Only Emilio Nadelman Days Until USF Football Season

#35 K Emilio Nadelman
Redshirt Junior, 5’6", 173 lbs.

2015 Stats: In his first season as USF’s kicker, Nadelman made 15 of 23 field goals and 53 of 54 extra points. His 98 points were the third most in school history. After a rough midseason stretch that bottomed out with a missed 23-yard chip shot at East Carolina, Emilio rebounded to make his last nine field goals of the regular season, including a career-long 49-yarder against Cincinnati and three 40+ yard kicks at UCF.

Nadelman was also given kickoff duty late in the season, but he didn’t do much better than the player he replaced, outgoing senior Michael Hill.

Position on Depth Chart: Nadelman is the first-string kicker and the designated kickoff man.

How He Came To USF: Emilio played at Miami Central High School, where he was a two-time Class 6A first team all-state kicker. He scored 210 points in his last two seasons, making 27 out of 40 field goals and 129 out of 131 extra points. Nadelman also handed kickoffs and punting for the Rockets. Even though Nadelman’s high school coach was former running backs coach Telly Lockette, it was a coincidence they both ended up at USF in 2013. Emilio had already committed to the Bulls by the time Willie Taggart took over.

Recruiting Rankings: Most kickers are unrated walk-ons, but Nadelman was a legit kicking prospect. He was a two-star recruit across the board at a position where recruiting stars are hard to come by.

Projected Playing Time: You might think 15 of 23 field goals is pitiful, and maybe we were spoiled for awhile by Maikon Bonani and Marvin Kloss, but the truth is Nadelman had a pretty good season by #collegekickers standards last year. His placekicking job isn’t in any serious danger. However, with how bad USF’s kickoffs were last year, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if someone else got that job by September.

Follow Him On... There’s an Emilio Nadelman on Twitter, but it looks like it’s his dad. Our Emilio has a (private) Instagram account at ejnadelman.

Did You Know: Only one USF player has ever scored 100 or more points in a season. Delbert Alvarado had 109 in 2007.