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Aug. 21—PULLMAN — Washington State sophomore placekicker Jack Stevens' brother, Drew Stevens, did not exactly rush to inform his family about an exciting career development.
Instead, the parents of the newly named starting kicker for the NFL's Washington Commanders found out on social media, Jack Stevens said.
"I opened the family chat like two days ago and it was blowing up after practice, and (there were) 24 pictures (sent)," Jack Stevens said. "My dad sent posts that he saw on Twitter. It was crazy."
The Cougar kicker's older brother, Drew, just wrapped up a standout career at Iowa, where in four years he set the Hawkeyes' records for field goals made (76), the most 50-plus-yard field goals (12) and the longest field goal (58 yards). His 352 points are the second most in school history.
As an undrafted rookie, Drew Stevens edged veteran Jake Moody for the Commanders' kicking job on Tuesday.
Over in the other Washington, his younger brother Jack Stevens is preparing for his sophomore year at WSU following a standout redshirt freshman campaign.
Through 13 games, Jack Stevens was 16-for-19 on field goals and a perfect 33-for-33 on point-after-touchdown attempts. His .842 field goal percentage is the fourth-best single-season mark in school history.
He built his kicking acumen, in part, by challenging his elder brother to the placekicker's version of "Horse."
The Stevens brothers would each take turns picking a spot on the field between the hashes to kick from. They would play wherever they could find a field, from their alma mater North Augusta High School in South Carolina, to the University of Iowa's indoor complex to a kicking camp in Tennessee.
"If I ever start winning, he just backs up," Jack Stevens said. "I mean, I just can't kick it that far."
To Stevens' credit, he made a season-long 49-yard field goal during WSU's runaway win over San Diego State on Sept. 6, 2025, and made the game-winner to beat Idaho 13-10 the week prior.
As a kicker, Stevens must perform during some of the most intense, high-pressure moments of the game.
When he steps onto the field prior to a kick, Stevens doesn't focus on the bright lights or the 30,000 pairs of eyeballs watching him — he imagines himself alone after dark in the indoor Taylor Sports Complex.
"I usually come late at night, like 8, 9 p.m. I'm just (in the Taylor Sports Complex) by myself, and it's like completely silent," Stevens said. "And so I just imagine I'm in those moments when I'm in here, and then I imagine I'm in here when I'm in those moments. So it's really easy to shut everything out."
With Stevens the designated field goal guy, WSU signed sophomore Miguel Arenas, who handled kickoff duties at North Texas last year, to do the same for the Cougs.
From Flower Mound, Texas — in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — Arenas said he was a bit worried about moving to a place as foreign to him as Pullman, thinking back to his experience playing soccer in Spain when he felt "really isolated from a lot of people."
However, Arenas said he has fit right in with WSU, crediting his teammates and the Catholic student center St. Thomas More for helping him adjust to his new home.
Arenas said that Peyton Yanagi, WSU's assistant special teams coach, emphasizes the mental side of the game, which is particularly paramount for the specialists.
His kickoff process is pretty simple.
"Say a quick prayer and go out there and just do it all for the Lord," Arenas said. "Coaches, tell me, 'All right, we're going left, deep left,' and they're like, 'All right, get the guys to get up there, get them ready to go and hit someone, and then just go out there and kick the crap out of the ball.'"
WSU special teams coordinator Derek Sage, who doubles as the Cougars' wide receivers coach, said that Yanagi was his first call after head coach Kirby Moore cleared the hire. The two worked together at Nevada, where Yanagi was the special teams coordinator.
"Peyton's called plays at the FBS level. He's been in the room. He's made the decisions. He's made the game plan. He's had to have hard answers for a head football coach in staff meetings of ... what went wrong or whether it went well, so I think that's worth its weight in gold," Sage said. "Somebody I can lean on (when) I'm down there on third-and-long and trying to get the receivers helped out and lined up and doing substitutions."
Another Aussie punter
Two years after WSU punter Nick Haberer last graced the Palouse, sophomore Max Dean — another product of Prokick Australia which helps Australians earn U.S. college football scholarships — has found his way to Pullman.
The two were part of the same program but at different times and have not met, Dean said.
WSU signed Dean from New Mexico State this past winter. At NMSU, Dean booted 55 punts for an average of 42.3 yards.
However, he almost never played the sport.
Dean was a plumber in Australia until a family friend, former Fresno State punter Matthew Goodyear, told him about Prokick. Dean began training at the Melbourne-based facility and 18 months later earned his NMSU scholarship in 2024.
For Dean, punting is fun and rewarding.
"I love how it's sort of like golf. It's mostly just mental, it's such a finesse-like craft and it takes so many hours to perfect it. And it's so many little details you need to remember in the space of like one and a half seconds," Dean said. "So I do like that aspect of it, and just like producing in a game, there's no better feeling."
A familiar role
Sage didn't mince words when asked who would be returning punts for the Cougs in 2026.
"I'd be stupid if we didn't put Tony Freeman back there," Sage said. "He was (sixth) in the country in punt returns at 17.3 (yards per return)."
Indeed, Freeman's stats speak for themselves. Freeman particularly put the college football world on notice in WSU's regular-season finale against Oregon State when the 5-foot-8, 174-pound speedster torched the Beavers for 169 total yards on six punt returns.
