Perfect Or Not, Campbell, Whitehead and Teegardin Aim to Put Special in Special Teams
10/17/2020 5:37:00 PM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana kicking perfection finds Charles Campbell seeking more.
Don't be against him, but don't expect perfection.
It ain't happening, and that's not the point, not when this redshirt sophomore, a former prep U.S. Army All-American out of Tennessee, finally gets to show why he's the latest in a long line of Hoosier kicking standouts, from Pete Stoyanovich to Scott Bonnell to Bill Manolopoulos to Austin Starr to Mitch Ewald to Griffin Oakes and then to last season's Logan Justus, the most accurate kicker in program history.
In truth, it's not about not missing a kick, but about what happens when you do. Do you bounce back to make the big kick, or do you buckle?
Specials team coordinator Kasey Teegardin has a pretty good idea of that answer. It comes from the first time they met.
"I asked him if he liked pressure, and he kind of smiles, lit up, and was like, 'absolutely'," Teegardin says.
We saw that in brief glimpses last season (2-for-2 on field goals, 1-for-1 on extra points), but are about to see a lot more, starting with Saturday's season opener against No. 9 Penn State.
Campbell's 57-yard field goal during a recent scrimmage, which made social media highlights, suggests the Hoosiers will be in scoring position whenever they cross midfield.
What is Campbell's range?
"He'll tell you, 'Coach, I'm good from 65,'" Teegardin says.
"I don't know if he's good from 65, but you want that. You want that in your kicker. You want him to be confident. You want him to be confident in his skills and his abilities."
To clarify, Campbell says, "Out on the field by myself, I can hit from around 63 yards. If the wind is blowing at my back and it is good outside, warm, maybe 65. We will see. I always like to stretch the distance a little bit to see how far I can go back in practice."
Campbell was recruited for this opportunity, and if it took two years longer than expected after a superstar high school career (three-time all-state selection, a Tennessee Mr. Football finalist, an all-state soccer player), blame Justus' excellence.
Last season, Justus was a perfect 14-for-14 in field goals during the first 11 regular season games. The problem -- IU played 12. In rainy, slick and windy conditions in the regular-season finale at Purdue, he missed, and missed and missed again.
Enter Campbell, who had attempted -- and made -- one field goal. That 48-yarder came a couple of months earlier, in the second game of the season, a blowout win over Eastern Illinois.
But with Oaken Bucket stakes high and a huge lead fading, Campbell replaced Justus to hit a 41-yarder, crucial in a game the Hoosiers won in double overtime.
"That speaks volumes to him coming in and nailing that field goal," Teegardin says. "You want to talk about a pressure kick, that's a pressure kick, rivalry game, right? We haven't had the Bucket in a couple of years, and we wouldn't have it if it wasn't for his kick."
Adds Campbell: "That situation -- it kind of was getting thrown in the fire a little bit. It made me feel stronger on the other side."
The benefits still resonate, he insists.
"That kick helped me tremendously. I did not get to play that much. I went out and hit a big field goal and that lifted the weight of the world off my shoulders. It told me that I could go out there and hit big kicks. It really brought my confidence up."
So did playing with Justus, an All-Big Ten selection whose 82.1-percent career field-goal success rate is the best in school history.
"Logan and I were really, really close," Campbell says. "We were competitors, but we were more friends than competitors. I got to watch Logan and understand how to carry myself, how to react to situations.
"He did teach me a lot of how to deal with pressure. He taught me to not think about it or to take things too seriously. I really appreciated him for that."
Campbell joins punter Haydon Whitehead in what looms as potentially one of the Big Ten's best kicking combinations.
The Australian native ranks fifth in school history with a 41.0-yard career average. Last season, he set a career-high with a 42.5-yard average to earn honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors. He has 19 50-yard punts and 72 punts that pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line.
Yes, that matters.
"Special teams is one of those things that it is fourth down and that is it, so you do not get a second chance," he says.
Watching college and NFL games these last few weeks, which have included a variety of special teams mistakes, has highlighted the importance.
"The message is, looking at those games in the first couple of weeks, how important special teams have been to the outcome of the game. Do your job as best as you can.
