With the last five Ray Guy award winners all coming from Australia, Auburn decided to get in on the action by signing punter Arryn Siposs to their 2018 class.
Siposs is not your average recruit -- the 25-year old spent five years playing Australian Rules Football in the country’s highest professional league. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was impressed with Siposs’ leg as well as his athletic ability.
“He’s not your average kicker, he’s an athlete,” Malzahn said. “I think this guy is really going to help us. I’m really excited about him.”
As far as the recruiting process goes for an international prospect, Malzahn joked that he did not make an in-home visit, but he did watch tape on Siposs.
Video by ProKick Australia
“They sent film over, and I watched some Australian Rules Football games, I watched him play two games,” Malzahn said. “I don’t know all the rules but you can tell that he’s a competitor, he’s a great athlete, he can kick it with his right foot and his left foot. He’s going to give us a lot of flexibility with our punt team.”
The punt team was an area of concern for Auburn last season as Aidan Marshall ranked 13th in the SEC with just 39.4 yards per punt. Malzahn hopes Siposs’ experience in Australia will add some toughness to the special teams unit.
“I would bet he’s not going to be scared to tackle,” Malzahn said. “He’s been tackling without pads on so I bet he will tackle somebody.”
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