It’s 2:39 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. Avery Atkins boots the opening kickoff out the back of the end zone and watches as the ball one hops into the stands of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The top-15 matchup between longtime Southeastern Conference rivals LSU and Auburn is underway, and Atkins, like every kid born in Auburn, Ala., lives out his childhood fantasy of playing in front of 86,000-plus screaming Auburn fans.
Except, there’s one problem. Atkins isn’t suited up for the hometown Tigers. Instead, he’s wearing a white No. 32 jersey with purple numbers and gold pants. He’s playing for LSU.
The freshman kicker who went to Auburn High School, less than four miles away from Jordan-Hare, opens the pivotal game with a touchback — a common occurrence for Atkins through LSU’s first two games.
The recruitment
“We didn’t know for sure, but we knew fairly early on the chances of him going to Auburn were not very good,” said Avery’s father Jack, who is a vice president of a property management company in Auburn.
All-American Daniel Carlson handled Auburn’s kicking duties from 2014-17 and his brother Anders took over the kicking responsibilities in 2018. Because of that, Jack Atkins knew Auburn wasn’t likely going to be a place for his son.
“We knew it was going to be somewhere else,” he said. “We didn’t know it was going to be at LSU.”
The Atkins have an almost royal bloodline at Auburn. Jack’s father, George, was an offensive lineman for Auburn in the early 50’s and coached the offensive line for legendary Auburn coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan from 1956-1971, and his mother, Leah, is a world champion water skier whose name graces the award that Auburn gives annually to a student-athlete who models leadership, integrity and courage.
The connection to Auburn runs deep for the Atkins family, but it doesn’t run deep enough to keep Jack and Avery’s mother Nikki out of Purple and Gold. Jack showed up to one of Avery’s high school soccer games in an LSU sweatshirt soon after his son decided to accept a preferred walk-on spot at LSU, and that’s when someone asked him if he was going to root for LSU.
“This was a mom from like New York and she was wearing Auburn High gear, and I looked at her and said ‘Did you go to Auburn High?’, and she said no,” Jack said. “I said well, you’re cheering for your kid, and I’m going to cheer for my kid no matter where he goes, and so my allegiance to kid. We’re going to be the biggest, loudest LSU fans that live in Auburn, Alabama.”
“And yes, we had to change wardrobes, but that is perfectly fine,” Nikki added.
Despite the family living in Auburn all their lives, the Atkins family still had connections at LSU as former offensive line coach Jeff Grimes, who took the job as BYU’s offensive coordinator last December, lived down the street from them while he was Auburn’s offensive line coach from 2009-2012.
But they were unaware of another strong link to LSU. That one came in the form of Sam Nader, the longest-tenured member of LSU’s football staff with 44 years of experience.
But prior to his career at LSU, Nader played quarterback at Auburn from 1963-1967. In those five years, Nader befriend Auburn offensive lineman Forrest Blue, and through the Blue, he became acquainted with George Atkins.
Nader and Blue became so close to the family that the two spent time with George and Leah at their lake house.
Grimes had passed Avery’s film on to the LSU coaching staff before he left Baton Rouge, and coach Ed Orgeron and special teams coach Greg McMahon had seen enough to bring him for a visit.
The family didn’t know about the connection to Nader until two days before the scheduled visit to Baton Rouge.
“Jack saw Sam’s name on the itinerary and put two and two together and called his mom,” Nikki said.
Leah confirmed it was the same Sam Nader who spent time with the family years prior at their lake house on Lake Martin, which is positioned between Montgomery and Auburn like the top of a triangle.
The relationship with Orgeron, McMahon, and Nader along with Avery’s want to play big-time football in the SEC was enough of a pull for him to choose LSU over scholarships from Army West Point, UT Chattanooga, and Samford and preferred walk-on offers at Michigan, Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Ivy League schools Columbia, Harvard and Yale.
“That was a long, long, long time ago, but anytime you can make a connection like that it just made us even more confident that this was the place for Avery, and ultimately, Avery made that decision,” Jack said.
“We didn’t direct him one way or another, we just went through all the opportunities and different places that he had, but [LSU] was where his heart felt like he needed to be.”
More than a kicker
Atkins best attribute may be his leg, but it’s not all he can do.
He began playing sports at the age of four, and like most, it started with tee ball. Soon Atkins developed a joy for two sports — soccer and football. It wasn’t his joy for the sports, however, that created a path for him to become one of the best kickoff specialist in the entire country as a freshman.
“Whether it was soccer, or whether it was kicking the football, whether it was punting or whatever it was, he constantly worked hard at it. He worked hard in the weight room,” Jack said of his son Avery
How hard does Avery go in the weight room? LSU punter Zach Von Rosenberg says Avery can bench press 330 pounds.
“I don’t think he was destined to be some great kicker or great soccer player,” Jack added.
“No, I think he really earned all that.” 
At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Avery earned All-State honors at safety in 2016 and as an athlete in 2017.
He also stuck with soccer, and Atkins was placed on Auburn High’s varsity team as an eighth grader. He became a two-time captain and a dominant forward who as a senior scored 27 goals, finished second on the team in assists, and led his school to Alabama’s Class 7A State Championship.
Auburn High soccer coach Bill Ferguson said college scouts were “heartbroken” when they found out Atkins was determined to play football. Ferguson described Atkins as an unselfish player who had “tremendous technical ability.”
“Anyone I know from a coaching perspective just scratches their heads at how polished he is given the fact that he’s only able to give the attention during the school year because the remainder of the year is football,” Ferguson said.
