Coming off a 1-11 season and 0-8 in the Mid-American Conference, it wasn’t surprising to say that Kent State had a lot of question marks heading into the off-season. Getting everyone in alignment, solidifying a coaching staff, navigating the transfer portal, as well as sorting out personnel issues were among the top priorities. One question that was already answered was Kent State’s place kicker. That position has been locked down for several years with the reliable and productive Andrew Glass. The 5-10, 172 pound kicker from Wheeling Park High School in Wheeling, West Virginia is coming off a stellar 2023 season. Glass was 15/17 on field goals with a long of 48 yards, while going 16-17 on PAT’s. The season was good for Second Team All-MAC.
Kent State Head Coach Kenni Burns was a guest on The MAC Sports Connection Podcast on Media Day last month and spoke about the veteran Glass.
“He’s a rockstar, Glassy’s a rockstar. The catalyst of what KentGRIT is about to me. He lives it every single day, he’s reliable. He’s a guy that’s a mature player. He knows what it takes to be an elite kicker and he comes and works at it every single day.”
It’s not often that a specialist becomes a leader on a team, but that’s exactly what has happened for Kent State. ‘Coach Glass’ as he sometimes is jokingly referred to by Burns due to his maturity, leadership and ability to manage himself, Burns spoke on the impact Glass has on the rest of the group.
“He’s got a voice on our team that everybody listens to, which to be honest with you don’t see that often with specialists, but that talks about who he is. I’d be shocked if he’s not the all-time leading scorer by the time he leaves here. I think he’s going to have a long professional career as well, he’s got a strong leg. But he’s someone I’m going to miss when he’s gone and I think that every once in a while as a head coach you get some players that you get close to and connected to and you hate to see them graduate and he’s one of them.”
Glass has been named 1st Team All-MAC in several preseason publications leading into the season. For Kent State fans, seeing less of Glass won’t be a bad thing, meaning the Flashes aren’t always settling for field goals and instead keeping drives alive for touchdowns. But, when he does trot out to the field, fans can breath easy that points are imminent.
In a season that not many of them came down to the wire in 2023, the expectation in 2024 is that league games should be much more competitive and closer down the stretch. With the game on the line, Burns can rest easy turning to the ‘Rockstar’ Glass to come through in the clutch like so many times before.