My first interaction with Kornblue Kicking came after we noticed how far our son Conor could kick a ball in 8th Grade. He always was a good athlete but he seemed to have a talent for this. I asked Coach Bill Kramer from Naples High School if he could recommend a coach to work with my son. Without hesitation, he told me to get in touch with Brandon Kornblue.
We contacted him the next week and took our son to one of Brandon’s group lessons he holds every couple of weeks. The kids there ranged from high school seniors trying to get into college to younger students going through basics on the field. As good as we thought our son was, it was soon evident that he had a very raw talent that needed to be refined.
Conor improved with each session with Brandon and he took these lessons home, where he practiced almost every day. He started for the freshman team at Gulf Coast High and was moved up to varsity at the end of the year. After just one year of working with Brandon, Conor was kicking at a varsity level. He had what his high school kicking coach called, “the best spring game I’d ever seen”, and he won the starting kicking and punting job. Conor went on to kick and punt at Gulf Coast High School and was 9/10 in FG’s, averaged over 42 yards per punt and his senior year put 34 of 37 kickoff’s into the end zone for touchbacks.
Conor earned both Kicking and Punting Champion honors at the Kornblue Kicking Challenge, won the LSU kicking camp the summer of 2009, and was named All Area, All Regional and All Conference his Senior Year. He was voted Team Captain and won Special Teams Player of the Year two years in a row.
Conor was contacted by over 50 colleges, was offered scholarships from two colleges and chose to commit to Virginia Tech, primarily due to VT’s commitment to Special Teams. Coaches from Miami said he had the best kicking technique they had seen.
We still attend my son’s practices with Brandon Kornblue. I’ve seen students of Brandon’s go to college and I’ve seen young kids turn into D-1 prospects. What strikes me is that Brandon has achieved this success by stressing basics. He works with his kickers on repetitive motion and uncomplicated kicking styles that mirror the students talent.
Even though he might have 5 or 6 kids kicking at a practice session, he gives each individual attention to each student and works to each child’s unique style and ability.
Brandon has been instrumental to our son’s success as a kicker and also became a person our son looked up to as a role model. Five years after starting with Brandon, my wife and I consider Brandon a friend and someone we would recommend highly to any parent trying to give their child the opportunity to thrive in the kicking game.
– Bill Goulding
