FLORIDA TECH

Florida Tech has a new kicker in camp

Michael Parsons
FLORIDA TODAY

If you didn't know better, you would never know that the guy in the No. 91 jersey kicking field goal after field goal on Thursday afternoon is a soccer standout who kicked his first football a few weeks ago.

Drake Hillman, who scored 21 goals in his career at Florida Tech, missed just three of the 12 field goals he took Thursday with the football team.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks for the Plymouth, England, native who had no intentions of playing football just a couple of months ago.

"This came out of nowhere," Hillman said. "Around the end of February, I got a text saying the football team was looking to see if anyone wanted to try out to kick."

His teammates mentioned it to him because he is out of eligibility in soccer, but has an extra year of eligibility if he changes sports.

So Hillman decided to give it a shot.

"I didn't really even know about it, next thing I know coach (Dan) Sabock was doing a tryout," Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart said.

Englehart couldn't be at the tryout, but it didn't take long for him to hear about it.

"Everyone was saying you won't believe this kid, he can kick them all," Englehart said.

Next thing Hillman knew, he had a helmet and pads and was learning the ins and outs of kicking a football.

"It's all surreal to me at the moment," said Hillman, who said he never could have imagined he would be playing football. "I know the rules but not the tactics, but I am learning. I am really looking forward to developing."

Hillman's only experience kicking a football was a few times before the soccer team hit the weight room, just messing around.

"I had never kicked one properly," Hillman said. "It is like kicking a soccer ball, really, just like when you clear. It is not so much different, maybe a different technique here and there, may need to change some little things but overall it is pretty similar."

He looked pretty comfortable Thursday afternoon, missing three of his 12 field goal attempts with the entire team watching. Two of those misses were from 45 yards and he was perfect from short range. But Englehart believes this is just the beginning.

"He has only kicked a football for about a month, so his upside is really good," Englehart said.

Hillman may have opened a door for others as well, something Englehart has talked about with Florida Tech soccer coaches Robin Chan and Fidgi Haig for the past couple of years.

"It is something that a lot of soccer players have on their mind," Hillman said. "They are saying, 'I can do that after I finish soccer.' Hopefully, it can be a pathway for players after they have finished their eligibility. It is obviously an option."