List: All 60 Australian punters in US college football in season 2025/26
From tiny country towns to 90,000-seat stadiums, Australian punters are dominating US college football while chasing multimillion-dollar NFL dreams. Meet them all here.
University of Nebraska punter Archie Wilson is far from the only Australian battling homesickness to play under the bright lights of American college football.
Around 40 per cent of the US’ 136 Division 1 (FBS) college football programs have turned to ex-Aussie rules juniors to kick their teams out of trouble on the gridiron field.
When the 2025/26 season begins on August 24 (AEST) there will be 60 Australians on 56 college rosters.
Some schools - Ohio State, North Carolina, South Florida and Boise State - have two Aussies competing for their starting punter jobs.
While ex-AFL players Damon Greaves (Hawthorn to Colorado) and Billy Gowers (Western Bulldogs to Hawaii) are among the Aussies flying the national flag in college football, the majority of players never reached levels higher than the Coates Talent League back at home.
When professional football closed its doors on those players, full scholarships to American universities have opened others instead.
University of Georgia punter Brett Thorson grew up on a Gippsland dairy farm but will play in front of weekly crowds that eclipse even the MCG.
Georgia’s Sanford Stadium last failed to sell out its 90,000-plus capacity in January 2012.
Thorson is rated a favourite to win the Ray Guy Award for the top punter in college football this season.
He would become the ninth Australian to claim the position’s ultimate individual accolade in the past 13 seasons.
Wisconsin’s Atticus Bertrams, Iowa’s Rhys Dakin, Georgia Southern’s Alex Smith and Texas’ Jack Bouwmeester have also made the 15-strong Ray Guy pre-season watchlist.
Victoria alone has contributed 40 punters this season, outproducing entire states in the US for booming left and right footers
Melbourne’s Haileybury College will have four old boys punting in the US this season, tying with St Patrick’s College Ballarat for the national high water mark.
Tiny Kyabram, near Shepparton in northern Victoria, has produced three college punters despite the town’s population sitting under 7500 in 2025.
The attraction for footy’s brightest young boots is obvious.
Shoot for the stars and one could wind up with an NFL contract like Aussies Michael Dickson ($4.05M USD / $6.3M AUD per season for the Seahawks) or Cameron Johnston ($3M USD / $4.6M AUD p.a for the Steelers).
Miss the NFL and your consolation prize is a free university education.
Gold Coaster Kade Reynoldson was a freshman All-American punter in his first season with North Carolina’s Duke University.
The value of Reynoldson’s full scholarship at the university will tick past $560,000 AUD ($94k per year USD) if he stays for all four seasons.
Should his star rise higher, a transfer to a higher profile football school could afford Reynoldson the opportunity to profit under NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) provisions, in addition to his education.
These opportunities come at a cost, as Nebraska punter Wilson is finding out.
But with the potential pay-offs through the roof, the stream of Australians testing their boot in college football shows no sign of slowing down.
‘Surreal moment’: Sunshine Coast teen earns Aussie team call-up
