Florida coach Jim McElwain likes to be funny with his players. In practice, he jokes to Eddy Pineiro that he needs to be ready to hit 68-yard field goals in games, Pineiro said.
But if you’ve been following Pineiro, you know that’s not just a gag.
Florida’s kicker posted a video over summer that shows him nailing an 81-yarder in practice. Granted, that’s without pads and with the help of a kicking stand, but making a field goal from 17 yards beyond the NFL record is noteworthy no matter how it gets through the uprights.
Entering the 2017 season, Florida looks to get the most out of Pineiro for the second year in a row. After a 2015 season in which the Gators had the second-worst field-goal percentage in the country (41.2), the addition of Pineiro — who was initially committed to Alabama — catapulted Florida into a top-25 field-goal kicking team last year.
“I’ve got confidence in the guy,” McElwain said Wednesday. “The (thing) I like kinda about him is he doesn’t really let anything bother him. And that’s kinda cool.”
Not letting things bother him is an understatement. Pineiro said McElwain already put the pressure on the other day and had him hit a 54-yarder to end practice.
“He brought the whole team around me,” Pineiro said. “Had everybody throw water on me, like scream and stuff to try to get me unfocused, but I came through.”
While anything beyond 60 yards is probably out of the question in a game, McElwain said he’s comfortable with putting Pineiro on the field to hit a 58-yarder.
McElwain has also been emphasizing kickoffs with Pineiro, specifically becoming more consistent.
“There were times when he tried to over-hit it and not probably get it to where it needed to be,” McElwain said.
About 72 percent of Pineiro’s kickoffs last season went for touchbacks (second in the SEC), and while a lot of coaches are happy to take the ball out of a kick-returner’s hands, McElwain said he’s been working with the redshirt junior kicker on increasing his hang time to let coverage get down the field, and hopefully stop a return man before he hits the 25-yard line.
Pineiro will have his hands full with working on deep field-goal opportunities and high kickoffs in practice before the Gators open their season Sept. 2 against Michigan.
But perhaps the toughest task will be coming up with a celebration that lives up to last year’s, when he and punter Johnny Townsend dabbed after each made field goal.
“We’ve actually talked about a couple different things and we’ve practiced behind closed doors,” Townsend said Tuesday.
Is it a secret?
“Yeah. I got asked the same question at fan day and I gave the same answer,” the senior punter said. “We’ve got a couple things up our sleeves.”
You can follow Matt Brannon at @MattB_727, or contact him at mbrannon@alligator.org.
Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro attempts a field goal during UF's 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl Monday at Raymond James Stadium.
