Being a field goal kicker on any level of football is certainly not for the faint of heart. They can be the hero of one game and then the goat of another.
Oregon junior kicker Camden Lewis has definitely seen both sides of that coin, but his trials and tribulations have made him stronger in every facet.
When Lewis arrived at Oregon in 2019 as a true freshman, he was one of the top kicking recruits in the country. He showed why he was such a highly-touted recruit in that season when he made 9-of-14 field goal attempts and 57-of-59 extra points.
The season’s highlight was when Lewis booted a 26-yard field goal as time ran out to defeat Washington State 37-35 to set off a huge celebration on the Autzen Stadium field.
But in 2020, it was a rough season for Lewis as he proved to be so inconsistent that he lost his job to Henry Katleman. Lewis went from being a hero to the bench trying to figure out what went wrong.
Evidently, he figured it out because, in 2021, Lewis resurrected his career by regaining his kicking duties and flourished. He made 13-of-16 field goal attempts and was named to the Second-Team All-Conference by the coaches and the Associated Press.
Now with the new coaching staff, Lewis is looking to continue his upward trajectory with the help of a mental coach.
“The one thing I’ve really tried to work on is the mental side of things because that’s so important,” he said. “We brought in a mental performance coach come in, Cory Shaffer, and he’s been awesome for me. We talk about pre-kick thoughts and what’s going through my head before every kick.”
Lewis says that a key component of his mental preparations is to calm everything and slow things down as things happen at a quick pace during a college football game.
It’s all part of his daily practice regimen.
“Something I’ve integrated into my routine is to stick to the routine every time,” he said. “It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment, lose yourself, and do something you don’t normally do in practice.”
Oregon is expected to have a great season and if Lewis can harness his mental routine, the physical will be there and the Duck kicker will have more of those special moments inside Autzen.