."

Nugent, whose selection as the 47thpick of the 2005 draft was booed by some Jets fans, has improved steadily over his two NFL seasons. After making just 22 of his 28 kicks (79%) in his rookie year, Nugent rebounded from a terrible season opener last year to show remarkable accuracy. He struggled in Week 1 at Tennessee, missing an extra point and two field-goal attempts. After that, however, Nugent missed only one of his last 25 attempts and ended the season by hitting his last 18 in a row.

However, the coaching staff became concerned with Nugent's range. Last year, his longest field goal was a 54-yarder. There was discussion last year of having punter Ben Graham handle field goals longer than 50 yards.

But Nugent's offseason work has seemingly made that a moot point.

"It was nothing really too dramatic, I just worked really hard in the weight room (during the offseason)," Nugent said. "We've got a great strength staff working with us. They focus on all different kinds of stuff, which is good, especially for a kicker or punter. You are not just trying to gain strength and then lose all this flexibility and get all stiff."

In training camp, Nugent has shown that his added strength has not limited his flexibility. In last Sunday's intrasquad scrimmage, he boomed field goals of 53, 48 and 26yards before missing a 65-yarder at the end of the game. He also had two touchbacks on kickoffs - as many as he had all of last season.

"I think that he's done a really good job with that," coach Eric Mangini said. "In the scrimmage the other night he had (two) touchbacks, and the other balls were getting deeper than they had been. And that's going to be an ongoing process of maintaining that strength during the season, maintaining the technique work throughout the season. He's really put a lot of time into that area or point of emphasis. And his overall body strength has improved as well."
Click to expand...

Nugent kicks weight around
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top