STARKVILLE — Perched in the middle of the field in the midst of a workout, 2021 Mississippi State commit Marshall Nichols took off running.
Having previously jumped the fence at a nearby high school to access its field, Nichols could see a security guard heading his way. Rather than wait for orders, he sprinted at the barrier he’d jumped prior to his discovery and headed toward the parking lot.
“I’ve been jumping a lot of fences and been chased off by a lot of security guards,” he joked of how he’s adapted to finding field space in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The last month or so my school has kind of let it slide for me to get on there.”
One of the six special teams commitments MSU boasts between the classes of 2020 and 2021, Nichols’ chase with an Atlanta-area security guard is just a glimpse at the varying sacrifices and creative endeavors he and his future Bulldog specialists have endured to get their kicks, holds and punts in over the past two months.
After field space near his home in Lilburn, Georgia was closed when a group of athletes left a mess following a session of seven-on-seven, 2020 kicker Nolan McCord has begun trekking wherever he hears others have had success working out.
“There’s certain fields we can go to and certain one’s we can’t because of cops and stuff like that,” McCord told The Dispatch. “Private schools allow you, so I would drive about 40 minutes every other day just to get on a field, but they kicked everyone off because people were littering. So I’m driving an hour to an hour and a half just to kick.”
McCord, an Atlanta-area native, and Nichols have also spent a handful of sessions together in recent weeks. Acquainted through camps over the past few years, the pair have long been familiar with each other, but never close. That’s changed of late as the kicker-holder combination have spent ample time practicing kicks and holds off the ground in anticipation of their joint futures in Starkville.
Allowed at the high school level, but barred collegiately, Nichols explains a kicking block affords a physical point to look at when approaching a kick or hold. By contrast, working from the ground takes away some of the leverage a tee allows, while also making the actual spot in which the kicker will aim for less exact.
“He sets off where my finger is,” Nichols said. “And if I lift my finger up it completely messes up the spot. So I’ve got to put the ball down right where he set up his steps off of, so he can hit the ball right.”
“It’s been kind of cool just getting the rhythm down for the future,” McCord, the elder of the duo, added. “It allows us to connect faster when he gets to campus quicker on the hold and snap.”
In Texas, kicker commit Aidan Martin has also had to get creative in finding field space around his home in Houston.
Rated the No. 17 kicker in the class of 2020 by 247sports composite, Martin was previously committed to Houston before then-special teams coordinator Blake Gideon moved into the same role at Ole Miss. After being offered by current MSU special teams coordinator Matt Brock during his time at Washington State, he again recruited Martin upon taking his new post in Starkville.
“When Brock gave me the opportunity I for sure couldn’t pass him up twice,” Martin told The Dispatch.
Now working through an offseason that has been plagued with coronavirus concerns, Martin has spent time kicking on baseball fields as he prepares for his first fall camp at MSU.
“I’ve really just grinded and (I’m) getting a lot of detail work in so that I’m polished for when I get to Mississippi State,” he said. “I’m not trying to come from behind, I want to be on top of everything.”
While Nichols is still a year away from arriving in the maroon and white, Martin and McCord will join Arizona State transfer kicker Brandon Ruiz and long snappers Colby Cox and Hayes Hammond as newcomers to this year’s specialist group.
And though it remains to be seen exactly when the Bulldogs’ special teams contingent will get the chance to kick, punt, snap or hold on the field at Davis Wade Stadium, there should be less fence climbing involved.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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