Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/462058
2015 RECRUITING ISSUE BY ANDREW IVINS Justin Yoon isn't your typical kicker. The son of a former Olympic ice skater, Yoon spent nine years of his life living in South Korea. He grew up playing soccer and hockey, and he didn't touch a foot- ball until he was in eighth grade. But once Yoon did, his kicking ca- reer began to boom. In just three years, Yoon went from be- ing a tiny forward on the ice, to the na- tion's top kicking prospect in the class of 2015. It was an unpredictable rise, but one that was fu- eled by the voices on the outside. "I use to just al- ways want to play hockey and soccer," Yoon said. "But I was convinced by some people after my freshman year that I could be a real good kicker." Turns out those people — most no- tably special teams guru Jamie Kohl — were right. Yoon began training with Kohl shortly after he arrived at Milton Academy outside of Boston. Kohl, who has worked with thou- sands of college kickers and punters over the years, described Yoon as raw. He had the potential to be great, but he just needed to per- fect his craft. Yoon did just that. T h e 5 - 1 1 , 185-pounder con- nected on 9 of 11 field goal attempts during his junior season and con- verted 38 of 39 extra point tries. While the stats were note- worthy, it was what he did off the field and away from Fri- day nights that was the difference. K o h l b r o u g h t Yoon to his summer camps around the country, and the ex- posure drew plenty of college interest. Yoon admits that he never thought he would play college football, but once the first scholarship offer came in, they didn't stop. Northwestern, Boston College, Texas A&M and Stanford all tendered bids based on Yoon's film. However, Notre Dame was reluctant to offer right away. According to Kohl, Irish head coach Brian Kelly wanted to see Yoon kick Justin Yoon takes unusual Path to notre Dame Yoon set Under Armour All-American Game records for field goals made (three) and longest field goal (47 yards). PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM