IOWA CITY — A wry smile spread across LeVar Woods’s face.“He is actually reading now,” Woods said. “I never thought I would get Drew Stevens to read, but he is reading. I am sure his mom will be pleased to hear that. It is probably a page or two a day, but he is working on it.“I think that has helped him.”
Iowa kicker Drew Stevens (18) boots an extra point during their game against Troy on Sept. 17.
NIKOS FRAZIER
The Iowa special teams coordinator’s mischievous grin shifted to a more sincere beam as he discussed Stevens’s evolution as the Hawkeyes’ kicker.“Drew had confidence last year,” Woods said. “I think it was false confidence. I think he would be one of the first to tell you that last year. We talk about, in our room, confidence being a feeling and an emotion. Whereas, conviction is like you know it. There is no other way to see it.“Drew, now, is convicted with his routine in practice. He is convicted with his routine away from the building. He is much more mature, (has) a much clearer head.”
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After connecting on just six of his final 11 field goal attempts of 2023, Stevens started the 2024 campaign 6-for-6 with a long of 46 yards.Prior to the start of his junior campaign, Stevens told the Quad-City Times in August that he no longer defined himself as a “feel” kicker.Instead, the third-year starter sought to become more precise with his approach after discussing his craft with NFL kickers during the offseason.“None of them were ‘feel’ guys,” Stevens said. “I was like, ‘Who am I to think I am going to be the first one to do this?’ And, I tried to be a ‘feel’ guy last season and that did not work out percentage-wise to where I wanted to be.“So, I focused on noticing the details.”According to the Noth Augusta, South Carolina native, a quote from The Twin Thieves: How Great Leaders Build Great Teams, a book the Hawkeye specialist read during the offseason, stuck with him during the process.“’Amateurs practice until they get it right,’” Stevens said. “’Pros practice until they get it wrong.’”The quote helped Stevens establish a routine of visualizing his kick before the snap to clear his mind and improve his field goal percentage.Asked about Stevens’s reading material, Woods’s gave another smile.“He went that far, huh?” Woods said. “Did he tell you about the other book?“The other book that we read was a book called Golf’s Sacred Journey. It talks about a pilot and his checklist that he goes through right before he tries to put the plane up in the air.”To Woods, Golf’s Sacred Journey made an equally noticeable difference in Stevens’s game.“As a kicker, as a specialist, you have to go through your checklist and make sure everything is buttoned up and ready to go before you actually approach and try to hit the ball,” Woods said. “Kicking and punting is a lot like golf … If a guy goes through a checklist and he has checked all the boxes and he has the confidence and the conviction to go after the kick, the results usually turn out.“Drew is doing that right now. It took us awhile to get him to that point, to believe in that, but he is doing well and believing in that.”Woods said he was glad to hear that Stevens no longer saw himself as a “feel” kicker.“You cannot just do everything off feel because emotions get involved,” Woods said. “Things like that cloud your judgement. Drew has definitely become more systematic with what he does.”In addition to his field goal execution, Stevens’s kickoff numbers improved to start 2024 compared to his stats in 2023.“His numbers are up, his hang time is up,” Woods said. “It goes back to what he has been doing. He is kicking the ball really well and the hang time is up. Guys are returning it. They have been paying for it.”According to Woods, the impact of the improvement on kickoffs possesses a clear and obvious impact on the outcome of games and on the Hawkeyes as a whole.“If you go back to the game last week, six kickoffs, Drew had, and four of them were returned,” Woods said. “None of them got passed the 21(-yard line).“It has been helping us psychologically as a football team. It has also been helping us with field position. Field position and special teams turns into points for us. That is part of our game plan each week.”Woods was all smiles during his Tuesday media availability while discussing Stevens’s body of work in 2024 — even though the best may still be to come.“A lot of it for Drew is between the ears,” Woods said. “I have just seen this kid grow and mature every single day. Coach (Ferentz) referenced it the other day. I am like, ‘This kid is playing lights out right now.’“On the national scope, I think it is very quiet, but I think there is a tiger in there getting ready to let loose.”
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“I am not sure I remember anybody in four games doing what he has done,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He just continues to run really well.”
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