Freeman Getting a ‘Kick’ Out of Hoosier Opportunity
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - For Chris Freeman, it starts with trust -- in himself, in his teammates and coaches, in his preparation.
Add focus, toughness, work ethic, and a skill set honed by almost two decades of soccer and you have, potentially, Indiana’s next standout kicker, following a tradition that extends 50-plus years with names such as Charles Campbell, Logan Justus, Griffin Oakes, Mitch Ewald, Austin Starr, Bill Manolopolous, Scott Bonnell, Pete Stoyanovich, and Chris Gartner.
It starts with doing the work.
“You have to trust the preparation that you’ve been through,” Freeman says. “You’ve put in thousands of reps with our group. We all come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get those live reps.”
That group includes long snapper Sean Wracher and holder/punter James Evans.
“It’s having Sean throwing perfect balls every time and James is a great holder,” Freeman says. “It’s trusting the process and execution.”
It’s also trusting the redshirt sophomore to do what needs to be done, from kicking field goals and extra points, to booting 60-yard-plus kickoffs, to executing the perfect on-side kick.
“He’s growing in confidence each time he takes the field,” head coach Tom Allen says.
Last year, with Campbell handling field-goal and extra-point duties, Freeman was IU’s kickoff specialist, and averaged 63.2 yards. This season, he earned the kicking job after a fall camp battle with freshman Nicolas Radicic, a five-star prospect.
Freeman is 2-for-2 on field goals this season, with a long of 42 yards. He also handles the kickoff chores.
Radicic has made a 21-yard field goal.
“Going back and forth like we did, the competition was huge,” Freeman says. “It puts you more in a game-like situation. Every ball in fall camp matters.”
Competition hasn’t kept Freeman from being a good teammate. He praises Radicic’s potential, and how much the competition helped him.
“Nico is a super special kicker. He’s super talented. He’s going to have a great future.
“The way he pushed me day in, day out, was great. We have a great relationship. He’s a great kid. He will be super successful.”
A high-level soccer background gives Freeman an edge he fully exploits.
“It’s an advantage I have,” he says. “It goes all the way back to when I was four years old playing in the backyard with my siblings and playing soccer all the way through high school.”
Allen saw the potential.
“Because of his soccer background, he has different kinds of kicks he can bring to our arsenal,” Allen says.
Freeman understands ball placement, something not every kicker does.
“Guys with big legs like he has, they can just crush the ball,” Allen says. “That’s pretty much what you’re going to get. But he has the ability to place the ball.”
It’s made all the difference.
It started with a conversation with Freeman’s father early in his sophomore season at Zionsville High School near Indianapolis.
“My dad asked, ‘What are your goals?’ I said, I want to play college sports. I didn’t care what it was. I thought it would be soccer.”
He thought wrong.
“I made a few (football) game winners that year. Football recruiting took off. I put soccer second to football.”
The highest level of developmental soccer forces players to specialize. They can’t play high school sports. It’s all soccer, all the time.
Freeman didn’t go that route and thrived with a two-sport prep approach. He earned all-state honors in soccer and football.
As a senior, he was named the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association’s male soccer player of the year, the Indiana Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American.
He led Zionsville to the 2019 state title after a 2018 state runner-up finish.
Oh, he also made first-team academic All-American by the United States Soccer Coaches Association.
In football, he made all-state three times, connected on 31-of-43 field goal attempts, and made three game winners.
The first game winner, a 37-yarder to beat Indianapolis Pike, basically sealed the football deal.
“Everybody was running onto the field cheering my name. I thought, ‘This is cool. This is Friday Night Lights.’
“That was the moment I knew this could be it.”
It would come without an IU scholarship. Freeman was a walk-on his first season before earning a scholarship last season.
“He’s worked really hard,” Allen says. “I’m proud of him for coming here and earning a scholarship the way he has.”
On-side kicking is almost an art form.
“It’s about hitting the ball where you want to at the right pace,” Freeman says. “A football bounces everywhere. You don’t know where you’ll get it. If you want a big bounce, swing a little harder. If you want a low dribbler like we did on Saturday, you hit the middle of the ball.
IU practiced the onside kick twice during the week before the Louisville game. Freeman also worked on it on his own.
“It’s getting your feet on the ball. Knowing how it will bounce. Messing around on the indoor turf with our specialists to see where it will bounce and hit helps.”
Special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin had poured over the Louisville film and saw opportunity. He pitched it to Allen, who wanted to see it work in practice. It did, twice.
Freeman also worked on it on his own.
At halftime, IU trailed 21-0 and badly needed a spark. As the second quarter wound down, Allen decided to go for it.
In the locker room, Freeman got the word -- “Be ready for surprise right.”
Freeman mentally prepared for it, but when he got back on the field, he warmed up for a kickoff because, “If the looks weren’t right, we weren’t going for it.”
The looks were more than right.
“They were great,” Freeman says.
He nailed the on-side kick, which bounced right to Louis Moore, the intended target.
“I had confidence,” Freeman says. “I was kicking the ball well. Making that first opportunity count is super important. Seizing the opportunity was my thought process.”
IU capitalized with a touchdown on that drive, then scored again while the defense kept forcing Louisville punts.
“It was exciting,” Freeman says. “You could feel the atmosphere with the crowd and the team. It really helped us move forward.”
Now comes Saturday night’s home game against Akron (1-2) and if another on-side kick is needed, Freeman is ready for that, and so much more.
“He’s an excellent student, and an awesome young man, and a great representation of our program in every way,” Allen says.