2015 3* P Ian Shannon commits to AU!

[RunInRed 16,413]

His kicking coach is former Auburn Punter Tom Guckian. I have met him before and he invited me to come out and work with the kickers as Marietta is my alma mater. I will head out there work with them if possible and see what I can find out.

Cool fact.

[metafour 4,969]

"Auburn wants me to punt and I think that's where I have the most potential"

See ya Hutch.

[ellitor 33,094]

Added a rating, prokicker.com profile, and clutch field goalvideo in the OP

The subject says he is a punter but I think he will be a kicker. He kicks off out of the end one and is extremely accurate as a field goal kicker. 14 of 16 last year and the misses were very long.

He may end up as a Kicker but he will likely Punt til DC leaves. FWIW his ratings were #2 Punter, #1 most powerful leg, #14 on kick offs, and #18 kicker.

[ellitor 33,094]

Well he was offered before the season started, CGM may have had doubts about Carlson so he offered Shannon as a backup just in case? I'm just spitballing here.

Pretty sure there are no doubts on DC other than the strain of putting triple duty on him.

That's why I said before the season...

Not sure what you're getting at there. You were wondering if the doubts were with Carlson. They're with Hutch.

[RunInRed 16,413]

I want to give HUGE thank you to everyone who helped me get here. Im already feeling the love from the AU family! Thanks for the welcoming!!

@ianshannon38

[RunInRed 16,413]

Supporting the Tigers in the rain last Saturday ...

[RunInRed 16,413]

A good read ...

Marietta’s Ian Shannon among country’s best kickers

by Adam Carrington

Ian Shannon grew up a soccer player.

Going into his sophomore year at Marietta High School, he just wanted something to do in the fall to kill time before spring season arrived, so he became a football kicker and punter.

Now that he’s a senior, Shannon might be looking for something to do in the spring because he quit soccer to put his emphasis on kicking and punting.

Just over a year after suiting up in a football uniform for the first time, Shannon was named top punter in the country in January following a competition.

He’s also received scholarship offers from Appalachian State, Georgia State, Army Southeastern Louisiana and Virginia. Other schools interested include Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Western Kentucky.

Looking back on the success over the last year, this was a path he wanted to take himself. His parents, Michael and Celeste Shannon, didn’t force him to kick a football.

“It’s something I really like to do,” Shannon said. “I picked it up as a hobby and I fell in love with it. It wasn’t my parents pushing me. It was me always wanting to get better at it. I really thought I would be doing it for fun and am blessed to have this talent. I played soccer and had an idea on how to kick the ball and I had the right (football) coaches to help me develop into one of the top kickers in the country.”

The numbers certainly suggest he’s one of the best.

Last year, he made 16-of-18 field goal attempts, nine of which were between 40 and 49 yards. His misses were from 47 and 58 yards. Sixty-two of 73 kickoffs went for touchbacks. He also averaged 40.7 yards a punt and with 13 of his 37 total punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.

As a kicker and punter, Shannon is not one to gloat over how far he can kick or punt.

“I really don’t like putting numbers out there,” Shannon said. “I like to show people what I can do.”

His highlight of the season came Nov. 1 when he kicked a game-winning 49-yard field goal to upset eventual Region 4AAAAAA champion North Cobb on the road and keep the Blue Devils in the playoff hunt.

Shannon already had the kicking strength, having kicked a soccer ball for most of his life. What he had to learn was the mental aspect of being a kicker and punter, such as how to respond when opposing teams would call timeouts to ice him before kicking a game winner.

Time management was also important to Shannon. If he had 30 minutes of downtime at practice, he would practice his drops and his leg rhythm in order to kick a deep punt.

In regards of conditioning, he said many assume he can squat a massive amount of weight, but said squatting would actually slow down his kick.

“It isn’t muscles that you need,” Shannon said. “Muscles (in kickers) need to be explosive. I do plyometric workouts and use my own body as a workout tool.”

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Marietta s Ian Shannon among country s best kickers

[aujeff11 6,243]

I am glad to have him..

[wareagle13 88]

Psyched and happy for the guy, but we're we planning on taking a kicker this cycle? i mean hell we have rsFrosh handling all three duties right now. I know he'll be a junior after this kids redshirt year but that's still two years of his eligibility going to waste.

[ellitor 33,094]

Try wrapping your mind around this stat. In over 30 punts last season Ian's punts only allowed 15 total return yards.

[ellitor 33,094]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty of room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

[RunInRed 16,413]

OP updated with photos, etc.

[ellitor 33,094]

Psyched and happy for the guy, but we're we planning on taking a kicker this cycle? i mean hell we have rsFrosh handling all three duties right now. I know he'll be a junior after this kids redshirt year but that's still two years of his eligibility going to waste.

Ian is not coming to AU til 2016. DC will be a Senior if Ian were to redshirt.

The staff does not want DC doing everything all 4 years if they can help it.

I doubt the staff planned on taking a Punter now but since our current schollied punter did not win the job at his position it looks like the staff felt compelled to take a darn good one.

