The sport of soccer is known as football all over the world, except for here in the U.S. Tyler Durbin is one of the few that has found success in both kinds of football, the global one and the American one. He is, after all, the starting kicker at The Ohio State University after spending two years as a soccer player at James Madison University.
“I honestly didn’t understand Ohio State football until I got here,” Durbin commented. “It means everything to the people here in Ohio. The first time I was in the Shoe, 100,000 fans turned out for a spring game.”
Most people are afraid of change, but that is not the case for Durbin. While others would never in a million years consider changing universities or sports, Durbin has embraced the change. He has done well with the changes and now finds himself as a star in the classroom and on the field.
His journey in football is rather short, but his experience in the sporting realm is quite the opposite. Durbin played a number of sports during his youth, including basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer. He was bit by the soccer bug at the age four and played for much of his life. Growing and developing, he eventually became one of Virginia’s top prospects.
Durbin began his collegiate life at James Madison, where he majored in engineering and played for the men’s soccer team. Durbin was a stellar student and highly anticipated player coming out of Lake Braddock HS. Durbin had found a passion for the field of engineering in high school and was hoping to continue to grow that at JMU.
He found that their engineering program was relatively new and rather limited. That, paired with a lack of playing time (eight games and 176 minutes over two seasons) for the Dukes, caused Durbin to have second thoughts about his choice.
He had a moment where he felt that he didn’t belong at James Madison so he did something about it.
He kicked footballs, lots of footballs. He had never played football before so he enlisted the guidance of “kicker whisperer” Paul Woodside from Before U Kick. They spent lots of time together, training and put together video highlights.
Honestly Durbin was a natural when it came to kicking. It’s something he’d done for years, albeit in a different game. He was used to hitting long balls in soccer, often playing as a right or center back. Those positions often require diagonal strikes, both long and short and from different angles, coming from the back line.
Durbin did find that it is different training for kickoffs and field goals. There are differences in technique; it is more about repetition. You are repeating the same swing time and time again.
Videos went to all kinds of programs and Ohio State took interest in the Burke, Virginia native.
Even though he left JMU, there were no hard feelings and he left behind many admirers, including men’s soccer head coach Tom Foley.
“Tyler was a hard-working, intelligent player that could absolutely crush a soccer ball with pace and distance. It’s no surprise that he’s having success as a kicker at Ohio State and we wish him the best.”
And the rest is history, sort of. Durbin didn’t see the field in 2015, but was ready to go when Sean Nuernberger went down with an injury in the summer of 2016. Durbin took the starting job and ran with it, booming kickoffs and hitting field goals on a consistent basis.
Durbin has been a busy man during the Buckeyes’ first two games: 11 extra points and a tackle in Ohio State’s 77-10 rout over Bowling Green and two field goals and six extra points in the Buckeyes’ 48-3 win against Tulsa.
There seems to be a kicker controversy of sorts developing as everyone is wondering who Meyer will choose for the long-term, i.e. the rest of the season. Durbin’s debut has been flawless and his leg is among the strongest in the country. It’s said that he won a place on the roster with a 62-yarder in practice and that same strong leg was responsible for another 70-yarder “with the wind.”
For now, Durbin is taking things “one game at a time.” He is excited to be part of one of the top college programs in the country and to be playing under a coaching legend like Urban Meyer.
“Meyer has done an incredible job in leading this program. He is an absolutely incredible coach and motivator.”
Durbin is also thankful to be playing in front of a passionate and loyal fan base.
“It’s been an incredible experience, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was amazing to play in front of 107,000 fans in the opener.”
Those crowds were obviously much different than the 1,000 people that would regularly turn out at the JMU soccer games. The largest crowd he ever played in front of was 3,000.
The question does keep coming up as to what his plans are post-college. He’ll be armed with a degree in civil engineering, but he may get also get a look from the pros. Either way Durbin is relaxed about his future.
“I won’t rule out any possibilities. I will feel out whatever comes my way.”
Considering his epic journey, anything is possible. His story is certainly movie-worthy; we might actually be looking at the next Rudy in the making. You just never know.
One thing is for certain and that is the interest in his story. He has been the subject of many features all across the country, from The Columbus Dispatch and The Washington Post to ESPN and Cleveland.com. It’s been an exciting few weeks for Durbin.
“I had a unique story. It’s pretty cool that people want to hear about my story.”
This will not be the last time you read about Tyler Durbin as the sky is truly the limit for the Virginia soccer star turned Ohio State kicker. The best is yet to come.
