Illinois Football Adds Kicker From SEC Program

Originally posted on Armchair Illini | By Alex Kyi | Last updated 5/11/24

Illinois Football Adds Kicker From SEC Program

Illinois Football has always had relatively strong special teams in the last decade. Blake Hayes, James McCourt, and Chase Mclaughlin were very strong contributors for Illinois Football. However, last year the unit struggled. On top of muffed punts, Caleb Griffin struggled outside of game-winning opportunities. Hugh Robertson improved but has a very limited leg. Additionally, they were not very deep outside of those two players. Bret Bielema and Illinois are hoping that their young guns take a step forward. David Olano and Declan Duley were players with legitimate interest from teams around college football.

However, Bret Bielema and his staff continue to improve depth at each position. Today, Kicker Ethan Moczulski, announced that he will be joining Illinois Football as a preferred walk-on.

AGTG Committed to Illinois!
Lets get to work pic.twitter.com/VzTNtID6KW

— Ethan Moczulski (@EthanMoczulski) May 11, 2024

A scholarship player from the SEC

Per IlliniInquirer.com, Moczulski was a scholarship player for Texas A&M and was the number one kicker in the class of 2022. Ethan hails from Spokane, Washington, and had offers from Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State. The benefit seems strong for Illinois as they are adding the top kicker from the class of 2022 as a preferred walk-on. For a team that does not have the flash and juice of other college football teams, special teams must be a strength. Just look at the University of Iowa.

Iowa could barely score 10 points, however, they just had their punter drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft.