Ryan Santoso gets a kick out of just being Gophers punter

Tracy Claeys knows it might look counterintuitive. The Gophers have one of the top field-goal kickers in the Big Ten, and they are shifting him to punter.

Ryan Santoso, who converted 17 of 21 field goal attempts last year, always aspired to be a college punter. Claeys approved the switch, even though Santoso hasn't had regular punting duties since high school.

"We'll be fine," the Gophers coach said Tuesday. "And if it's not, you guys can all write articles about [how] dumb I am and I messed that up. But I don't lose any sleep over that. He's punting the heck out of the ball."

The 6-6, 250-pound Santoso does have a powerful right leg. His punts fly so long and so high, they seemingly assume their own orbit.

The Gophers believe they can be even better at punting than they were with Peter Mortell, the school's all-time punting leader (44.0 yards per kick), who's now in Green Bay Packers camp.

"We have to be able to change field position," Claeys said. "Our coverage hasn't been very good, and a lot of that has to do with somebody who can get the ball in the air — not just the 40 yards. [Santoso] can definitely get it up in the air and give us time to get down the field and cover it."

The Gophers lured Santoso to Minnesota from Pace, Fla., three years ago with a rare special teams scholarship. He said he welcomes the position change.

"I knew punting was something I wanted to do when I first came," he said. "So the switch was kind of natural. I did it in high school. I'm really excited. I feel like I have potential, the tools and the ability."

The bigger question is, how will the Gophers replace Santoso at kicker?

He beat Purdue with a 52-yard field goal two years ago. He drilled three field goals in the victory at Michigan that season. He had four more field goals against the Wolverines last Halloween. He's 76-for-77 for his career on extra points, and has boomed 50 percent of his career kickoffs for touchbacks.

Claeys doesn't want any one player handling all the punting and kicking duties. It's taxing on a leg and could dilute the results in both special teams phases.

Emmit Carpenter, a third-year walk-on, hit all four field goal attempts in the spring game. Afterward, Claeys said Santoso might punt and handle long field-goal attempts, with Carpenter doing the rest.

Last weekend, Claeys said he plans to make the place-kicker decision by the 15th practice of training camp (Aug. 17).

"If I had to make the decision today, I'd say no" to Santoso kicking longer field goals, Claeys said. "I'd just as soon he punt. Emmit's done a good job on the field goals."

Carpenter hit six field goals of 40 yards or longer, including a 50-yarder, in high school for Ashwaubenon (Wis.) High School in a Green Bay suburb. He definitely has worked at his craft.

On July 23, Carpenter and Santoso were together at the Kohl's Kicking Camp in Whitewater, Wis. They headed to at a gathering at an instructor's house, along with former Nebraska punter Sam Foltz and former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler.

Later that night, Foltz and Sadler were killed in a car crash on a slippery road.

"It just doesn't seem real," Santoso said. "I was with them 20 minutes before it happened, and the next morning, they're not there."

Now, Santoso is determined to leave his mark on the field — and off the field, as Foltz and Sadler did, and as Mortell did with his community service for the Gophers.

Kicking or punting? Those are details.

"Specialists are a little bit different, but people look up to us," Santoso said. "We have an impact on the community. It's a positive light. It's something you have to cherish and just realize each day is a gift from God."