NC State Kicker Kanoah Vinesett Off To Strong Start This Season
NC State kicker Kanoah Vinesett met with the media to discuss his range, the weekend matchup against Louisiana Tech, and much more.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
You kicked an extra point last year, you know. I guess, what was that experience like for you on the field and kind of how has that helped you just going into this year during that year?
Yeah, that definitely helped, for sure. I was really close with Brayden. Me and him were very, very close. And so, we were playing VMI and he was like, hey, like, next extra point, since we're up a lot, just give Kanoah a chance, see what he can do. And I wasn't really expecting it, but whenever it was my chance, and my name got called, I was like, alright, here we go, let's do it. And same thing as right now, I went out there, cleared my mind, took a deep breath, and just went right through the uprights, and it was good.
And how long did it take to get this consistent swing in your leg? That's what Coach Doeren talked about, Coach Kobo talked about. Like, it doesn't matter whether it's an extra point or 50-yard pitch, your kind of approach is the same. So how long did that take to develop that and not try to kill the ball 50 yards away out of there?
Yeah, I mean, it's, I really don't know. It's just something that I've developed over the years. Training with Dan Horner, he was really good with just being calm and consistent and everything. And whenever you try and rip it, you're going to just, or whenever you try and, like, smash it, it's just going to get heavy. So just being really consistent with everything you're scoring and all that and having everything timed out really helped with, I guess, the smooth legs, man.
You had the 50-yarder in the spring game. What would you consider your range?
It depends on the game and where we are. At the Mayo Classic, I think, I don't know which way it was, but there was one way I could go, and I hit a 63 in one of those. And then going the other way, I hit 55. So I told them my range for going one way was 54, the other was 60. So it's really, it depends on the weather and everything, if it's windy. It depends on the type of stadium it is.
If it's, like, a big bowl, like the Dukes Classic was, it's going to swirl a little bit. The flags up top were going one way, the wind was going another on the field. So it all depends.
Going back home last weekend, you know, home area, did you have a big crowd? What was it like to kind of, like, show everybody, like, hey, this is where all my hard work is starting to pay off?
Yeah, so I think in total we had 28 people. And that's close friends and mostly family. They all came and watched me and everything, and my grandpa for the first time saw me play and everything. So that was exciting. But going back to that area, it was definitely a surreal experience, especially in that stadium, growing up watching it. So, yeah, it was very exciting.
To put the 28 in perspective, how many people in Team Kanoah will be here on Saturday?
Probably 12, 15.
So there's an extra 14 or 18.
Yeah, for sure. My parents, they're going to get a house out, and it's down the road in Cary, and it's a big house. They've got a lot of people coming, and there's, like, four or five bedrooms. So everybody stays and hangs out and everything after the game, and they cook and everything.
NC State sent some kids to the league. Does that sort of feel like your job, it's like a responsibility, a legacy type of job?
Definitely holds a little bit of pressure behind it, but I just trust everything that the coaches have done for me and all the things, the situations they have put me in for building that confidence to go out there and do what I know I can do. That's definitely something that I look forward to in the future. So, yeah.