By Jordan Burton
Another June day, another summer afternoon spent in the sun for Logan Tyler.
Tyler and his father, Verlin, sport a Florida State bucket hat and visor respectively, preparing for workout that have become routine.
As he goes through a gamut of stretches, Verlin intermittently reminds his son to get loose, to which the younger Tyler responds with a head nod.
He knows the drill.
This Monday has been something the Tylers have done for the better part of a decade. If anything, they could have taken today off and nobody would have blamed them.
After all, just two days ago the father-son duo enjoyed one of their best days ever in Tallahassee, Florida. Tyler, ranked the nation’s No. 1 kicker and a 5-star prospect by Kohl’s Kicking, verbally committed to Jimbo Fisher and Florida State, joining an impressive list that has already seen the Noles’ receive commitments from six of the top 91 recruits in the Class of 2016 in the ESPN 300 rankings.
“It was amazing; it is a dream come true,” said Tyler. “Since fourth grade I’ve been working and trying to get to this level so for that to actually happen, sitting in Jimbo Fisher’s office overlooking Doak Campbell Stadium, one of the most historic stadiums in all of college football, with my mom sitting next to me, who I thought would start crying, and my dad and who just turned around and shook Coach Graham’s hand, I just let out a sigh of relief and put my hands over my face. I was taken aback, it is an extreme blessing. After all of that I went outside and thanked the man above for everything he’s put in my life. I still sometimes can’t even fathom it all.”
“It took me about 20 seconds to actually realize what just happened. Then after that I looked over at my dad and he looked back at me and told me to tell that man, so I looked at Coach Fisher and told him I was going to be a Seminole.“
With the sun beating down, Verlin alternates from snapper to coach as Logan repeatedly sends punts spiraling into the air off of his left foot, leaving the sound of a rifle shot in its wake. A former coach himself, Verlin knows immediately the quality of a kick just from the sound it makes leaving his son’s foot.
The two are on the field for roughly 75 minutes on this day, working on punts and placekicking. Verlin continues to give instruction while Logan kicks, chases down his balls and shows off his best Odell Beckham Jr., impression, snagging one-handed passes from pops on his way back to midfield.
“Fourth grade was the first time I actually got to kick and my dad and I worked out about every single day,” said Tyler. “Before games, during games, halftime, whenever.”
The time spent on the field, while it doesn’t come without some strife, is yet another way for father and son to bond. Kicking workouts, practice and game day (Verlin coaches outside linebackers and tight ends at Nixa), or summer road trips to various camps and workouts have only reinforced the Tyler bond.
“It’s unique,” said Tyler. “Some days I don’t kick well and don’t want to talk about it, but he wants to talk about it and we disagree in that respect, but at the end of the day I love him to death, that’s my dad and one of the best men in my life. We work through it, we both know that all he wants is the best for me and he tries to put me in the best position possible and I have to think about that at the end of the day.”
“He’s a great role model for me and a great role model in life for how you should hold yourself. There have been times where we’ve butted heads about what I should be doing, but I’m glad that we went through this journey together because it makes our father-son bond that much stronger and that much more special.”
That special bond has resulted in a special gift. Tyler isn’t just a really good kicker, but truly elite at what he does.
Kohl’s Kicking has him rated as the No. 1 kicker in the nation and No. 6 punter, buoyed by summer performances at national camps and clinics that include repeated 85-plus yard kickoffs, and a 75-yard field goal that still has the kicking community buzzing.
“I was having a really good day. It was a Kohl’s competition in Ozark, which makes it even that much sweeter, I always have my best days over there,” said a smiling Tyler. “I missed from 50 yards, then hit from 55, 61, 65, 71 and then the 75. The wind was helping, but you can give a lot of people that wind and it doesn’t mean they’ll make the field goal. It was awesome, it was a great day. It’s cool to say I made a 75-yard field goal.”
Florida State recruited Tyler as a punter, but he figures to also compete for the kickoff and field goal kicking roles as well. While Tyler has had very little kicking competition at Nixa since the graduation of current Missouri State kicker Shelby Harris, battling is nothing new to Tyler.
It was Tyler who helped Nixa turn around an abysmal 1-4 start, rebounding to win eight of its last nine games en route to a Class 5 runner-up finish with the junior starting at quarterback.
Losses to Helias Catholic, Francis Howell, Webb City and Willard, all of whom were state ranked and unbeaten at the time, are hardly anything to be ashamed of, but those defeats set the foundation for the best turnaround in program history, resulting in Nixa’s first ever trip to the Edward Jones Dome.
“We came together and found our identity as a team and that was we are tougher than you, we are going to play tougher than you, and we’re going to be pests on the field,” said Tyler “That start was rough, but we knew we were going to be better from those games.”
“If you look at Webb City and who they play early on, they play huge teams because they know it doesn’t matter how you start the season, it only matters what happens at the end and who’s still standing. Then we started rolling and got with it, really gelling, and I think that helped more than anything.”
On a team that also featured a fellow D-1 prospect in the form of Mississippi State signee Alec Murphy, Tyler stole the show, rushing for 1,031 yards and 13 touchdowns to go along with 60 tackles and three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
Tyler also made 11-of-16 field goal attempts, while also sending 50 of his 68 kickoffs into the end zone.
Never coming off the field is something that Tyler has grown accustomed to and that is unlikely to change in 2016, especially since Jimbo Fisher has given Tyler his blessing to continue playing multiple positions and being the dynamic athlete that got him on Florida State’s radar.
While Tyler’s future remains bright, he is looking forward to his final campaign as quarterback/running back/defensive playmaker at Nixa before switching roles at Florida State.
“It’s going to be hard, but I know it’s going to be worth it,” said Tyler. “We talked about do I really want to try to kick at a big D-1 and only kick, or do I want to go somewhere else and try to play a position and that’s what I want. I think I can live up to the challenge.”
“I need to stay focused for this next season and that’s what I’m focused on right now. I’m going to take a week off from kicking and get back to the grind. I’m focused on Nixa Football and nothing past that.”
