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While at the University of Georgia, Brandon Coutu was the first Georgia kicker to wind up over 80% for career field goal accuracy.
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By Jayne Handlin
Have you heard the phrase “nice guys finish last”? Well, there is an exception to every rule and Brandon Coutu is a shining example of that exception. Brandon is a local, home-grown young man who played football for Collins Hill High School, then for the University of Georgia and now has been drafted by the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round as the 235th overall pick. Brandon is the son of Ron and Carol Coutu of Lawrenceville.
Not only is Brandon a humble young man, he also was very active in community service while at Georgia. When asked what records he set at Collins Hill and at the University of Georgia, Brandon said, “I really don’t keep up with those statistics. I’m sure I probably hold some records, but I could not tell you what they are.”
Brandon actually started out as a soccer player, a sport he began playing at the age of 4. He had never really thought about being a placekicker on a football team. But, when he was in ninth grade, one of his classmates told him the football team needed a kicker and he decided to give it a try, and the rest, as they say, is history.
While attending Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Brandon was both the punter and the placekicker, as well as being the forward on the soccer team. He set a county record with a 75 yard punt, was named to Kicking.com’s High School All-American team as a punter,and was the Gwinnett Daily Post’s All-County 1st Team kicker. As a senior, he was successful on every PAT and field goal attempt. And in soccer, he holds the record for most goals scored in school history with 48.
Once Brandon graduated from high school, he had several options. “I had soccer scholarship offers from several major colleges and some football offers from several small colleges. I decided to walk on at the University of Georgia to try to become their place-kicker because you can play in front of 92,000 fans in football and only about 2000 fans in soccer.”
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A redshirted freshman, Brandon, during his first season at UGA.
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Once at the University of Georgia, Brandon redshirted his freshman year (a redshirt freshman is a football player who is in his second year of school, but is playing his first season of football). In his second year, his only duties for the first 10 games were the kick-offs. In the Georgia Tech game, in the wind and cold, as a redshirt freshman, he made his first field goal attempt, which was a 44-yarder.
As a sophomore, he was given a full scholarship and handled field goals, PATS, and kickoffs. During his time at Georgia, Brandon never missed a PAT and was the first Georgia kicker to wind up over 80% for career field goal accuracy. He kicked three field goals of more than 50 yards and his longest was a 58-yarder against Louisiana-Monroe, which also set the Georgia record for the longest field goal without a tee. In a game against Vanderbilt, he hit a field goal with no time left to win the game for Georgia.
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Brandon Coutu, our local Collins Hill High School hero, joins the Seattle Seahawks after being drafted in the seventh round.
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Brandon has been out to Seattle twice now, once to attend mini-camp. “It was nerve racking waiting to see if I would be drafted. I had been projected to go higher than the 7th round. My name starting coming up on the board in the 4th round in the list of the best players not yet drafted.” Only two kickers were drafted in the 2008 NFL draft. “Normally, teams do not draft kickers unless they plan to start them, “ said Brandon.
Seattle’s starting kicker from last year signed a good deal last year to go to the St. Louis Rams, so the place-kicker position is an open spot and a good opportunity for Brandon. He plans to move out to Seattle in July. Brandon wore #7 at Collins Hill and #96 at the University of Georgia, but will wear #7 again in Seattle.
It’s good to see nice guys finishing way ahead of last. Let’s hope Seattle knows what a gem it has in Brandon Coutu, who will give them 110% and make the most of his opportunity.
