The post-spring departure of Sean O’Haire threw a wrench in our special teams plans for 2025. Multiple true freshmen will now be called upon to maintain the solid play we’ve seen in recent seasons.

Roster

Additions

Ned Gray | Punter – Gray follows the same path as Aaron Trusler, joining from the Prokick Australia program. No competition here, this is 100% his job. He’s shown solid hangtime and has great precision in downing punts inside the 20. There’s a reason we felt comfortable handing this over to a true freshman.

Gavin Winterhalter | Kicker – Winterhalter signed with Richmond this past May. With Brandon Peskin’s graduation and O’Haire off to Maryland, Winterhalter adds to a position that is normally difficult to find good depth at.

Jackson Bonser | Kicker – Bonser also committed to the Spiders in May, a crucial pickup that late in the cycle. He had great showings at numerous camps, earning a 5-star rating from the Kohls Kicking Camp last spring. Like Gray, this is Bonser’s job immediately.

Brian Catanzarite

Plenty of new names doing the kicking yet thankfully an established name starting the entire operation. Brian Catanzarite returns for his fourth straight season as the long snapper, a steady fixture in the Spiders’ special teams since 2022. He snapped in all 39 games over the three year period that saw multiple kickers/punters earn All-CAA honors. My usual line is “if you don’t know the name of our long snapper that’s probably a good thing” (given most long snapper highlights are really lowlights), however that doesn’t apply this season. A veteran presence amongst the specialists is a plus, and although long snappers don’t usually make headlines it was awesome to see our Athletic Department highlight Catanzarite’s work off the field with Richmond Animal League (linked below). Excited to have #57 back in 2025.

https://richmondspiders.com/news/2025/3/18/football-web-threads-brian-catanzarite

2025 Special teams expectations

Punting

Multiple All-CAA seasons from Aaron Trusler will be tough to follow. He was top 20 in the nation in key categories (gross punting, net punting, punts of 50+ yards) and took this unit to a level we had never witnessed. While it’s unfair to expect Ned Gray to replicate that in 2025 I do think he can keep our opponent return yardage low, a key factor in how successful this group will be.

Coach Huesman has discussed the punting scheme revolving around not allowing returns. A high gross punting average is cool but if that leads to big returns you aren’t any better off. Of qualified FCS punters in 2024, Trusler had the lowest percentage of returned punts (12.8%). Whether it was holding the ball an extra second to allow our coverage team more time or angling his punts away from the returner, his knack to make the correct read and prevent big plays was unparalleled.

I’m hoping Gray can keep returns under 25%. That’s about where Trusler was early in his career, and if he can combo that with roughly a 39+ yard net punting average we’d be in the top 40 of the FCS. Difficult to set too many targets based on practices alone but those feel achievable.

Field goal kicking

We all got caught up in the Sean O’Haire news, especially after Coach Huesman (rightfully) called the Terps out. What didn’t get talked about enough was the addition of Bonser – it’s difficult to land a kicker with that rating/recognition three months before the season starts, yet we did just that.

Every question I’ve gotten so far is the obvious one – “how strong is his leg?” And I get it, it’s fun to have a kicker knock down 50-yarders and it feels like every season has that game where you need a long field goal. #97 absolutely has the leg for it, even hitting some long range FGs while kicking into the wind. All that said, long field goals won’t define our success. The big legs from Jake Larson and Sean O’Haire were awesome the last five years but successful field goal kicking at this level is about converting from 40 yards & in.

Some of our best kicking seasons involved kickers who only converted short/mid-range field goals. Andrew Lopez stepped up for the Spiders in 2022, going 13/14 of FGs including clutch kicks against CAA rivals Villanova and Delaware. Of those 13 makes, 12 came inside of 40 yards.

Go back even further to FCS All-American Griffin Trau. In 2016, Trau went 23/26 on FGs and a perfect 42/42 on PATs. Of those 23 makes, 22 were from 40 & in. Yes, the 1st team All-American kicker made just one kick longer than 40 yards all season. His 1st team All-CAA season in 2017 was similar, with 11 of 12 makes less than 40 yards.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope Jackson hits 50 yard field goals in his sleep. But what really matters is that he’s consistent on PATs and reliable from 40 & in. If he does that we’ll be in great shape.

Kickoffs

A solid 2024 from our KOC (kickoff coverage) unit sees the main piece of that, kickoff specialist Will McManus, return in 2025.

McManus was 33rd in the FCS is return yardage allowed, and would’ve nearly cracked the top 25 without the TD we allowed against Campbell. Good hangtime and consistently landing the ball inside the 10-yard line made this one of our stronger units.

The biggest thing to watch is McManus’ touchback percentage. He had 17 touchbacks on 72 attempts (24%), which put him a little below the FCS average. This isn’t an issue because of his good hangtime and the unit’s solid coverage, but the more the better. I’ve seen more balls into the endzone this camp which makes me think he can easily get this north of 30%. Expect this unit to be strong for the Spiders again in 2025.

Next Post

2025 Position Group Preview – Running Backs – Friday, August 15th