In 2026, he has the chance to replicate such success.
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
Instead, the parents of the newly named starting kicker for the NFL's Washington Commanders found out on social media, Jack Stevens said.
"I opened the family chat like two days ago and it was blowing up after practice, and (there were) 24 pictures (sent)," Jack Stevens said. "My dad sent posts that he saw on Twitter. It was crazy."
The Cougar kicker's older brother, Drew, just wrapped up a standout career at Iowa, where in four years he set the Hawkeyes' records for field goals made (76), the most 50-plus-yard field goals (12) and the longest field goal (58 yards). His 352 points are the second most in school history.
As an undrafted rookie, Drew Stevens edged veteran Jake Moody for the Commanders' kicking job on Tuesday.
Over in the other Washington, his younger brother Jack Stevens is preparing for his sophomore year at WSU following a standout redshirt freshman campaign.
Through 13 games, Jack Stevens was 16-for-19 on field goals and a perfect 33-for-33 on point-after-touchdown attempts. His .842 field goal percentage is the fourth-best single-season mark in school history.
He built his kicking acumen, in part, by challenging his elder brother to the placekicker's version of "Horse."
The Stevens brothers would each take turns picking a spot on the field between the hashes to kick from. They would play wherever they could find a field, from their alma mater North Augusta High School in South Carolina, to the University of Iowa's indoor complex to a kicking camp in Tennessee.
"If I ever start winning, he just backs up," Jack Stevens said. "I mean, I just can't kick it that far."
To Stevens' credit, he made a season-long 49-yard field goal during WSU's runaway win over San Diego State on Sept. 6, 2025, and made the game-winner to beat Idaho 13-10 the week prior.
As a kicker, Stevens must perform during some of the most intense, high-pressure moments of the game.
When he steps onto the field prior to a kick, Stevens doesn't focus on the bright lights or the 30,000 pairs of eyeballs watching him — he imagines himself alone after dark in the indoor Taylor Sports Complex.
"I usually come late at night, like 8, 9 p.m. I'm just (in the Taylor Sports Complex) by myself, and it's like completely silent," Stevens said. "And so I just imagine I'm in those moments when I'm in here, and then I imagine I'm in here when I'm in those moments. So it's really easy to shut everything out."
With Stevens the designated field goal guy, WSU signed sophomore Miguel Arenas, who handled kickoff duties at North Texas last year, to do the same for the Cougs.
From Flower Mound, Texas — in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — Arenas said he was a bit worried about moving to a place as foreign to him as Pullman, thinking back to his experience playing soccer in Spain when he felt "really isolated from a lot of people."
However, Arenas said he has fit right in with WSU, crediting his teammates and the Catholic student center St. Thomas More for helping him adjust to his new home.
Arenas said that Peyton Yanagi, WSU's assistant special teams coach, emphasizes the mental side of the game, which is particularly paramount for the specialists.
His kickoff process is pretty simple.
"Say a quick prayer and go out there and just do it all for the Lord," Arenas said. "Coaches, tell me, 'All right, we're going left, deep left,' and they're like, 'All right, get the guys to get up there, get them ready to go and hit someone, and then just go out there and kick the crap out of the ball.'"
WSU special teams coordinator Derek Sage, who doubles as the Cougars' wide receivers coach, said that Yanagi was his first call after head coach Kirby Moore cleared the hire. The two worked together at Nevada, where Yanagi was the special teams coordinator.
"Peyton's called plays at the FBS level. He's been in the room. He's made the decisions. He's made the game plan. He's had to have hard answers for a head football coach in staff meetings of ... what went wrong or whether it went well, so I think that's worth its weight in gold," Sage said. "Somebody I can lean on (when) I'm down there on third-and-long and trying to get the receivers helped out and lined up and doing substitutions."
Another Aussie punter
Two years after WSU punter Nick Haberer last graced the Palouse, sophomore Max Dean — another product of Prokick Australia which helps Australians earn U.S. college football scholarships — has found his way to Pullman.
The two were part of the same program but at different times and have not met, Dean said.
WSU signed Dean from New Mexico State this past winter. At NMSU, Dean booted 55 punts for an average of 42.3 yards.
However, he almost never played the sport.
Dean was a plumber in Australia until a family friend, former Fresno State punter Matthew Goodyear, told him about Prokick. Dean began training at the Melbourne-based facility and 18 months later earned his NMSU scholarship in 2024.
For Dean, punting is fun and rewarding.
"I love how it's sort of like golf. It's mostly just mental, it's such a finesse-like craft and it takes so many hours to perfect it. And it's so many little details you need to remember in the space of like one and a half seconds," Dean said. "So I do like that aspect of it, and just like producing in a game, there's no better feeling."
A familiar role
Sage didn't mince words when asked who would be returning punts for the Cougs in 2026.
"I'd be stupid if we didn't put Tony Freeman back there," Sage said. "He was (sixth) in the country in punt returns at 17.3 (yards per return)."
Indeed, Freeman's stats speak for themselves. Freeman particularly put the college football world on notice in WSU's regular-season finale against Oregon State when the 5-foot-8, 174-pound speedster torched the Beavers for 169 total yards on six punt returns.
In 2026, he has the chance to replicate such success.
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...