Oldham County kicker Sean Nuernberger commits to Ohio State
Jun. 11, 2013
Written by
Steve Jones
The Courier-Journal
Oldham County All-State kicker Sean Nuernberger is taking his strong right leg to one of the elite programs in college football.
Nuernberger committed to Ohio State on Tuesday immediately after earning his first scholarship offer from coach Urban Meyer at the Buckeyes? kicking camp.
?I think it?s going to take a little while to actually sink in,? he said by phone. ?I?ve really never been this excited or this happy in my life.?
Nuernberger outperformed a group of other kickers during two days of camp. On Tuesday, he said he made 7 of 8 field-goal tries with a long of 55 yards, all while music was blaring throughout Ohio Stadium and special teams coach Kerry Coombs ?was about a foot behind me screaming at the top of his lungs? to try to distract him.
?That was pretty interesting, but I basically just tried to block all of it out and keep the pressure away and do the job,? he said. ?It ended up working out.?
Nuernberger said it was a surreal moment to walk out onto the field at the famous, mammoth Horseshoe.
?It?s huge. Obviously there?s nowhere else I?d rather be anywhere in the country,? he said. ?I can?t imagine what it?ll feel like in front of 107,000 people.?
Nuernberger made 7 of 12 field-goal tries last season with a long of 46 yards. He also made 29 of 32 extra-point attempts and put 38 of his 44 kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks.
He also averaged 43.3 yards per punt last season with a long of 63 and said he?ll keep working on punting in case he?s needed for that in college.
Nuernberger could be Ohio State's starting kicker as a freshman in 2014; the Buckeyes? current starter, Drew Basil, is a senior.
He attended a punting camp at Alabama and was considering camping at Louisville, Kentucky and Notre Dame before he got the OSU offer.
Nuernberger, a native of Germany who moved to the United States for third grade, transferred to Oldham County from Marion, Ill., before last school year.
At 6 feet 2 and 230 pounds, Nuernberger is big and athletic and said he can bench-press about 285 pounds.
He said Ohio State?s coaches were impressed when one of the first things he asked when he arrived on campus was to get a tour of the weight room.
?I hate the stereotypical kicker everyone looks at as a little scrawny guy,? he said. ?? I love going to tell people when they ask me if I play linebacker, telling them I play kicker.?