"There is definitely an emphasis on it being fourth down and that is it. Be at your best when it counts the most, do your job, because if you do not, we have seen the results."
Doing that job includes a bigger leadership role for Whitehead, who is in his sixth year of eligibility.
"I think that it is a unique combination of age, being a little bit older, combined with experience," he says. "That is something that I have taken upon myself to project that experience onto some of the younger guys.
"It is definitely something that I have taken upon myself to take that next step from being a leader of the specialist group, to a leader of special teams, to the team in general. At the end of the day, I still have to do my job to earn that respect from the rest of the team. That is something that I have been working on this off-season."
It was an off-season that, because of pandemic travel restrictions, did not allow him to return to Australia.
"Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to head back home at all, which was a little disappointing.
"At the same time, it was probably for the best because knowing how long this pandemic has gone on already and how long it is going to go on in the future, I might not have been able to get back to the United States if I had chosen to go home.
"Being here, I was able to get a lot of good off-season work in that I am really confident with. I probably will not get to have mom, dad or any family members come over for the season, but that is all part of the new normal now. Either way, just looking forward to getting out there and playing this year."
Special teams go beyond kicking and punting, of course, and it's Teegardin's job to also ensure punt and kickoff coverage is performed at a high level. He, head coach Tom Allen and quality control special teams assist Ryan McInerney pour over special teams clips from games across the country every weekend to find an edge and teaching points.
"Throughout the weekend," Teegardin says, "we have a text going. Every time there is a special teams gaffe or something we see watching games, pop-ups on our phone, stuff we see on Twitter, we are contacting our video guy and we are having him pull those clips.
"Every single special teams meeting, every single day we have been showing those clips and teaching. I think that is the biggest thing.
"It is so hard to replicate the speed, the environment, the play itself, but teaching those guys about the situation that occurred. We are going to learn from other people's mistakes and be ready for those when the opportunity comes."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana kicking perfection finds Charles Campbell seeking more.
Don't be against him, but don't expect perfection.
It ain't happening, and that's not the point, not when this redshirt sophomore, a former prep U.S. Army All-American out of Tennessee, finally gets to show why he's the latest in a long line of Hoosier kicking standouts, from Pete Stoyanovich to Scott Bonnell to Bill Manolopoulos to Austin Starr to Mitch Ewald to Griffin Oakes and then to last season's Logan Justus, the most accurate kicker in program history.
In truth, it's not about not missing a kick, but about what happens when you do. Do you bounce back to make the big kick, or do you buckle?
Specials team coordinator Kasey Teegardin has a pretty good idea of that answer. It comes from the first time they met.
"I asked him if he liked pressure, and he kind of smiles, lit up, and was like, 'absolutely'," Teegardin says.
We saw that in brief glimpses last season (2-for-2 on field goals, 1-for-1 on extra points), but are about to see a lot more, starting with Saturday's season opener against No. 9 Penn State.
Campbell's 57-yard field goal during a recent scrimmage, which made social media highlights, suggests the Hoosiers will be in scoring position whenever they cross midfield.
What is Campbell's range?
"He'll tell you, 'Coach, I'm good from 65,'" Teegardin says.
"I don't know if he's good from 65, but you want that. You want that in your kicker. You want him to be confident. You want him to be confident in his skills and his abilities."
To clarify, Campbell says, "Out on the field by myself, I can hit from around 63 yards. If the wind is blowing at my back and it is good outside, warm, maybe 65. We will see. I always like to stretch the distance a little bit to see how far I can go back in practice."
Campbell was recruited for this opportunity, and if it took two years longer than expected after a superstar high school career (three-time all-state selection, a Tennessee Mr. Football finalist, an all-state soccer player), blame Justus' excellence.
Last season, Justus was a perfect 14-for-14 in field goals during the first 11 regular season games. The problem -- IU played 12. In rainy, slick and windy conditions in the regular-season finale at Purdue, he missed, and missed and missed again.
Enter Campbell, who had attempted -- and made -- one field goal. That 48-yarder came a couple of months earlier, in the second game of the season, a blowout win over Eastern Illinois.
