Oklahoma Sooners kicker Tyler Keltner meets the press on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
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00:00 When I look at someone that's more similar to me, I look at more like a Will Wetz.
00:04 He's been great to watch. He's been super consistent over his career.
00:09 But both those guys are like Hall of Fame kickers.
00:12 I love watching both of them. I love keeping tabs on everybody in the league.
00:16 Nice to meet you.
00:18 Thank you. Likewise.
00:19 I don't know if you already asked, but can you just tell me your background and how you got into kicking and everything?
00:24 Yeah, so I was a soccer player for a long time.
00:27 But back in 2008, both my parents were educators.
00:31 I was always at the elementary school where I went.
00:35 My mom was a principal there.
00:37 And once I got to middle school, my dad worked there as well.
00:41 But in 2008, when the middle school was opening, he got a job there before it opened.
00:45 They were trying to finish construction and this and that, but we noticed that they put uprights up before they could even finish classrooms.
00:53 So he saw the uprights. He knew that I played soccer.
00:57 I was always kind of like a striker, free kick taker.
01:00 I always kind of had a leg from a young age, and he noticed that.
01:03 So I really kind of credit my dad for getting me into kicking from the start.
01:08 And just my whole family for rallying around me for all these years.
01:12 Both my parents are teachers, so you always get in trouble.
01:14 I feel like teacher's kids always are in trouble at the school, like doing whatever.
01:18 You certainly have to stay in line, especially when the principal is your mom.
01:23 Because if you make a trip to the principal's office, it's going to be rough for your whole life.
01:29 Yeah, exactly.
01:31 But what has it just been like to come to OU and kind of get to know everyone and build a camaraderie with everyone?
01:38 I've been lucky to be around some great teams in my previous five years.
01:42 And I can already see the writing on the wall that this is going to be another great year.
01:46 We have a great team here, and even just in the specialist room, I think we all get along very well.
01:52 And we're all hard workers, and I just think we're all excited for what this year is going to bring for not only our room as kickers, punters, and snappers, but just for the whole team.
02:03 And just kind of as a goal, you know, you're entering kind of the end of your collegiate career, or starting it at least.
02:08 But what's kind of a goal for you as you head into the season and into the spring?
02:14 You know, the goal for me is to play the best that I can.
02:17 And, you know, hopefully the cards will fall from there.
02:22 But, you know, I would love to contribute to this team on the field.
02:26 It would certainly be a pleasure to rep Sooners on the front of my jersey and make some kicks this year.
02:34 When did you guys get left out of the play? How much?
02:38 Tough subject, man.
02:40 You know, the cards fell how they did, and, you know, we've all talked about it for the last three months.
02:48 And it'll never be something fun to think about, but at the same time, you know, we're three, four months past that now.
02:56 And, you know, I got a career to go finish off.
03:00 So maybe we'll think about that again later on.
03:03 Yeah, what sucks is you guys will be the only team that's not defeated by a Power 5 champ that never made it,
03:08 because now it's going to 12.
03:10 They're going to drag this out to 12, 10, 14, and other teams.
03:14 So the state's going to be that outlier.
03:18 Yeah, it's certainly going in the history books, not exactly in the way that we envisioned.
03:25 But, you know, that was such a pleasure to play for that team.
03:29 I mean, seeing those guys just go perform at the NFL Combine, we had some special talent on the team,
03:36 and we had a special team overall from coaches all the way down to the fans.
03:40 That was just a fantastic year, despite the results at the end.
03:43 I was going to say, you're a Tallahassee kid.
03:45 What was that like to play for a 7-0 coach?
03:47 It was certainly special.
03:49 I was kind of wearing garnet and gold from the time that I was born, as both my parents attended Florida State.
03:55 It was special to go reconnect with my family.
04:00 Usually when you move out at 18, you never really plan to be back in your hometown, living at home part-time.
04:06 I did have my own apartment.
04:07 I had some separation.
04:09 But it was nice to have that time with my parents and reconnect with the people here in Tallahassee.
04:16 Just seeing kind of the winning mentality that was created at Florida, how has that translated to how you're doing?
04:23 Just kind of talking about the commitment that that team had, the brotherhood that we had.
04:28 There's always some common factors between any great team, no matter where you are in the country.
04:34 So I think just so far I've seen both of those here.
04:38 This team here in Norman is hungry.
04:42 I don't think that we're satisfied with the 10 wins that we had last season.
04:47 I think we look to build.
04:49 To build, you've got to have a great team in the locker room and off the field.
04:52 And I've felt that so far in my month and a half here.
04:57 Consistency is the biggest thing for a kicker.