It’s no secret Oregon’s recruiting power stretches far and wide. The Ducks needed depth at the punting position, so they looked to a program based in Melbourne, Australia, with a proven track record of success.
They found Tom Snee, who grew up in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian Football League, commonly known as “Aussie rules football.”
Snee, a true freshman on a four-year scholarship, is competing for the starting punter job, and his background playing Aussie rules gives him a unique skill set. Snee, who has said he expects at least 45 yards on each punt, is competing with Adam Stack and Blake Maimone for the starting job.
In 2016, Snee joined the program ProKick Australia. The program takes players accustomed to the AFL and capitalizes on their kicking abilities, making them ready to play American-style football at the collegiate and professional level. Specifically, it’s the rollout and crosskick punting techniques that are widely used by Australian punters.
There are multiple ProKick alumni playing on Division-I teams, as well as in the NFL. Cameron Johnston of the Philadelphia Eagles completed the same program as Snee, as did Jordan Berry of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Special teams coordinator Bobby Williams was one of the first Oregon coaches to reach out to Snee and was heavily involved in making Snee comfortable at Oregon.
“He’s added a different dimension for us,” Williams said. “Australian punters, they really specialize in the rugby style of playing. He has the ability to do a lot of different things with the ball.”
Aussie rules football is extremely physical, and every player has to be able to kick the ball. At 6 foot 3, 210 pounds, Snee is accustomed to the physicality; however, one of the more challenging aspects was getting used to live rushes with multiple defenders coming at him at once. Australian football doesn’t allow an entire team to leave a zone and attack a kicker; it’s just too spread out.
“At first it honestly did phase me,” Snee said. “As soon as you catch the ball, you just gotta have eyes on the ball, and that’s all you can really look at.”
Snee, a sports business major, leapt at the opportunity to play football in the states because of two primary reasons: the scale of football and his education. When he announced his commitment to Oregon via Twitter in the summer, Snee thanked Williams and head coach Mario Cristobal for giving him “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
While Aussie rules is the most popular and successful sport in Australia, Snee said the long-term possibilities at Oregon were a huge draw for him.
“Just the size of everything in America and college football — it’s really incomparable to back home,” Snee said. “You don’t get that at all with AFL.”
Snee’s family traveled to watch him play against Arizona and will be in Eugene when the Ducks take on UCLA on Saturday.
“The fact that I’m here playing football, as well as getting an education, is just a dream situation.”
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august
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