WVU football has ‘legitimate’ competition at placekicker
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's spring practices were for experimentation and figuring out what needs solving in the fall. Nothing regarding the depth chart is written in ink in the spring. It's written in pencil. Rich Rodriguez talked throughout the spring about a depth chart, and he was asked about it this fall and said that one’s gone by the wayside.
The fall is for competition and position battles, with athletes trying their best to win a starting spot by the time the Mountaineers kick off against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 5. Rodriguez's touched on a couple of battles throughout camp, and one of the most competitive is at kicker.
"Legitimate competition," Rodriguez said.
The punting spot is wrapped up. Bryan Hansen is the only punter listed on the roster. Rodriguez said in the spring some of the placekickers can punt, but Hansen was brought in from Colorado State to be the everyday punter.
Hansen is a solid punter. He averaged 47.9 yards per punt and placed 13 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2025. Hansen was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list. The award is given to the nation's best punter.
But the placekicker is completely up for grabs in a three-horse race. It's between Western Kentucky transfer Jack Cassidy, Alabama transfer Peter Notaro and Fairmont, West Virginia, native Nate Flower.
Cassidy really draws attention at practice. He's a 6-foot-6, 234-pound Irishman, and during the open media practice, Cassidy boomed a 30-yard field goal way over the uprights. He's the most experienced kicker on the roster and was 3-for-3 on field goals in 2025, making ones from 41, 53 and 55 yards out. If he's not the field goal kicker, Cassidy will definitely kick off.
"Big Jack's got the strongest leg," Rodriguez said.
Flower has made a case in camp. He hasn't attempted a field goal in a game yet since arriving in Morgantown in 2023. He kicked off once in 2024, and handled the kickoffs six times last season. For Fairmont Senior High School head coach Nick Bartic, Flower earned All-State second-team P/K honors.
"Nate, down there in Fairmont, has done a great job," Rodriguez said. "He's been really consistent."
Notaro has some catching up to do this fall camp. He was injured during the summer, so he's a bit behind, but still pushing the other two. Notaro is the youngest of the group, as a redshirt freshman, and transferred this offseason from Alabama. The Wexford, Pennsylvania, native was the backup kicker last year for the Crimson Tide, who made the College Football Playoff. Notaro appeared in two games as a true freshman and made all five PATs. He also kicked off five times and secured two touchbacks.
With no separation, Rodriguez is going to put them under real pressure situations, especially in the scrimmages on Saturdays in the stadium. He uses the stadium’s speakers to simulate a game-like atmosphere. Rodriguez joked he might have media members be tied to one of them, and whoever is tied to the losing kicker has to do push-ups or up-downs.
“‘Don’t start this guy, he made me do 10 push-ups,'” Rodriguez said. “‘I can’t move for a week.'”
The last couple of weeks of camps will be the deciding factor of who will be the Week 1 kicker.
"If you would ask who would kick the 35-yard field goal today, I'm not being coy; I really don't know," Rodriguez said. "It's one of the three. It's a wide open competition."