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Augusta, GA (August 1, 2025) - The Augusta Sports Council is pleased to announce the Preseason Watch List for the 2025 FCS Punter of the Year Award, which honors the nation’s top collegiate punter in the Football Championship Series (FCS).
The FCS Punter of the Year Award winner will be determined by the FCS Punter of the Year Award national voting body, which consists of FCS sports information directors and national sportswriters. CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a voter for the award.
The 11 candidates on the list incorporate a broad spectrum of FCS punters and were compiled based on the 2024 FCS Punter of the Year semifinalists, 2024 All-American, and All-Conference selections, and 2025 Preseason All-American and Preseason All-Conference selections.
These four punters were also on the 2024 preseason watch list with the same school.
Ben D'Aquila, Northern Arizona
Brendon Kilpatrick, Youngstown State
John McConnell, Mercer
Thomas O'Hara, Murray State
This list is in alphabetical order by player's last name.
Jacob Baker, Eastern Kentucky
Gilbert Brown, Charleston Southern
Ben D’Aquila, Northern Arizona
Will Haslett, Fordham
Brendon Kilpatrick, Youngstown State
John McConnell, Mercer
Shane Messenger, Morgan State
Thomas O’Hara, Murray State
James Platte, The Citadel
Johnny Schifano, Grambling State
Jeff Yurk, Elon
New nominations for the 2025 FCS Punter of the Year will open on August 2.
8/2 - Nominations Open
11/23 - Nominations Close at noon ET
12/3 - Semifinalists Announced at noon ET
12/4 - Voting for Winner Opens
12/14 - Voting for Winner Closes
12/15 - Winner Announced
2024 - Brendon Kilpatrick, Youngstown State
2023 - Aidan Laros, UT Martin
2022 - Patrick Rohrbach, Montana
2021 - Brian Buschini, Montana
2020 - D. J. Arnson, Northern Arizona
2019 - Alex Pechin, Bucknell
About the FCS Punter of the Year Award
The Augusta Sports Council, also home to the Ray Guy Award (awarded to the best collegiate punter in the FBS), created the FCS Punter of the Year Award in 2019 to honor the best collegiate punter playing in the FCS. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line, and percentage of punts not returned, with particular emphasis placed on net punting average. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team's success.
About the Augusta Sports Council
The Augusta Sports Council (ASC) supports the many facets of local, national, and international sporting events that contribute to our community's quality of life and economic development. To learn more, visit www.augustasportscouncil.org.