With Jayden Fielding out of eligibility after the 2025 season, Ohio State went out and got two kickers to add to the roster. First was Baylor transfer Connor Hawkins, and Charlotte (N.C.) Corvian Community kicker Cooper Peterson committed to the Buckeyes soon after.
OSU had been showing interest in Peterson for a long time, and now that he will be joining the Buckeyes, he’s looking to get to campus and compete for the starting role.
He told BSB that he’s looking to earn that spot in his first college season.
“I’m not going in there hoping to redshirt. I want to go in there and be able to play and compete,” Peterson said. “I know what I’m able to do, and I feel like I can contribute a lot to the team.
“That’s what Coach (Rob) Keys has said – we’ll go in there and, during fall camp, we’ll compete and chart every day and the better person will play.”
Hawkins is going to be some tough competition for Peterson. The former Bear went 18 for 22 last season on field goals with a long of 54 yards, was 3 of 4 on kicks from 50 yards or longer and made 5 of 8 from 40 yards or longer.
But even though there’s competition between the two, Peterson has already met Hawkins when he was on his official visit to Ohio State and the competition is going to be a friendly one.
“I met Connor and he’s a good dude,” Peterson said. “I’ve heard a lot about him from the Baylor punter (Palmer Williams), who I’m friends with. He said he’s a great dude, and that’s what I want at the end of the day, is to be able to go in there and compete against good competition.”
Peterson said he hadn’t yet talked to Robby Discher, Ohio State’s new special teams coordinator, but he has been in constant contact with the Buckeyes since his freshman year in high school, when he went to his first college camp at Ohio State.
At that point, former special teams coordinator Parker Fleming was still on staff for the Buckeyes, but even after Fleming was let go, assistant special teams coach Gunner Daniel has remained in touch with Peterson.
“I went up for camp, and they liked what they saw, but I needed to lose some weight and tune up a few different things,” Peterson said. “Then I just kept coming back. I went to camp for the next two years. I went after my sophomore year, then after my junior year, that’s when everything took off.”
Peterson made 8 of 9 kicks in his senior season while also serving as the punter. He has a career-long of 49 yards in-game as he leaves high school, which he made as a senior, but he says that he’s made kicks as deep as 65 yards in practice. He also made sure his coach knew during games that he felt comfortable getting something longer than 49 yards.
“I was telling my head coach, ‘Hey, if you get me to the 40-yard line, I’m good to go kick,’ ” he said. “With the ball spotted there, it’s a 57-, 58-yard kick. Anytime you get me there, I’m good.”
He said he doesn’t feel much pressure when he goes out for long kicks or kicks in big moments because he sticks to the same routine no matter what. He has talked to friends who are college kickers who have done it in front of big crowds in the Big Ten and ACC – former Michigan State kicker Jonathan Kim, Iowa kicker Drew Stevens and former Florida State kicker and current Carolina Panther Ryan Fitzgerald.
“A lot of it’s just how you practice,” Peterson said. “Don’t try to change anything up when you get out there. You practice every day, and it’s muscle memory at this point. I have a lot of good dudes that I talk to that have kicked in the Big Ten. I talk to them all the time, and they’re just like, ‘You kick this kick 100 times at practice. Just go and replicate what you do and you’ll be good.’ ”
For Peterson, the choice to go to Ohio State was an obvious one. He had offers from the Buckeyes and Michigan State, with many other Power Four schools showing a lot of interest, but he knew soon in the process that he wanted to be in Columbus.
“It’s an amazing school; everything about Columbus, everything they can do as a football program, but even off the field, too,” he said. “It’s an amazing place to go in there and be able to compete, but also to get a great degree and be able to go and get a job in the future after football is done.”
Peterson is set to sign with the Buckeyes, but due to the snowstorm in North Carolina, he told BSB that it could be pushed back if he’s not able to do it online.
