PATH TO THE DRAFT: JORDAN STOUT

Meet Jordan Stout-- Penn State kicker/punter and NFL Draft prospect. Jordan earned more than a few looks at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis where he put up excellent numbers across the board. Wilson.com Managing Editor Liz Ziner sat down with Jordan via Zoom to get his advice for players who hope to someday be in his shoes.

Jordan Stout's "one-kick mentality" has served him well. A small-town guy with big dreams, he is a rare talent whose explosiveness on the field stands in stark contrast to his easy-going nature. Stout's career has had an undeniably upward trajectory all leading him to exactly where he is right now, keeping his skills sharp as a 2022 NFL draft prospect. Read on to find out some of his secrets to success and the #1 thing he wishes NFL scouts and teams knew about him.

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Liz: So Jordan, tell us a little bit about you. Where are you from? When did you start playing?

Jordan: I'm from a small town in Southwestern Virginia. We have one stoplight, I graduated high school with like 100 kids, and that was the biggest school in the area. So it's pretty cool. My mom is a physical therapist. Dad's a biomedical engineer, and I've been extremely blessed my whole life.

Liz: Nice. So where did you get your athleticism? At what age did you figure out you were pretty good?

Jordan: Well, so my mom, she likes to take the credit. She's not an athlete, but she had me in physical therapy like trying to stand on my own when I was like two months old. So I think some of the credit has to go to her. But my dad was always a good athlete. Quarterback, pitcher in baseball, he played tennis. Yeah, so a little bit to both of them, I guess.

Liz: When did you start playing football?

Jordan: I started playing football my sophomore year of high school, so when I was 15 years old.

Liz: Cool. And were you immediately skilled as a kicker punter, or how did you come to that position?

Jordan: Yeah. You know, I guess at the time, I thought I was, but I didn't really realize how much that goes into it and how much room I had to grow. I've always had the confidence that I'm a great player, but just looking back on it, it's crazy to see how far I've actually come.

Liz: Awesome. So, when did it occur to you that you could really take this pro?

Jordan: You know, I was confident from the beginning, I think. I don't want to say I knew, but I thought from the beginning that I was going to be a professional football player one day. And I think that's the kind of mentality you have to have if you want to actually do it. I feel like you can never doubt yourself.

Liz: Absolutely. Your position may be more than any others, requires so much focus and calm in the moment before your foot hits the ball. How do you stay chill in those moments?

Jordan: Yeah, also, I think that's something you can't really teach. I think you just have to get the reps in. You have to be really confident in yourself. I feel like the only reason I can go out there and be calm is because I know what I'm capable of and I know I've done this a million times. I can go out and do it again. It doesn't matter if a thousand people are watching.

Liz: Awesome. So tell me a little bit about your career at Penn State.

Jordan: So I transferred here in 2019 and came here because I wanted to do field goal and kick off and ended up just doing kick off the first year, which is great. I had three field goals in 2019, which was great.

Liz: Cool. What was the feeling after you had one of those field goals for the first time?

Jordan: Long story short, I came from Virginia Tech. I really didn't get the opportunity there when I thought I deserved it. So I went to Penn State. And I mean, I broke the school record in the third game of the year and just being able to do that after transitioning and not really knowing if I should have left or not. I just knew I made the right decision when that happened. It was unbelievable.

Liz: Awesome. Tell me about your training program through college. What kind of workouts? What were you focused on?

Jordan: Yeah, OK. Primarily, I've done whatever the State coaches tell me to do, and I'm kind of guy that I'm always in there about 20 minutes early stretching and 20, 30 minutes after doing extra stuff. I feel like I could credit a lot of my success to that is I always put in the hours. Mainly what I do for legs is I never really go heavy weight, I always do lighter weight and like really explosive reps. I feel like that's helped me a lot. I never really go for heavy weight because one, you could get injured and two, it's not going to help legs speed because all that really matters is legs speed. I don't care. You don't have to bench 400 pounds to be successful as a kicker. You just have to be fast.