[TexasTiger 12,897]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

He's a gray shirt?

[aujeff11 6,243]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

Okay. good deal. Not going to lie, I was reluctant at first. I started having flashbacks of the tuberville days when the kickers, long snappers and the ball boys received scholarships. If we have room for him though, bring him on!

[ellitor 33,094]

Added his prokicker.com profile page, which has the most info on Ian including his awards, back to the OP.

[TexasTiger 12,897]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

okay. good deal. Not going to lie, I was reluctant at first. I started having flashbacks of the tuberville days when the kickers, long snappers and the ball boys received scholarships. If we have room for him though, bring him on!

Under Gus only the fastest ball boys get scholarships.

[Threedog79 0]

Tubbs would schollie kickers if I remember correctly. I don't see it as wasting a schollie on a kicker of they warrant it. They can be the difference between playing in the SEC championship or winning a Natty. WDE.

[ellitor 33,094]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

He's a gray shirt?

Textbook grayshirt case.

[mom2kid 216]

If he's a senior this year why is he not enrolling until January of 2016?

[TexasTiger 12,897]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

He's a gray shirt?

Textbook grayshirt case.

Have you confirmed 2016. ?

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Well he was offered before the season started, CGM may have had doubts about Carlson so he offered Shannon as a backup just in case? I'm just spitballing here.

Pretty sure there are no doubts on DC other than the strain of putting triple duty on him.

That's why I said before the season...

Not sure what you're getting at there. You were wondering if the doubts were with Carlson. They're with Hutch.

I understand completely that the doubts were with Hutch. What I meant was, Ian got an offer before the season started, and so Gus obviously had his doubts on Hutch so he offered the best kicker he could find being Shannon. I was just implying that maybe Gus had doubts that Carlson couldn't do it all before the season and therefore offered Ian as a backup in the case that Carlson couldn't do it all. Carlson showed Saturday that he can do it all and I'm obviously wrong but I was just typing what I was thinking at the time that he committed. Sorry for the confusion E!

I also didn't know that he wouldn't be enrolling until 2016. Weird.

[ellitor 33,094]

so he is not a preferred walk on?

Doubt it. We have plenty oif room in this class. Besides he's not enrolling at AU til January 2016 anyway.

He's a gray shirt?

Textbook grayshirt case.

Have you confirmed 2016. ?

Yes. Link Jan 2016. He could still count to the 2015 class if room permits.

[ellitor 33,094]

If he's a senior this year why is he not enrolling until January of 2016?

Most of the time this is done when the staff feels numbers in a class are close or feel good at a position and watch the player's eligibility clock to wait and start a year later.

[ellitor 33,094]

Free Rivals commitment article https://auburn.rival...asp?CID=1677404

AUBURN | Auburn picked up a little bit of a surprise Wednesday night when Marietta (Ga.) High punter Ian Shannon committed to the Tigers.

But it wasn't a surprise to Shannon who said Auburn was the first school to start recruiting him. He also considered offers from Georgia Tech, Virginia, Southeast Louisiana, Georgia State, Appalachian State and Army.

"I'm going to be an Auburn Tiger," Shannon said. "I came to that decision today. There are a lot of reasons I picked Auburn. I was recruited by a lot of schools but Auburn had a few extra things that the other schools didn't have and geographically, it was perfect. It's just a good fit and the coaching staff was unbelievable.

"Auburn was the first school that started recruiting me and it's going to end up being the school I go to."

Shannon, 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, was rated the No. 2 punter in the 2015 class at the ProKicker.com camp, which is run by NFL Hall of Fame punter Ray Guy. He was also a standout at Auburn's kicking camp this summer.

Shannon is an accomplished kicker and punter in high school. He made 16-of-18 field goals last season and averaged about 41 yards and gave up just 15 total return yards on more than 30 punts.

He made a school-record 51-yard field goal and averaged 47 yards per punt last week.

"Auburn wants me to punt and I think that's where I have the most potential," he said. "I'm really dedicated and I'm going to put a lot of work into this and be the best I can be."

Auburn tight end and special teams coach Scott Fountain recruited Shannon.

"Every time I see Coach Fountain I thank him for being so honest with me," Shannon said. "Recruiting is a tricky business, they want to tell you all the great things about a school, but Coach Fountain was really honest with me. He was the only coach that would have conference calls with him and my mom. We were always on the same page.

"I've met Coach Gus Malzahn and had conversations with him numerous times. It was pretty exciting actually, during the Tiger Walk before Arkansas, he was walking down and took a moment and paused and gave me the head nod and thumbs up. My Coach was like, 'Did he do that to you?' I was like, 'Yea, you know me and Coach Malzahn are just that tight.' I'm really excited to be around those people."

Shannon attended Auburn's game against Georgia last year, this spring's A-Day game and last Saturday's 45-21 win over Arkansas.

"It's as electric atmosphere," he said. "It's the kind of atmosphere and the kind of people I want to be around. I'm excited, really excited."

Shannon is Auburn's 20th commitment for the 2015 class.