Australian punter Adam Korsak smashes college football records, eyes professional career in NFL

An Australian has been named the best punter in college football and is now in the sights of NFL recruiters ahead of the draft in April.

Exclusive: An Australian has rewritten the record books in US college football and been named the best punter in the game.

Adam Korsak’s stunning performance at New Jersey’s Rutgers University – the birthplace of college football – now has him in the sights of NFL recruiters ahead of April’s draft.

The 25-year-old last month won the Ray Guy Award as college football’s best punter, capping off a career in which he smashed the records for most punts and most punting yards.

But Korsak, nicknamed the “Aussie Assassin” by his American fans, says he is most proud to have captained the Scarlet Knights for three years as they battled through a rebuilding period.

Congrats big fella @AdamKorsakpic.twitter.com/W7M3qtLJ64

— Prokick Australia (@ProkickAus) November 19, 2022

“It’s surreal because it doesn’t feel like that long ago that I was just trying to get recruited,” he said.

Korsak grew up in Melbourne and was a student at the Maribyrnong Sports Academy – the state’s first specialist sporting school – where he excelled at Australian rules, golf and cricket.

He even opened the batting for a Victorian under-15 team captained by future Test player Will Pucovski.

“With football, I was always thereabouts, but with cricket I had a bit more success,” Korsak said.

“When I was 15, I kind of got burnt out … I knew that I wanted a change.”

He trained with the world-leading Prokick Australia organisation to make the transition to college football, which he said was “like a religion” in the US.

Adam Korsak represented Victoria as a junior cricketer. Picture: Matt Murphy

During his time at Rutgers, Korsak also completed an undergraduate degree and is now finishing off his second master’s degree, this time in employment law.

“If football doesn’t work out for whatever reason, I’m kind of excited to get to that next stage, so I’m looking at it as a win-win,” he said.

“But I’m obviously going to give myself every opportunity over the next couple of months leading up to the draft to set foot into the pros.”

Next month, he will start in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, an all-star showcase of college graduates ahead of the NFL Draft.

Adam Korsak broke punting records playing for Rutgers University. Picture: Rutgers Athletics

Korsak’s place on the Rutgers team is likely to be taken next season by another Australian in Flynn Appleby, who played 11 games for Collingwood before he was delisted in 2020.

Mason Fletcher – the son of AFL legend Dustin Fletcher – finished in second place behind Korsak for the Ray Guy Award, while fellow Australian Thomas Yassmin this week scored a touchdown in the Rose Bowl, America’s most prestigious college football game.