The time split between football and soccer led Ferguson to rest Atkins some games, which means his 27 goals may not be an accurate reflection of how good he truly was.
Ferguson described a first round playoff game Atkins’ senior year against Enterprise High School, who was undefeated in regulation and ranked No. 5 in the country at the time of the game according to MaxPreps.
Atkins played the game without running full speed due to an injured hamstring and scored two goals in a 3-1 win all while Enterprise guarded him with multiple defenders throughout.
Ferguson said there was no defensive answer for Atkins, and he would do what he set out to do.
“Without question the most physically dominating player I have ever seen. That’s not even close.”
‘He’s unbelievable.’
According to Jack Atkins, LSU didn’t guarantee his son anything.
“There were none,” Jack said. “You’ve got to come and earn it, and he knew that going in, and as a dad I’m very proud of him. He didn’t take the easy road. He could’ve taken some scholarships at some other places, but he thought he could play on a bigger field and win the job.”
Avery not only won the job but became the first true freshman kickoff specialist for LSU since James Hairston in 2011. Of Atkins’ 18 kickoffs through three games, 15 have been touchbacks with his average kickoff from the 35-yard line traveling 64.7 yards.
He has played a key role in LSU’s rebuilt special teams that ranks 19th in efficiency, according to ESPN, which is up from 99th in 2017, 119th in 2016, and 92nd in 2015.
Kicking the ball through end zones didn’t just come natural for Atkins, however. He had worked with his dad, who noticed the similarities in the biomechanics of a golf swing and kicking. That’s when Jack, an avid golfer, worked with his son on kicking. Not long after, Avery was past his dad’s improvised kicking lessons.
Enter Mike McCabe.
McCabe is the founder of One on One Kicking and works with NFL specialists like four-time First Team All-Pro Johnny Hekker (Los Angeles Rams), 2012 Lou Groza Award winner Cairo Santos (Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears), and two-time Ray Guy Award winner Ryan Allen (New England Patriots).
When McCabe first saw Atkins he thought the young kicker had the potential and work ethic to be great.
“Every athlete out there is still raw that is kicking,” McCabe said. “It all comes down to them during their drill work, and they have a set of drills we give for them to follow.”
Von Rosenberg told the media the week of the Auburn game that Atkins has a somewhat unorthodox form on kickoffs, but McCabe said it’s by design.
Instead of a long follow through where the kicker jumps onto his kicking leg after making contact with the ball to generate more power, Atkins doesn’t hop and plants his kicking foot soon after contact which allows him to have more control over the ball.
“He crushes it either way,” McCabe said. “We just want to get his body more downfield with his swing so that he can put it anywhere he wants.”
Avery showed off his power against Southeastern where he booted a kickoff into the stands. Von Rosenberg said it was something he’d never seen before.
“I don’t know if he knows how good he is, but he’s freakish,” Von Rosenberg said. “For a 19-year-old kid, he’s unbelievable. That’s crazy leg strength to do that.
“He’s so explosive and quick to the ball, and when he strikes it, it just makes a different kind of sound. Where Cole [Tracy] makes a very smooth accurate kick, Avery’s more of the reckless crush the ball type kick, but at the same time, he’s killing it right and he’s doing a great job.”
His leg strength, but also how consistent he is on kickoffs, is what prompted Orgeron to say publicly Atkins will be placed on scholarship as soon as one comes available in the spring.
“We are super proud of him,” Jack said. “There’s no doubt. He’s a good kid. All around, humble, very humble, almost to a fault, but he’s a good kid. He doesn’t like a whole lot of attention, just wants to do his job for his teammates, and we can already tell he loves those guys on the team already.”
Auburn, Alabama- 2:39 Central Standard Time, Saturday Sept. 15
It was the first time the Atkins family had sat in the visitor section of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Avery’s parents, both grandmothers and his girlfriend all battled the sun and 92-degree heat that scorched the eastern side of the stadium.
There was 3:58 left in the third quarter and Tracy had just knocked in a field goal to cut Auburn’s lead to 21-13. Atkins kicked off, and for one of the few times all season the kick was returnable.
Auburn’s JaTarvious Whitlow fielded the kick at the Auburn 5-yard line and began to his right. Then he had open space in front of him at the 30, and the only people between Whitlow and the end zone were Atkins and sophomore linebacker Patrick Queen who was blocked by Auburn player.
That’s when Avery showed off his safety skills and made possibly a game-saving tackle for LSU. Five plays later, Greedy Williams intercepted Jarrett Stidham. 
Atkins told his parents before the start of the season he thought the team was special. What transpired the next 18 minutes of game time after Atkins’ first career tackle certainly qualifies as special.
Atkins’ final play against Auburn was a touchback on the ensuing kickoff after a 71-yard touchdown by receiver Derrick Dillon cut Auburn’s lead to 21-19 late in the fourth quarter.
The game ended with Tracy’s 42-yard field goal, the first regulation walk-off kick in LSU history, and instead of setting up for another kickoff, Atkins found himself charging after his fellow kicker into the celebratory dogpile.
Among the silenced Auburn crowd, the Atkins family clad in Purple and Gold were cheering like the loudest LSU fans in Auburn, Alabama, just like they said they were going to do. They watched as Avery sung the alma mater and celebrated with his teammates.
They knew he was in the right place.
“Avery loves LSU,” Jack said. “He’s loving everything about LSU.”

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Courtesy LSU Athletics

LSU freshman placekicker Avery Atkins (32) kicks off during the Tigers' 22-21 win over Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.