Miami’s Special Teams Battle Heats Up as Kickers, Punters and Long Snappers Prepare for 2026
5 min read
Miami’s special teams unit is taking shape as fall camp rolls on, with competition at kicker and plenty of work happening behind the scenes. Adam Booker, Dylan Joyce, Jack Olsen and Jake Weinberg all spoke about their preparation, the competition and the chemistry they’re building ahead of the 2026 season.
Long snapper Adam Booker
On preparing for this season:
“So, I train with a guy up in Wisconsin [at] Special Teams U, Kyle Stelter and I put in a lot of drill work every single day before practice. I mean, me and Vance [Diepenbrock], our new long snapper who came in as a freshman, he trains with the same guy, so we speak the same language. [He] and I are battling each other. We try to get each other better. We try to compete as much as possible and it’s really just focused on every snap. You can’t look ahead at other snaps. Focus on the next snap, the next snap, the next snap. Have that goldfish memory, like 10-second memory. Good snap? All right, good. Next one.”
On Miami’s kickers:
“Yeah, these kickers are amazing, I mean all three of them. Will Rocha, Jack [Olsen] and Jake [Weinberg], they’re incredible kickers. I’m just really looking forward to starting the season with them.”
On the process of building chemistry with kickers:
“Thankfully we’ve had both [Olsen and Weinberg] since spring, and Rocha since last year when I transferred in. So, I’ve been able to work with them, especially all throughout the summer, all throughout spring. So, we’ve really refined the operation all the way.”
Punter Dylan Joyce
On what it’s like for a punter in preseason camp:
“It’s pretty good. … I’m the same as everyone, just every day trying to get better at my role on the team. So, [it] might only be a small part, but I’ll try to do my best at it.”
On how he thinks he’s grown as a punter since arriving at Miami:
“Yeah, three years ago. … a senior now. I have a really close relationship with Lou Hedley, the old punter here before me. He’s helped me a lot in the offseason just with kicking and the mental side of things because he’s been here and done that. So, yeah, just working really closely with him has helped me a lot.”
On what it’s like to punt to Malachi Toney in practice:
“He’s good. He’s shifty, but I do my best at training to take him out of it, but it’s pretty hard when he’s down there. He does a lot.”
Kicker Jack Olsen
On his accuracy as a kicker:
“I think most of it’s just mentality, [your] mentality going into every kick, kicking to make the kick rather than kicking not to miss. So, I think just having that positive mindset, believing in yourself, having that confidence and almost swagger to know that you’re going to make every kick and every opportunity you get.”
On the competition in camp:
“It’s been great. I mean, Jake’s a great kicker, so having him side-by-side, being able to compete every day, I think really just pushing each other, it almost creates that game environment where it’s every day, we’re competing against each other for the job. It creates an extra pressure, whereas if it’s not a competition, you’re kind of just out there kicking and you don’t really care if you make or miss it. So, it kind of helps create a game environment where every kick matters and everything’s high pressure.”
Kicker Jake Weinberg
On how he built his leg strength as a kicker:
“I would just say growing up playing soccer. I played soccer almost my whole life, all the way up to high school and my dad was very athletic and he would always have me just working out with my legs and stuff like that. And as I got older, I found a weight room and my high school coaches, I was very lucky to have a great weight room staff and they helped me build a lot of muscle and just, over time, I learned a lot and got way stronger.”
On the kicking competition:
“We just push each other every day. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s to help our team the best. Coach will put the best players out there and our goal is just to push each other each day and help this team. At the end of the day, we just want to be 1-0 in everything, and I think this fall camp has been great for us. We’ve just been learning [from] each other and just helping our team out the best we can.”
On the importance of being able to kick off well:
“I think kickoffs nowadays are a huge part of college football, and I think being able to do that helps the team out a lot, eliminates the return game. And I feel like being able to do that for the team is super important. I feel like I take pride in that and everything I do, whether its field goals, kickoffs, extra points. I think it’s all the same. You’ve got to attack it the same way.”
Long snapper Adam Booker
On preparing for this season:
“So, I train with a guy up in Wisconsin [at] Special Teams U, Kyle Stelter and I put in a lot of drill work every single day before practice. I mean, me and Vance [Diepenbrock], our new long snapper who came in as a freshman, he trains with the same guy, so we speak the same language. [He] and I are battling each other. We try to get each other better. We try to compete as much as possible and it’s really just focused on every snap. You can’t look ahead at other snaps. Focus on the next snap, the next snap, the next snap. Have that goldfish memory, like 10-second memory. Good snap? All right, good. Next one.”
On Miami’s kickers:
“Yeah, these kickers are amazing, I mean all three of them. Will Rocha, Jack [Olsen] and Jake [Weinberg], they’re incredible kickers. I’m just really looking forward to starting the season with them.”
On the process of building chemistry with kickers:
“Thankfully we’ve had both [Olsen and Weinberg] since spring, and Rocha since last year when I transferred in. So, I’ve been able to work with them, especially all throughout the summer, all throughout spring. So, we’ve really refined the operation all the way.”
Punter Dylan Joyce
On what it’s like for a punter in preseason camp:
“It’s pretty good. … I’m the same as everyone, just every day trying to get better at my role on the team. So, [it] might only be a small part, but I’ll try to do my best at it.”
On how he thinks he’s grown as a punter since arriving at Miami:
“Yeah, three years ago. … a senior now. I have a really close relationship with Lou Hedley, the old punter here before me. He’s helped me a lot in the offseason just with kicking and the mental side of things because he’s been here and done that. So, yeah, just working really closely with him has helped me a lot.”
On what it’s like to punt to Malachi Toney in practice:
“He’s good. He’s shifty, but I do my best at training to take him out of it, but it’s pretty hard when he’s down there. He does a lot.”
Kicker Jack Olsen
On his accuracy as a kicker:
“I think most of it’s just mentality, [your] mentality going into every kick, kicking to make the kick rather than kicking not to miss. So, I think just having that positive mindset, believing in yourself, having that confidence and almost swagger to know that you’re going to make every kick and every opportunity you get.”
On the competition in camp:
“It’s been great. I mean, Jake’s a great kicker, so having him side-by-side, being able to compete every day, I think really just pushing each other, it almost creates that game environment where it’s every day, we’re competing against each other for the job. It creates an extra pressure, whereas if it’s not a competition, you’re kind of just out there kicking and you don’t really care if you make or miss it. So, it kind of helps create a game environment where every kick matters and everything’s high pressure.”
Kicker Jake Weinberg
On how he built his leg strength as a kicker:
“I would just say growing up playing soccer. I played soccer almost my whole life, all the way up to high school and my dad was very athletic and he would always have me just working out with my legs and stuff like that. And as I got older, I found a weight room and my high school coaches, I was very lucky to have a great weight room staff and they helped me build a lot of muscle and just, over time, I learned a lot and got way stronger.”
On the kicking competition:
“We just push each other every day. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s to help our team the best. Coach will put the best players out there and our goal is just to push each other each day and help this team. At the end of the day, we just want to be 1-0 in everything, and I think this fall camp has been great for us. We’ve just been learning [from] each other and just helping our team out the best we can.”
On the importance of being able to kick off well:
“I think kickoffs nowadays are a huge part of college football, and I think being able to do that helps the team out a lot, eliminates the return game. And I feel like being able to do that for the team is super important. I feel like I take pride in that and everything I do, whether its field goals, kickoffs, extra points. I think it’s all the same. You’ve got to attack it the same way.”
