Keeping It Simple Fuels Radicic’s Kicking Success
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Simple is better. Nico Radicic believes it, lives it, kicks it. It’s among the reasons why this Indiana redshirt sophomore just might be the most accurate kicker in America, why he delivers a Hoosier edge every time he takes the field.
“If you over-complicate it,” he says, “a lot of things can go wrong. So, I just jog out there, get one swing in in the air, kick the ball, and walk back to the sideline.”
It works. Radicic was 69-for-69 on extra points last season (including a program record 11-for-11 against Western Illinois) and 11-for-12 on field goals for his career.
“I make it a fun thing. I don't make it anything harder than it already is. I’m there if the team needs me to knock down three points. If I make it anything harder than that, I just keep putting stuff in my head that I don't need. I make it very simple and kick the ball between the posts.”
It sounds easy, but it’s not. A lot of work -- and patience -- goes into this accuracy. Radicic began honing it during his high school freshman year in Coppell, Texas.
“When I started kicking, my kicking coach put me on the 20-yard line and I wasn’t allowed to move. He said, ‘you’re going to kick it down the middle every time.’
“I was stuck on that for like six months. I was like, ‘Coach, I need to go farther. I’m tired of this 20-yard line.’ He said, ‘No, you’re staying here. It’s 20-yard line, 20-yard line.
“It got to a point where I realized I was pretty accurate so when I got to 45 or 55 yards, it felt like I was on the 20-yard line.”
Radicic’s success continues a long run of quality kickers under head coach Curt Cignetti.
“We’ve been blessed with our field goal kickers in the last six to seven years,” Cignetti says. “Nico is no exception. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Radicic’s longest field goal attempt last year was a missed 46-yarder against Purdue. His longest made attempt was 41 yards. This year, while he says he’s comfortable with 55 yards, “which means I could hit farther than that,” Cignetti says, “we’ll find out during the season.”
Radicic continues to fine tune his kicking prowess. He says he didn’t miss a kick with the team in the spring, “so I was very pleased with that.”
“I was trying to take that into the fall. I was kind of hoping for a miss here or there, just so I could feel that. It did happen once, so now that it did, I am ready to get back on that high horse and keep making kicks.”
With IU fast approaching its Aug. 30 season opener against Old Dominion, Radicic prepares for any scenario, including on-side kicking. He says that’s a “completely different swing” than what’s used in field goals and extra points.
“With a field goal, you swing up on the ball. With an on-side kick, you want to slam it into the ground to get that bounce.
“Sometimes you get lucky or unlucky with a bounce, but if you try to cancel out those mistakes in between and know where you’re hitting the ball and swinging down on it, you can get the same result every time.”