The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527657
28 ■ THE WOLFPACKER N BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN C State held a 31-point lead over the Virginia Mili- tary Institute last Septem- ber when Wolfpack start- ing placekicker Brayden Narveson walked up to special teams coach Todd Goebbel with an idea. "On the next extra point, since we're up a lot, give Kanoah a chance," said Narveson, who had made a 31-yard field go a l a n d 5 ex t ra points in the game. Narveson was al- l u d i n g to re se rve kicker Kanoah Vi- n e s e t t , w h o wa s proving himself in practice but had not attempted a kick in a game up to that point in his Wolf- pack career. Vine- sett had been behind All-America kicker Christopher Dunn for a year before Narveson arrived through the transfer portal and beat him out for the job. But in that moment, Narveson was ready to see what Vinesett had in a game situation. So were NC State's coaches, who let the redshirt freshman attempt the 20-yard extra point. For Vinesett, it was an opportunity to show what he could do — even if it was a routine kick. "I wasn't really expecting it, but when my name got called, I was like, 'OK, let's do it,'" Vinesett recalled. "I went out there, cleared my mind, took a deep breath and ripped it through the up- rights." Vinesett made his extra-point attempt, the only kick of his first two seasons in Raleigh. But now, af- ter backing up a Lou Groza Award win- ner in Dunn and a current NFL kicker in Narveson, Vinesett is the Wolfpack's starter as a redshirt sophomore. He did not expect to find himself in this kind of role when he began playing sports back home in Rock Hill, S.C., but he has become a scoring threat should NC State's offense stall within his 60- yard range. Path To Football Vinesett didn't grow up kicking a foot- ball. His first love was soccer, a sport he picked up early in life and played year- round. Eventually, though, he began to feel restless. "I played soccer my whole life," Vine- sett said. "If I wasn't with my club team, I was with the high school. If I wasn't with them, I was with a different club. … I got to a point in high school where I wanted to switch it up, so I stuck to something else that involved kicking." That something was football. Vine- sett decided to try it during his fresh- man year at Northwestern High, and he quickly developed an affinity for his new sport. By his sophomore season, he felt as though he was good enough to have a chance of kicking in college. Vinesett worked with Dan Orner, a kicking spe- cialist who trains high school players, and was confident that he had what it took to make it at the Division I level. The only problem was that he needed someone to notice him. He began up- loading his film to Twitter, now called X, in hope of gaining attention. There were plenty of highlights to showcase. In three varsity seasons, Vinesett hit 21 of 26 field goal attempts (with a school- record 53-yarder in 2020) while going 101 for 102 on extra points (including a state- record 84 in a row). Even so, exposure was hard to come by. Then Vinesett attended a summer camp at NC State, where he kicked in front of the Wolfpack's coaching staff. Goebbel and his colleagues were in- trigued by Vinesett's leg and called a few days later to offer him a spot as an invited walk-on. Vinesett jumped on it, and in do- ing so, he fulfilled his first big goal in football: make a college roster. To G o e b b e l , what stood out the most about Vine- sett's tryout was h i s c o m p o s u re . T h a t's t h e b i g - gest factor in NC State's recruiting process for spe- cialists, and Vine- sett impressed right from the start. "I call him the Freddie Couples of kicking," Goebbel said, referring to the professional golfer. "It doesn't matter if it's a 50-yarder or a 30-yarder, he's very smooth, which leads to the same leg swing each time." A Starting Role After Vinesett spent his first two seasons at NC State behind two vet- erans, he had an opportunity to earn the starting spot this year. The Wolf- pack coaches were so confident in him that they did not pursue any transfers as they had the year before with Narve- son. I n s tea d , V i n e - sett competed with g ra d u a t e C o l l i n Smith, the Pack's kickoff specialist, for the field goal kicking duties. He was able to come out on top in the position battle by the end of spring practice. "I had the confidence to go out there and do what I do — make kicks," Vi- nesett said. "All through camp, Coach was like, 'You're doing good, keep it up.' When we got to spring ball, I think " I call him the Freddie Couples of kicking. It doesn't matter if it's a 50-yarder or a 30-yarder, he's very smooth, which leads to the same leg swing each time. Special Teams Coach Todd Goebbel on Vinesett BEST FOOT FORWARD Kanoah Vinesett Is Off To A Strong Start As The Wolfpack's Placekicker