Liz: Sure. Speaking of leg speed, I heard you ran a pretty amazing 40 at the combine in Indianapolis, so congrats on that. Did you focus on speed specifically coming up to Indiana, or is that just kind of a reflection of your whole training program?

Jordan: I didn't run a single time since before the season, so it has been about seven or eight months. I ran faster last spring because that's when I was still like, deep in workouts at Penn State. Those are pretty tough and I usually get a lot more athletic through that process of like three weeks. I ran a four-four then, but then I guess for not running for so long, I bumped up a little bit.

Liz: Not much. I mean, that's pretty impressive.

Jordan: Thank you.

Liz: So what were the emotions and feelings going to Indianapolis and being around all these players who are at the same point in their careers as you are?

Jordan: It's humbling because, you know, that's so many people's dream and to actually be able to live that is pretty incredible. And I had a great time at the Combine. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Liz: That's great. What was the biggest thing you took away from that experience at the Combine?

Jordan: I guess I would have to say just live in the moment and be thankful for the little things.

Liz: Awesome. Did you have good conversations with any NFL teams or scouts while you were there?

Jordan: Yeah. So I talked to almost all 32 teams, coordinators, or special teams assistants. It was... It was awesome, you know, I was myself, which I guess like, through the process, people tell you to say this and say specific things. And you give certain answers to certain questions. I was just myself at the Combine. That's why I think I had so much fun with it. Because I really kind of connected with the coordinators instead of just giving the same one-liners.

Liz: That is great, and I'm sure that authenticity comes through to them also.

Jordan: Absolutely.

Liz: What is the best piece of advice that you've ever gotten from a coach?

Jordan: I would say specifically a guy named Jimmy Howell. He used to kick UVA. He's the guy that I started training with initially when I first started. So like sophomore junior and senior year of high school. I would say not only what he taught me on the field, but like the kind of person he is and how he kind of taught me to conduct myself. My dad did that a little bit as well. But I think that's one of the biggest things I've learned is just being humble and regardless of whether I make a game-winning kick or not, I act the same way.

Liz: That's great. So that kind of touches on my next question, but how do you bounce back from a difficult loss?

Jordan: Yeah. You know, I think that's another thing. You just have to have one-kick mentality, like if I go out and I miss a field goal, I can't go out the next time thinking about that. It's something you can't teach. I think you just kind of have that in you and it comes with confidence. But if I missed a field goal or had a bad part, it doesn't linger and I go out the next kick and I try to do the best I can. I don't think about the best unless it was good. You know, you can think about the good ones.

Liz: I love that. So what do scouts see when they look at you on the field? What are their notes?

Jordan: I'd say someone who has increased tremendously in consistency. Someone who has a lot of charisma. Those two are good.

Liz: You can't fake that.

Jordan: No, no. You can't.

Liz: What is the number one quality you think you need to be an elite punter kicker?

Jordan: Yeah, it's all going back to the same thing. I'd say confidence. You got to work hard, too. Those are really the two things: working hard and being confident in what you're doing. But the confidence comes along with working hard.

Liz: What do you want NFL scouts to know about you that they would not know from seeing you on the field?

Jordan: Really, all I'd wanted them to know is like, you know, I don't want to be throwing shade at the specialists, but a lot of specialists are weird. And I think if I want them to know one thing, scouts, I want them to know I'm a normal person, I'm easy to get along with. I'm a nice person and I always try to help people that that would be the one thing that I want. I want them to know.

Liz: That's great. What advice would you give to a kid who just started playing, let's say, freshman year of high school and wants to go pro?

Jordan: N ever be satisfied! Never. You’re going to have a lot of good things happen, but don't get complacent in that. Keep working to get better. The ceiling is always higher.*

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* This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

To follow Jordan's journey up to and through the NFL Draft, follow him on Instagram @jordanstout98.