Dealing with the gravity of the transition from high school to college football is a formidable challenge for any true freshman. And for punter Kanyon Floyd, who arrived in Tempe only a few months ago, the nature of his position only adds another layer of difficulty in the acclimation progression. Yet, the true freshman from Scottsdale Horizon High School enters the 2024 season as a likely starter and is the only true freshman with that distinction on the Sun Devil roster.
“It’s been a good adjustment so far from high school to college,” Floyd said. “I’m excited to get out onto the field and see how it goes. I can’t wait to perform in games and help the team any way I can.”
As an Arizona native born in Scottsdale, Floyd admitted that he never had a dog in the fight of the ASU and Arizona rivalry. Ranked as the No. 3 punter in the country by various recruiting services, Floyd decided to stay close to home and play for the Sun Devils because he felt comfortable with the recruiting process.
“I had a pretty quick conversation with the coaches recruiting me,” Floyd remarked. “I had a workout with them, and I did pretty good. They offered me right after, and I committed about two weeks later. It was a super quick process. I had a couple of other visits my junior year (Washington being one of those visits), but I ultimately chose ASU.”
ASU's special teams coordinator, Charlie Ragle, Floyd's lead recruiter, praised Floyd for his maturity beyond his years. Ragle said Floyd had handled the pressure of the position to this point, a trait that should serve him well during his first collegiate season.
“When I recruited him, I knew what type of player he would be,” Ragle stated. “He’s still making the transition to college, and he hasn't played any games yet, but he's exactly who I thought he was going to be. The thing that most impresses me is that he handles himself very well. He's got to go play games, but he has shown that he handles himself well in pressure situations, and we put him in the best pressure situations you can create for him as far as practice goes.
“When recruiting him and getting to know him, getting to know his family…he's a really bright young man with a 4.6 GPA. He's driven. He's a kid who ran track and ran the hurdles so that he could enhance his leg elevation. When you look at the good kickers that kick off, they have a really nice hurdling motion to it. And if you pause it at a certain point, when they strike the ball, it looks like they're running over a hurdle. They've got that foot through the ball; it's elevated. And we talked through some of those mechanics, and he went out and ran the hurdles just to try and get better at that. And that told me what kind of player he is and that this guy is serious about being a great player, whether it's a punter or a kicker.”
Floyd's signing with Arizona State was naturally a byproduct of the excellent relationship he has developed with his position coach, and he has mentioned him as a substantial reason for his development during fall camp.
“He’s been really good to me,” Floyd recognized. “He’s definitely been helping me feel pressure during practice even though you don’t most of the time, so the games will be easier. He’s really honed in on that, making sure I feel the pressure, so come game time, I’ll be more comfortable back there.”
During this past week’s practices, the special teams unit focused more on punting from the one-yard line to speed up the punters and test their reaction times. Floyd appreciates that approach, which aids him in the rapidness element of his technique.
“I’ve been working on my speed a lot,” Floyd noted. “I’ve also focused on the consistency of my drops. I think I’ve improved the most of the location of my punts. I have a lot more control of where I want them to go instead of just how far they go.”
By default, members of the special teams unit, such as Floyd, have a lighter workload compared to their Sn Devil teammates. While continuously perfecting minor details in their game, the unit has a lot of time to build camaraderie both on and off the field.
“We don’t have much to do all practice,” Floyd mentioned. “We mainly just work on some little things with each other, and we have a lot of downtime to spend together. We’re a really tight group with a lot of cool guys. (ASU teammate) Parker Lewis has been through a lot of college football, so I definitely look up to him.”
Going into his first season at the college level, Floyd will join the Sun Devils’ journey into the new Big 12 conference. Growing up in-state, the punter experienced the Pac-12 and will now have an opportunity to help ASU launch a new era in the program’s history book while having the opportunity to be a starter to boot.
“I’m excited to get on the field first and foremost,” Floyd expressed. “I’ve never played in a college game before, so that will be a cool experience. I have a lot of friends down at (the University of) Arizona, too, so I’m excited to be a part of that rivalry.”
The impressive fall camp that Floyd exhibited didn’t go unnoticed by Sun Devils’ head coach, Kenny Dillingham. Taking into consideration the struggles at that position last year, Dillingham appreciates the reliability and consistency the true freshman has showcased.
“We don’t have to be so aggressive in fourth down because we now have the ability to punt this year,” Dillingham explained. “Last year, when you’re only flipping the field 34 yards, you’re more likely to go for it on fourth-and-short. Now, we could pin them inside the 20 (yard line) depending on where we’re at on the field, so that’s going to play a factor in how aggressive we have to be this year because we actually have a weapon.”
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