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The West Virginia Mountaineers will have a new face leading the kickoffs in 2022 as they received word that kickoff specialist Parker Grothaus is transferring from Florida State. Grothaus looks to help solve the kicking woes that plagued the Mountaineers last year as they finished 121st in the country (out of 130) in touchbacks [12], 128th in kickoff average and 123rd worst in out-of-bounds.
Parker Grothaus has hit touchbacks on 52-percent of his kickoffs during his three-year career at Florida State. #WVU kickers had touchbacks on 17-percent last season and 9 of the 12 are now gone from the roster.
— Keenan Cummings (@rivalskeenan) March 6, 2022
Grothaus has a strong leg, putting 29 kicks through the endzone last year and averaging over 60 yards per kickoff. In 2020, he served as the placekicker, making 100% of his extra point attempts [14] and making 4 of the 7 field goals he attempted.
Average hang time leaders: Kickoffs
— Dan Siegel (ACC Content) (@ACContent__) October 28, 2021
1. Parker Grothaus, FSU
2. Trenton Gill, NC State
3. John Parker Romo, VT
4. Danny Longman, BC
5. Brendan Farrell, UVA pic.twitter.com/zfY2GUDXrX
Head coach Neal Brown alluded to Parker in his Thursday press conference when he said he expected to make a quick addition to the roster and looked to solve the special team woes. Special teams has been a big emphasis for Brown and his staff as he often talks about hidden yardage and wanting to win certain metrics associated with special teams, though the fruition of those desires has yet to be seen.