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inside.hokiesports.com
25
2017
(in numerical order)
PUNTER
91
Oscar Bradburn
(6-1, 191, Fr.)
KICKERS
46
Joey Slye
(5-11, 210, Sr.)
93
Brian Johnson
(6-1, 161, r-Fr.)
SNAPPERS
51
Hundley McCurry
(5-11, 190, r-Fr.)
87
Colton Taylor
(6-1, 220, r-Sr.)
95
Chaska Moon
(5-10, 227, r-So.)
Special Teams
Much of the special teams news coming out
of spring practice centered on Oscar Bradburn,
the freshman punter from Australia who
enrolled at Tech in January just in time for the
spring semester.
Bradburn spent much of his first twomonths
in Blacksburg learning the culture and dealing
with the weather extremes before hitting the
field to take over as the Hokies’ punter.
Bradburn replaces Mitchell Ludwig, who
graduated and decided not to return for his
final season of eligibility. The left-footer played
Australian Rules Football while growing up
and now is adjusting to the American brand of
football.
He needs to do so quickly because the Hokies
have no other punter listed on the roster. James
Shibest, Tech’s special teams coach, liked
what he saw this spring, and having coached
Australian punters before, he likes his guy’s
background.
“We’ve had success with it,” Shibest said.
“We are excited about it. I never coached a left-
footed punter before, so it is a little different for
me. I was asking [coach Brad] Cornelsen if it
was the same as a left-handed quarterback, and
I think it is because the way you scheme things
is a little bit backward sometimes. It may take
a little bit more for me to get used to than him,
I think.
“He is doing great. He is working his tail off,
and he is picking up things really quickly.”
Shibest harbors no such concerns over
placekicker Joey Slye, who enters his fourth
season as a starter. Slye stands on the cusp
of breaking many of former kicker Shayne
Graham’s school records.
Shibest, though, wants to see him connect
from long range. Slye possesses a powerful leg,
but has missed all eight of his career attempts
from beyond 50 yards.
“He knows I’m upset that he should make
them – at least be a little bit more consistent,”
Shibest said. “We just have to get confident in
getting it done. He hasn’t missed by much. He
has plenty of leg, so to me, it is a confidence
issue that we have to overcome. You have to
make them [50-yard field goals] if you want to
be the best in this league, or one of the best in
the country … it’s just a matter of doing it on
gameday and getting it done.”
The biggest bummer on the special teams
front for the Hokies this spring came in the
form of injuries, as top returners Greg Stroman
and C.J. Carroll missed the entire spring with
injuries. Also, Henri Murphy went down with
an injury early in the spring.
All of those guys should return in the fall,
but the injuries forced Shibest to work several
players as kick and punt returners, including
younger players such as Kalil Pimpleton and
Caleb Farley.
“It’s important to be able to get a good
nucleus of guys there, not just for next year, but
as we grow into the future a little bit,” Shibest
said. “They’ll be kick returners, too. We were
happy the way Henri Murphy finished [this
past season], but we need two or three more
guys here that can compete for those jobs.”
New
Australian
punter
received
lots of
ATTENTION
this spring
by
Jimmy Robertson
BRADBURN
OSCAR