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The rather crowded scholarship kicker chart for the Texas Longhorns opened up a little bit with the news from 247Sports that Charlotte (N.C.) Ardrey Kell punter Corbin Daly has decommitted.
According to the same service ($), Daly made the decision to remain closer to his family.
The US Army All-American committed to Texas on June 14 after he impressed the coaching staff enough during a kicking camp to earn a scholarship after the coaching staff . The 6'3, 190-pounder does not have any other offers according to his 247Sports page, though he is rated as a consensus three-star prospect at the No. 5 punter nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
After committing, Daly told BON that he had always been a fan of the Longhorns and that he had picked up punting going into his freshman year of high school. After working with noted kicking coach Chris Sailer, Daly averaged 45 yards per punt as a sophomore and 47 yards per punt as a junior.
As for how the decision impacts the Longhorns moving forward, Texas has taken a scholarship kicker every other year for some time now, with Daly the first dedicated punter to receive a scholarship out of high school. But with kickoff specialist Nick Rose on scholarship, Texas was set to have four scholarship kickers on campus next season.
It's probably too late to expect that Will Russ will ever hold down any of the three kicking positions for the Longhorns, but between Rose, Jordan, and whatever walk ons Texas has around, there should be a capable punter on campus next season even without Daly, whose high school average is still extremely impressive and better than what Texas is likely to have next season if those numbers translate to college.
Texas now has 22 commitments in the 2014 class, though 247Sports has taken San Antonio (Texas) Warren defensive tackle Trey Lealaimatafao's name off of the commitment list as he takes official visits to other schools.
