More on Rutgers commit Alex Barbir

Rutgers pulled in its first kicker commit in more than three years yesterday when soon-to-be high school senior Alex Barbir of South Forsyth High School (Cumming, Ga.) announced his intentions to become a Scarlet Knight.

Barbir already has some ties to New Jersey as his kicking coach, Luke Gaddis, is based out of New Jersey as part of One-on-One Kicking.

"We are in touch about four or five times a week," Gaddis said of Barbir. "And he is constantly getting one on one kicking training from my staff down in Atlanta when I am not working with him."

Gaddis went on to describe what kind of kicker Rutgers is getting in Barbir.

"He is a different kicker. He is actually not a kicker, he is an athlete. When you see him in person, he passes the eye test with the snap of a finger. He has the athletic build, the look and the muscle. He is a football player first and foremost and then he is a kicker. He has a long leg and delivers on the football field. He is in the weight room five, six days a week. He is mastering his craft of kicking five, six days a week.

"He is a different kind of kid with a different mentality. A lot of kickers get the reputation for being a little flaky and a little different. They march to the beat of their own drum. Alex is a football player. He wants to be on that field, he wants to score points and be a leader for his team."

While accuracy and leg strength are important traits for a kicker to have, Gaddis talked about some other qualities Barbir will bring to Piscataway.

"Desire to win, desire to be better, desire to be as close to perfect as possible. I have worked with a lot of guys in college and the NFL, you see the difference in that a lot of them get complacent because they know they are that good. Alex knows he is really good, but he also knows that to be better, he needs to work even harder. He doesn't get complacent and never waits for things to happen. He is a go-getter and he delivers."

The actual kicking component of the game is also an area of expertise for Barbir.

"You can heard the thud when he kicks the ball and it just goes," Gaddis said. "You can see the distance and the height. And you see his form, everything he does is compact and clean. When he kicks that ball, you just know there is something special behind that leg."

Barbir was starting to receive more and more attention as he held a host of offers before announcing his commitment to Rutgers on Friday evening.

"He is a solid fit for Rutgers because he has that 'it' factor. He is a solid FBS kicker," Gaddis said. "He is one of the best kickers in the country, hands down. He has one of the top five strongest legs in the country. I personally witnessed 80-yard kickoffs from him with 4.4 hang time. I think Alex could be a difference maker for Rutgers. I have the utmost confidence that Alex could come in and be a freshman All-American when he comes to Rutgers. He has the strength, the accuracy and the drive."