But with Oaken Bucket stakes high and a huge lead fading, Campbell replaced Justus to hit a 41-yarder, crucial in a game the Hoosiers won in double overtime.
"That speaks volumes to him coming in and nailing that field goal," Teegardin says. "You want to talk about a pressure kick, that's a pressure kick, rivalry game, right? We haven't had the Bucket in a couple of years, and we wouldn't have it if it wasn't for his kick."
Adds Campbell: "That situation -- it kind of was getting thrown in the fire a little bit. It made me feel stronger on the other side."
The benefits still resonate, he insists.
"That kick helped me tremendously. I did not get to play that much. I went out and hit a big field goal and that lifted the weight of the world off my shoulders. It told me that I could go out there and hit big kicks. It really brought my confidence up."
So did playing with Justus, an All-Big Ten selection whose 82.1-percent career field-goal success rate is the best in school history.
"Logan and I were really, really close," Campbell says. "We were competitors, but we were more friends than competitors. I got to watch Logan and understand how to carry myself, how to react to situations.
"He did teach me a lot of how to deal with pressure. He taught me to not think about it or to take things too seriously. I really appreciated him for that."
Campbell joins punter Haydon Whitehead in what looms as potentially one of the Big Ten's best kicking combinations.
The Australian native ranks fifth in school history with a 41.0-yard career average. Last season, he set a career-high with a 42.5-yard average to earn honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors. He has 19 50-yard punts and 72 punts that pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line.
Yes, that matters.
"Special teams is one of those things that it is fourth down and that is it, so you do not get a second chance," he says.
Watching college and NFL games these last few weeks, which have included a variety of special teams mistakes, has highlighted the importance.
"The message is, looking at those games in the first couple of weeks, how important special teams have been to the outcome of the game. Do your job as best as you can.
"There is definitely an emphasis on it being fourth down and that is it. Be at your best when it counts the most, do your job, because if you do not, we have seen the results."
Doing that job includes a bigger leadership role for Whitehead, who is in his sixth year of eligibility.
"I think that it is a unique combination of age, being a little bit older, combined with experience," he says. "That is something that I have taken upon myself to project that experience onto some of the younger guys.
"It is definitely something that I have taken upon myself to take that next step from being a leader of the specialist group, to a leader of special teams, to the team in general. At the end of the day, I still have to do my job to earn that respect from the rest of the team. That is something that I have been working on this off-season."
It was an off-season that, because of pandemic travel restrictions, did not allow him to return to Australia.
"Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to head back home at all, which was a little disappointing.
"At the same time, it was probably for the best because knowing how long this pandemic has gone on already and how long it is going to go on in the future, I might not have been able to get back to the United States if I had chosen to go home.
"Being here, I was able to get a lot of good off-season work in that I am really confident with. I probably will not get to have mom, dad or any family members come over for the season, but that is all part of the new normal now. Either way, just looking forward to getting out there and playing this year."
Special teams go beyond kicking and punting, of course, and it's Teegardin's job to also ensure punt and kickoff coverage is performed at a high level. He, head coach Tom Allen and quality control special teams assist Ryan McInerney pour over special teams clips from games across the country every weekend to find an edge and teaching points.
"Throughout the weekend," Teegardin says, "we have a text going. Every time there is a special teams gaffe or something we see watching games, pop-ups on our phone, stuff we see on Twitter, we are contacting our video guy and we are having him pull those clips.
"Every single special teams meeting, every single day we have been showing those clips and teaching. I think that is the biggest thing.
"It is so hard to replicate the speed, the environment, the play itself, but teaching those guys about the situation that occurred. We are going to learn from other people's mistakes and be ready for those when the opportunity comes."
Players Mentioned
FB: Inside IU Football with Curt Cignetti - Week 4 (Illinois)
Thursday, September 18
FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 4 (Illinois)
Wednesday, September 17
FB: Mikail Kamara Media Availability (9/16/25)
Tuesday, September 16
FB: Kellan Wyatt Media Availability (9/16/25)
Tuesday, September 16