Gophers football: Rejuvenated Giannini feels he has a kick coming

Gophers placekicker Jason Giannini was angry about the way last season ended for him. For the second year in a row, he did not play in the team's bowl game.

This time, he was benched after missing an extra-point attempt against Iowa in the last regular-season game. Then, in the Insight Bowl, he watched from the sideline as the Gophers lost to Texas Tech 44-41 in overtime.

"I thought my career was over; I kind of expected to be on the bench the rest of my career," said Giannini, a junior from North Canton, Ohio, and the team's primary kicker the past two seasons.

He had doubts about ever regaining coach Glen Mason's trust.

But Mason was the one who wouldn't return, fired because the Red Raiders made a 52-yard field goal on the last play. Tim Brewster was hired, dramatically changing one player's mood.

"It kind of rejuvenated me a little bit," Giannini said. "I was given a second chance or a third."

So far, the 5-7, 185-pound Giannini has impressed the new coaching staff. He is listed as the No. 1 kicker on the depth chart for the Gophers' season opener against Bowling Green on Saturday at the Metrodome.

"I worked my butt off this offseason," Giannini said. "I feel confident. I am kicking the best I ever have."

Instead of resting his leg as usual, Giannini kept kicking last winter. And this summer he added a jab step to his approach at the suggestion of Chip Lohmiller, a former Gophers and NFL kicker.

Giannini described his tweaked footwork this way: "As soon as the snapper snaps the ball, I take a quick little jab with my left foot, and I step with my right and I plant with my left foot again and then kick. It seems to have straightened out my ball a lot and also has given me a lot more power."

At a kicking camp in Whitewater, Wis., he worked on his mental approach, opening up to a sports psychologist. "I told him my fears and I told him what I dream about," Giannini said. "He said, 'Don't have a fear of failure.'"

In his two seasons, Giannini has had multiple ups and downs.

Top highs? "It's a tossup between getting my scholarship here and the Michigan game," Giannini said.

Giannini said the scholarship offer took a big financial burden off his parents, Tony and Sandy. It also fulfilled his dream of playing in the Big Ten, and in a stadium as nice as Fawcett Stadium, home of his high school team and the NFL's annual Hall of Fame game.

His on-field high was at Michigan Stadium in 2005 when he was a redshirt freshman. Before a crowd of 111,117, Giannini's 30-yard field goal with one second left gave the Gophers a 23-20 victory over the Wolverines. Teammates lifted him into the air in celebration.

"I did not know whether to look or close my eyes or just pray," said Sandy Giannini, sitting with her husband and 20 other family members and friends. "I watched. I did not want to miss the moment."

Outside the stadium, a group of tailgating Minnesota fans spotted her. She was wearing a badge with her son's name and jersey number. "They put me on their shoulders and were carrying me around shouting, 'Kicker's mom, kicker's mom.' I was so high," said Sandy Giannini, a dental hygienist.

As for Giannini's lows, he missed eight of his 44 extra-point attempts two years ago. Last season another PAT bounced off the left upright in overtime in Minnesota's 28-27 loss to Penn State. He also had trouble with long field goals, making all five of his attempts inside the 40-yard line, but only two of seven from beyond.

"Giannini has made progress and I think his confidence level is high right now," Brewster said. "He understands very, very clearly that less than 100 percent on PATs is not acceptable. ... I am not going to ask him to hit 50-yard field goals or 47-yard field goals, I would like for him to be very, very consistent from 40 in. And I am fairly confident he is going to do a good job."

Giannini, a soccer player as a youngster, said he never imagined he'd be kicking a football. "I always imagined being the quarterback or running back," he said. "Now that I am in this situation, I love it. A lot of games come down to kickers. What better position is there to play?"

Roman Augustoviz • raugustoviz@startribune.com