Posted on: Friday, April 9, 2004

UH's Ayat hopes to kick it up a notch

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

University of Hawai'i placekicker Justin Ayat has heard the advice so often he can parrot it in an impressionist's range of voices.

"You know, Justin, you just gotta keep your head down and have a nice easy swing, just like hitting a seven-iron," Ayat lectures himself in a mock instructive tone.

But for all the well-intentioned and heartfelt suggestions Ayat received about his kicking from the public last season, the yips would not go away.

His late-season struggles underlined one universal truth about college football — that few coaching staffs have anybody qualified to tutor kickers. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, linemen, linebackers and defensive backs all have at least one coach on the 12-man staff (including graduate assistants) to turn to.

Until NFL special teams "guru" Frank Gansz showed up this week as a "guest coach" for spring drills, Ayat was pretty much on his own in attempting to solve one of the Warriors' biggest mysteries of the 2003 season.

The Western Athletic Conference's leader in field goal percentage through the first eight games of his junior season, Ayat inexplicably struggled thereafter. Closing in on Jason Elam's school scoring record, Ayat missed his final seven field-goal attempts and four of his last nine extra-point tries (including two blocks) and eventually lost the kicking job to Nolan Miranda.

If the sudden change surprised fans, it plainly stunned Ayat, whose consistency had hardly strayed and whose confidence had rarely wavered. "It was all new to me because nothing like it had never happened to me before; not in high school or here (at UH)," Ayat said.

So, he sought opinions from former UH kickers while fielding suggestions from the fans. "It seemed everybody had their own take on what was going on," Ayat said. Sometimes, he surmises, he listened to too many people and tried too many things.

Beginning with this spring, there is Ganzs and an intent to find a tighter focus to regain the form that was most responsible for putting Ayat 111 points from Elam's record.

"I definitely plan to put in twice the effort, maybe more, into my training and preparation because this is it for me, it is my senior year coming up," Ayat said. "(Ganzs) and I have spoken and he's giving me some tips, things he's taken from past kickers he's worked with."

UH assistant coach Rich Miano said: "Justin has shown what he's capable of. He can be as good as he wants to be. Now, the ball is in his court."

Hopefully, the difference this time will be that, at last, Ayat has somebody there with him.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.