Even though he didn’t receive any scholarship offers out of high school, Jayden Fielding believed he had the ability to kick for one of the top programs in college football.
Several FBS schools recruited Fielding as a walk-on, including Florida State, Miami, Baylor, Rutgers and Texas State, among others. As Fielding debated which walk-on offer he should accept, he evaluated the rosters of each school and looked at where he might have the fastest track to playing time. But knowing he would have to compete for a starting job no matter where he went, Fielding ultimately decided his offer to walk on at Ohio State was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“I’ve always bet on myself,” Fielding said. “Even in high school, moving from my home high school (Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas) to IMG (Academy), I was betting on myself to go in and be the guy and prove to everybody around the country that I could kick at this level. So I feel like, why not take that opportunity in college?
“Debating between schools, that's never an easy decision, especially for a kicker where there's one guy that does the job. There's one football, right? There's one guy to kick it. So, having to go through and select a place was definitely hard. But I felt like Ohio State was home.”
So far, Fielding’s bet on himself has paid off.
As a true freshman last year, Fielding immediately earned playing time as Ohio State’s kickoff specialist, holding that role for all 13 of the Buckeyes’ games in 2022. Now in his second season, Fielding is handling all of Ohio State’s kicking duties after beating out USC transfer Parker Lewis this offseason for the starting job.
Informed by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and special teams coordinator Parker Fleming last week that he would be the Buckeyes’ starting kicker this season, Fielding rewarded their faith in him by making all three of his field goal attempts – including a 40-yarder on the first field goal attempt of his collegiate career – and both of his extra point attempts in the Buckeyes’ season-opening win over Indiana.
Fielding described his first game as Ohio State’s top kicker as “a dream come true.”
“I've always wanted to play big-time college football, and there's no place to do it like Ohio State,” Fielding said Wednesday. “It's the best in the country. Best players in the country, best coaches, just the best environment, too.”
Although Fielding said he was a little nervous as he took the field for that kick, he was also confident because of all the work he had put in throughout the offseason to prepare for the opportunity. And he said the nerves went away once he made that field goal, which gave the Buckeyes a 10-3 lead before halftime in a game they would eventually win 23-3.
“Having only done it for one game, I felt really, really comfortable after that first field goal,” Fielding said. “I felt like everything was going pretty smooth.”
Fielding took that same confident approach into this offseason as he competed with Lewis for the opportunity to be Ohio State’s new primary placekicker. Ultimately, Ohio State gave the kicking job to Fielding because he was more consistent than Lewis over the course of spring practices and preseason camp, Ryan Day said last week. But Fielding complimented Lewis on Wednesday by saying that competition forced him to perform on a daily basis.
“Parker is a great kicker, and I feel like I had to prove myself every day,” Fielding said. “And I feel like he really pushed me to be a better kicker, and pushed me across the finish line in terms of perfecting my craft and coming in with the attitude every day of having to prove myself.”
While Fielding had never attempted a field goal or extra point in a collegiate game before last Saturday, he felt prepared for the big stage after spending his senior year of high school at IMG Academy, where he made every field goal he attempted in 2021. Playing there taught Fielding how to handle the pressure of playing for a team that’s expected to win every game it plays, a position he now finds himself in once again at Ohio State.
“Getting used to winning, and getting used to being the best team on the field by holding yourself to a higher standard, is definitely something that (head coach) Billy Miller at IMG installed in me,” Fielding told Eleven Warriors. “People, when they see IMG, it's their Super Bowl, right? It's kind of like Ohio State. When we go to Indiana, that's their Super Bowl. They want to win. So going into every game, knowing that every kick matters and every play matters; yeah, Billy definitely taught me that.”
“I've always wanted to play big-time college football, and there's no place to do it like Ohio State.”– Jayden Fielding
Fielding also credits former Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles with showing him how to handle the spotlight he now finds himself in.
“He taught me so much,” Fielding said. “That guy, I owe a lot to him. He taught me how to control my heart rate, stuff like that. Be smooth. He taught me how to be the guy. I think that's something he was really good at, was just being the guy, being calm in all situations and controlling things that he can control but not letting the things that he can't affect him. He was really good about that.”
While Ruggles was the most accurate field goal kicker in Ohio State history, making 37 of his 41 attempts over two seasons as a Buckeye, Fielding has a stronger leg, which has the potential to be an asset for the Buckeyes should they find themselves needing to make a long field goal with the game on the line as they did in last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia. Fielding said he feels comfortable kicking anywhere inside of 60 yards, with his longest field goal in high school coming from 55 yards out.
Coming off of his first game as the starting kicker, Fielding’s Ohio State teammates have confidence in his ability to make any kick he’s asked to attempt.
“It definitely builds some confidence that he’s going to make the kicks whenever they matter,” linebacker Steele Chambers said. “Him going out there and making three kicks the first game, that’s huge.”
With the potential to now be Ohio State’s top kicker for three years, Fielding says he hopes to follow the example set for the Buckeyes by Xavier Johnson – who, like Fielding, began his Ohio State career as a walk-on but is now a team captain and viewed as one of the team’s most reliable players, in large part because of the contributions he makes on special teams.
“I wasn't given every opportunity that most guys were out of high school. And so I feel like by coming here as a walk-on, I don't want to compare myself to X, but I feel like X is a great story. So I want to be like X,” Fielding said. “I want to be the guy like X. Being a walk-on, you always feel doubted. But proving yourself and proving to everybody else that you can do it, it's just what I like to do.”
