ATHENS -- Jake Camarda is funny.
This is one of those realizations that become apparent only when a Georgia player enters his third season. As a freshman, the Bulldogs’ punter was not allowed to speak with the media. As a sophomore, his appearances came only when his performance warranted it, as when he averaged 50.7 yards on four punts and hit a 67-yarder in a road win over Auburn last year.
But, now a junior, Camarda is an established starter, a member of the Bulldogs’ leadership council and, as such, now a team spokesman. That’s how it works in the Kirby Smart regime.
Hence, Camarda’s appearance after practice Monday on a video conference call with about 30 reporters logged in. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound specialist from Norcross seemed to relish the role, him standing at a podium in a second-floor studio at UGA’s Butts-Mehre complex while reporters tossed him queries.
Camarda considered each question, then offered a thoughtful reply. Such as the one in which he was asked about his barely visible mustache and -- so he claims -- an in-the-works goatee sprouting underneath.
“So, yeah, I kind of do this thing every single year – only a few people notice it; I guess my family, because they get mad at me for it – but I like to do something a little crazy,” Camarda confessed. “Like, my first year, I had two little lines on my head, like, two stripes. And last year, I did a kind of mohawk/mullet kind of thing. It kind of just grew throughout the year. So, this year, I was, like, what am I gonna do? …
“So, I don’t grow facial super, super quick and it doesn’t grow-in full. But I thought I’d try out maybe a little mustache, a little goatee and see what we can form together with that. We’re going to see where we can take it to, hopefully.”
If Georgia fans were wondering where they were going to find some beloved quirkiness in the absence of Rodrigo “Hot Rod” Blankenship, well, Camarda is your guy.
And if all goes to his plan, he’ll even be your place-kicker, too. Camarda made it clear that he very much would like to win Georgia’s place-kicking competition to replace Blankenship and do that in addition to his punting duties.
Camarda has a stronghold on the punting job, which he has handled with increasing aplomb each year since his first. But he’s a serious place-kicker as well, having handled both duties at Norcross High School and actually signing with the Bulldogs as one of the nation’s top-rated place-kickers.
Of course, Georgia signed another top-rated kicker in this 2020 recruiting class. Jared Zirkel of Kerrville, Texas, was ranked the No. 4 kicker in the nation in the 247Sports Composite and figures to have a say-so in the place-kicking job as well.
Bring it on, Camarda says.
“Anybody who competes for something wants to be the guy,” Camarda said. “So, yes, I’d like to be the field-goal guy; I’m competing to be the field-goal guy. But also, at the end of day, if the coaches think it’s a better idea for somebody else to do it or think it’s smarter or this or that, that’s all right. I’ll do what’s best for the team.”
Whoever ends up handling Georgia’s kicking duties has a tough act to follow. Not only was Blankenship the 2019 Lou Groza Award winner and a consensus first-team All-American, but he also happens to be one of the Bulldogs’ more beloved players in recent memory. The biggest ovations during home-game player introductions always were for the player known as “Rec Specs.”
But while his many community-service awards and identifiable eyewear will be missed, it’s mainly Blankenship’s scoring weaponry that the Bulldogs seek to replace. Blankenship was good on 27 of 33 field-goal attempts in 2019, became UGA’s all-time leading scorer with 13 points in the win over Texas A&M in November and finished with 440 points for his career, a figure that ranks second in SEC history. He left as UGA’s career field-goal percentage leader at 82.47 percent (80 of 97).
Camarda is game for trying to replace all that. Of course, that’s why Zirkel is here as well.
“Field-goal kicking is still a competition,” coach Kirby Smart said after the Bulldogs’ first scrimmage Saturday. “We had four guys kick field goals today, but Zirkel kicked the ball well and is in a heated competition for that job.”
As usual, Smart’s not leaving anything to chance. In addition to the highly decorated Camarda and Zirkel, the Bulldogs have returning backups Brooks Buce and Jack Podlesny and have added six walk-on place-kickers.
But Georgia should be able to mine some production out of Camarda or Zirkel. Zirkel, who by the way also punts, is known for a powerful leg that helped him make a 59-yard field goal and score 73 points for Tivy High last season. He was a star pupil for many years for the national kicking franchise known as Kicking World.
Camarda came out of that world, too, or at least a parallel one. He graduated from Norcross High as Kohl’s Kicking’s No. 1-rated kicker/punter, No. 1-ranked punter and No. 4-ranked place-kicker.
But it’s Camarda’s proficiency as punter on which the Bulldogs have come to rely. Last season, Camarda flourished in that role. He led the SEC with an average of 46.8 yards on 61 punts. All he lacked was a little bit of consistency and a few too many touchbacks (9).
Camarda was rolling at the end of last season. Against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl, he placed three punts inside the 20. He averaged 48.8 yards with a 66-yarder against LSU in the SEC Championship game, and he averaged 46.2 yards with three inside the 20 and no touchbacks in a decisive win over Georgia Tech.
At the least, Camarda plans to keep the punting job going and improve on it if possible. Permanently ridding himself of anything resembling a shank is the primary goal.
“I hit a little bit of a stump in the road, I guess you could say, for a couple of games,” Camarda said of last season. “I didn’t hit my best balls there. … But I know I’m better than that.”
Camarda is working under the direction of new special-teams coordinator Scott Cochran, the vociferous former strength-and-conditioning guru at Alabama. Camarda referred to his new coach as “a really good dude who’s out there really rooting for us.” More than anything else, he said, Cochran is a coach that one really wants to please.
Camarda also feels a need to please the fans. He recognizes a void left by Blankenship’s departure. So, while he’s not planning to wear eyewear in games this season, he figures if he can rock a little bit of funky ’stache while stepping out front to speak up for the specialists, well, so be it.
“As far as filling Rodrigo’s shoes and how much he meant to the fans and all that kind of stuff, is there some pressure there? I’m sure, maybe a little bit,” Camarda said. “But, you know, at the end of the day, we’re all just competing for a spot. I don’t think anybody’s really saying we’re competing in his shadow. … We’re focused on what we can accomplish.”
So far, so good for Camarda.
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