Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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190-pound Newsome can be found on the field working on his craft or helping others learn the fundamentals of kicking. Through word of mouth he's picked up a regular list of train- ees ranging from his own age to sixth graders who come to him for help with their form. "God blesses everybody with a tal- ent, and kicking is mine," he said. "I'm just trying to make the most of it." Newsome's work ethics spilled into other parts of his life in high school where he has a 4.0 grade-point aver- age along with being the student body president. All of that helped him earn a full scholarship offer — no small feat for a kicker. The Irish have signed only one kicker to a full scholarship since Brian Kelly arrived in South Bend. They added three as preferred walk-ons last season. Newsome visited Notre Dame's spe- cialists camp last June and impressed the staff with his ability to do all three kicking jobs well. Later that day, Notre Dame offered Newsome its only spe- cialist scholarship of the year. It took him less than 24 hours to decide to take them up on it. ✦ FILM ANALYSIS Strengths Newsome absolutely punishes the football … He has a very strong leg and will be a major asset as a specialist, both as a punter and on kickoffs … His form is solid, and his footwork and delivery are very smooth. Areas To Improve Hang time is very important for punters, and he needs to develop consistency in that area … He is very successful due to the distance that he kicks the ball, but he needs to improve on his ef- fort to keep the ball in the air and allow the punt coverage team to get to the punt returner and not allow much of a return … Admits that this is the area he would like to improve on the most over the next 12 months.