Luis Rodriguez expected to play JUCO football this year. Now he’s kicking at K-State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas State signed Luis Rodriguez in July after injuries depleted kicking group.
- Rodriguez has made all 6 field goals and 15 extra points in 2025 season.
- A former soccer player, Rodriguez found football success from JUCO to DI.
Kansas State kicker Luis Rodriguez has been on campus for such a short time that his name doesn’t appear in the printed version of the football team’s media guide.
He is so new to the roster that some of his Wildcat teammates feel like strangers even though they share a locker room.
“There are still some people out there,” Rodriguez said, “that I am trying to figure out their faces and their names.”
Rodriguez can be forgiven for lacking familiarity with the K-State football roster. If anyone deserves extra time to get acclimated to Manhattan, it’s him. After all, a few short months ago, he was expecting to kick for College of the Canyons (a California junior college) this season.
But an unexpected call from K-State assistant coach Mike Tuiasosopo changed everything. Just like that, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore from Los Angeles was packing his bags and moving across the country to kick field goals for the Wildcats.
Making the transition from junior college to Division I can be a challenge under the best of circumstances. But this all happened over the summer when a string of injuries on special teams left the Wildcats desperately searching for a healthy kicker who could transfer in and compete for the starting job.
“We didn’t recruit the kid until after the Fourth of July,” K-State head coach Chris Klieman said.
NFL teams sign kickers from out of the blue all the time. One minute, those football players are unemployed. The next, they are booting field goals on national TV. Rodriguez is the closest thing you will find to that scenario in the college game.
In the summer, he was a relatively unknown JUCO kicker. Now that fall has arrived, he is starting for the Wildcats.
A good first impression at Kansas State
K-State fans are glad that Rodriguez is here. He has made all six of his field goals and all 15 of his extra points this season. He even connected on a 51-yarder against Arizona.
“It’s amazing to watch that kid in practice,” Klieman said. “It can be dead calm or it can be 25-mile-an-hour wind out there, and we’ve got the music cranked up trying to somehow distract the kid. He just kind of has ice in his veins. He loves those moments.”
K-State football players were unfamiliar with his game when Rodriguez first arrived on campus, but that changed quickly.
One teammate said he pegged Rodriguez as the team’s starting kicker after just one practice.
“After his first two kicks I turned to someone and said, ‘We got our guy,’” K-State tight end Garrett Oakley said. “He’s a really good kid on and off the field. He’s super confident. And he has a really good leg on him. He’s gone up to 60 yards in practice. All his kicks are high and accurate.”
Question is: How did Rodriguez go unnoticed by Division I teams until K-State came calling in July?
How K-State found its new kicker
Rodriguez thinks he was flying under the radar, because he spent most of his youth focusing on soccer. It wasn’t until his junior year of high school that he gave kicking footballs a try. It turned out to be his true passion. From there, he did well enough to earn a spot in junior college, and he made 21 of 25 field goals as a freshman. But he didn’t receive any recruiting attention from bigger schools.
Until K-State reached out, that is.
A series of unusual events preceded that call. The Wildcats were originally counting on junior Leyton Simmering or freshman Cub Patton to handle field goals this season. But they have both been out with long-term injuries. That put K-State in an uneasy position. It could ask punter Simon McClannan to do everything in the kicking game. Or it could search for a transfer kicker after most rosters were set.
Ultimately, Klieman decided to search for an extra kicker. That’s what prompted Tuiasosopo to call College of the Canyons. He has a friend, Dan Corbet, who works there as a defensive coordinator. So he dialed him up and asked if the school had a good kicker.
“He told him, ‘Yeah, one of the best I’ve ever coached and he’s available and ready if you give him a shot,’” Rodriguez said. “That’s how everything started.”
Rodriguez is grateful that K-State took a shot on him.
Making field goals for a Division I team has been his dream ever since he switched from soccer to football. A few months ago, he wasn’t sure if that was ever going to happen. Now, he might have a bright future in front of him at K-State, especially after he gets used to his new surroundings.
“I just needed a shot,” Rodriguez said. “I knew I had good tape, but I was waiting for an opportunity. And the opportunity came. I’m very blessed.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Luis Rodriguez expected to play JUCO football this year. Now he’s kicking at K-State."