For Jackson Fox, kicking was always second nature. As a soccer player at Ithaca College, he thrived on long-range passing and precision. But now, Fox finds himself on the football field as the starting kicker for UW-Whitewater. This year, Fox made the leap from soccer to football, a sport he had never played competitively, and he’s already making a name for himself.
After transferring from Ithaca in New York, where he played soccer for three seasons, Fox quickly adapted to his new role. Fox has converted 8 of 13 field goals, with a long of 40 yards, and is perfect on extra points. For someone who had never suited up for a football game before this season, Fox has undoubtedly had rapid success.
But for Fox, the transition wasn’t as easy as it might seem. His decision to switch sports came before he transferred to Whitewater. After his junior year at Ithaca, Fox decided to step away from soccer, a sport to which he had dedicated much of his life.
“I stopped playing soccer after my junior year of college,” Fox said. “I wanted to play football, so I started kicking. I started looking for schools that would give me an opportunity, and Whitewater was the most attractive destination of those schools.”
The decision to switch to football originated from Fox’s lifelong love for football. Though he never played the sport growing up, he was always a big fan.
“I’ve always been a football fan,” Fox said. “When I was growing up, my family were huge Oregon Duck fans. I was born in Oregon. I’m a big Seahawks fan. So, football has always been something that I loved. I was sitting on the couch watching college football one Saturday, and a kicker missed an easy kick, and I was like, wait a minute, I could do better than that.”
It’s a bold thought, especially for someone with no formal experience kicking a football, but one that Fox took seriously.
He began honing his skills, working on transitioning from soccer to football, which seemed like a natural fit despite the different rules and expectations.
“I was always great at passing in soccer, especially long-range passing,” Fox said. “In my mind, making a transition to football, I was like, well, that’s all I have to do. Pass a ball over a long distance accurately.”
While his soccer background gave him the technical foundation to succeed as a kicker, there were plenty of challenges along the way. One of the biggest adjustments Fox had to make was understanding the pressure of being a specialist in football, where opportunities to perform are limited and mistakes are magnified.
“It’s just the nature of being a kicker; you only have so many opportunities,” Fox said. “In soccer, you mess up once, but you make a bunch of other good plays, and everybody forgets the mistake you made. In football, I miss one kick after having an otherwise really good game, like, for instance, against UW-Stout. I went two of three and hit the ball really well, but I missed an important field goal. At the end of the day, that’s what people are going to remember.”
Fox’s performance against Stout encapsulates the highs and lows of being a kicker. Despite making two field goals and playing a solid game, the missed field goal loomed large in his mind.
“You’ve got to be at your best all the time because nobody remembers the makes,” Fox said. “They remember the ones you miss.”
While intense, the pressure has been more manageable, thanks to the support Fox has received from his teammates and coaching staff. Despite his inexperience, their trust in him has been a source of motivation and confidence.
“They’ve helped a lot,” Fox said. “It’s pretty incredible to be trusted by those guys, my teammates, and my coaching staff. For them to trust me, knowing I’ve never done this before. I still have guys coming up to me, telling me how much they believe in me. My coaching staff just for giving me the opportunity with no real game film, when someone has that type of confidence in you, it helps make it a lot easier to believe in yourself as well.”
Head coach Jace Rindahl has been particularly impressed by Fox’s maturity and commitment to his new role.
“He’s a mature man,” Rindahl said. “I think he’s still trying to figure this whole thing out, being a field goal kicker. I think he’s done a good job at it. He’s hitting a place where we must keep staying consistent and working at it. I don’t think he missed a kick in our game against Stevens Point, so we’re going easy. I believe he’s going to continue to get better as the season goes on.”
One key figure behind Fox’s development has been special teams coach John O’Grady. Rindahl credits O’Grady with guiding Fox through the technical and mental aspects of the position.
“John O’Grady, that man has done a heck of a job coaching Jackson and getting him to where he is now,” Rindahl said. “Jackson gets a lot of credit because of his maturity, his work ethic, and his commitment to it, but O’Grady has been huge in that process.”
From watching games on the couch as a fan to now walking onto the field as a player for a top Division III program, Fox is living out a dream he didn’t even know he had until recently.
“It’s always been something that I loved,” Fox said. “And now, being here at Whitewater and getting to contribute to the team is just an incredible feeling.”
With his strong leg, soccer instincts and passion for the game, Jackson Fox is making the most of his opportunity. The Warhawks have found a kicker who not only has the physical tools to succeed but also the mental toughness to rise to the occasion when the game is on the line. As Fox continues to evolve, there’s no telling how far this former soccer player will go on the football field.
