The Horned Frogs are seeking to replace a pair of longtime starters in kicker Griffin Kell and punter Jordy Sandy.
The TCU football team will be entering a transition period on special teams when the Horned Frogs take the field for the 2024 season. TCU has leaned on key veterans including former All-Big 12 kicker Griffin Kell as well as punter Jordy Sandy over the last few years, but now that both players are gone, the Horned Frogs and special teams coordinator Mark Tommerdahl will look for newcomers and returning players to emerge this season.
Last kicks / Last Session of the off season. @TCUfootball starts today@OberkromKicking holds & @CalKeeler snapping pic.twitter.com/mxeZliveiK
— Kyle Lemmermann (@kylelemmermann1) July 29, 2024
TCU’s most notable special teams addition over the offseason was true freshman kicker Kyle Lemmermann, who was rated the No. 1 high school kicking prospect in the 2024 class under both 247Sports and Chris Sailer. Lemmermann, who was selected to the All-American Bowl and was an All-District player for Southlake Carroll, should immediately contend for the starting kicking duties this fall. TCU has three kickers on the roster including Lemmermann as well as sophomore Caleb Sempebwa and redshirt freshman Nate McCashland. Neither of these three have appeared in a collegiate game so far.
Australia K Ethan Craw (@ethan98470797) has one of the strongest legs in the class of 2024. The 6’3″ specialist comes out of one of the top kicking academies in the world. He will be play for TCU in 2024. pic.twitter.com/szsxGLrnTh
— AthLinkd International (@AthLinkdINT) June 12, 2024
The Horned Frogs also added a punter over the offseason in Australian native Ethan Craw, who will compete with returning redshirt sophomore Easton Black for the starting role this fall. Craw, a junior who attended Alabama-Huntsville for one year, arrives in Fort Worth after competing in the same Australian kicking camp as Jordy Sandy. Black is entering his third season with the Horned Frogs, but he’s yet to see game action, meaning that TCU will also be green in the punting game in addition to the kicking game.
FROG WATCH
Brent Matiscik has been named to the Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List, presented to the nation’s top snapper.#GoFrogs | #BleedPurple pic.twitter.com/XawJXuJIFZ
— TCU Football (@TCUFootball) July 29, 2024
Handling snapping duties will be returning redshirt senior Brent Matiscik. The converted tight end was named to the Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List earlier this offseason and has appeared in 42 games over the last five seasons at TCU. The Horned Frogs welcome in two true freshman snappers in Cal Keeler and Jax Thompson, who were both rated five-star snappers by Kohl’s Camps and should compete for the starting job in the future.
LaMareon James. 100 yards. Kickoff return. TO. THE. HOUSE.@ODUFootball pic.twitter.com/05AbFLExDF
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 30, 2021
Without Derius Davis to shine on special teams, TCU struggled to make plays in the return game during the 2023 season, where multiple players attempted to handle return duties. The Horned Frogs saw four different players return punts last season, with wide receivers JP Richardson and JoJo Earle each taking six to lead the way. Wide receiver Major Everhart handled 29 of the 32 kick returns TCU fielded last season and could be in line to return kicks again this fall. One name to watch will be Old Dominion transfer LaMareon James, a cornerback who was the starting kick returner for his former team last season and received Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Conference honors as a return specialist during the 2022 season.