Lots of options to weigh. Eventually he will need to decide what his priorities are. Stanford CS plus football would be a challenging path to take as the CS program alone is very time consuming. More so depending on his CS area of specialization. I’m assuming that kicker/punter types have the same time commitments for practice as the other players. Their roster currently lists one player (5th year WR) as a CS major. There are two MEs and one SymSys.
I would 100% go Ivy.
(and I envy the great choice that your son has…congrats to him!)
I’m not trying to be coy but I’m trying not to reveal too much information about my son. I’m not saying he is or isn’t a kicker but there are 3 positions on football teams that fit the description laid out. Generally there are on FBS 3-5 players at his position and 1 on full athletic scholarship. At the Ivy there are 2-3 and of course none on scholarship. It is not uncommon for a kid to get the athletic scholarship full ride and get beat out by a preferred walk on at both levels. To add to the mix now just an hour ago a program in the Patriot league has asked for his official transcripts and they do offer athletic scholarships.
Long snapper ?
“little to no contact by rules”
- Referee
- Coach
- Cheerleader
- Kicker
- Punter
- Designated Fair Catcher
- Long Snapper
Am I getting warmer ?
The long snapper is part of the offensive line in a punt or field goal play, so he would definitely encounter contact from the defensive line who is trying to block the punt or field goal.
The punt returner makes a decision during the play whether to make a fair catch or try to return the kick, so it is not assured that he will be non-contact.
Bench warmer 
The real problem is keeping his grades high enough to maintain an academic scholarship while playing football at Univ of FL’s demanding football schedule. Even worse, he’s studying computer science, which is HARD! Even the smartest students would find that a near impossible challenge. My suggestion would be to go for the football scholarship at a smaller school. This way he can study CS and play football without the academic grade pressure.
When I was at UT-Austin, the Longhorns’ kicker, Raul Allegre, was a civil engineering student who was inducted into the engineering honor society at the same time I was. I was very impressed he could maintain those grades!
I looked him up. He played pro football for nine years. From Wikipedia: “Allegre was later offered a position for a Dallas Cowboys pre-game show, and later eventually leading to his current work as color commentator for Monday Night Football with Álvaro Martín for ESPN in Latin America. He also appears on NFL32 and contributes to other ESPN programs.”
I guess he never needed to practice engineering.
@Publisher Yes lol
@ucbalumnus Technically the rules have now changed where you can no longer lineup over the long snapper on both punts and fgs. Almost always you will see the LS untouched running downfield on punts and normally helping a G with chicken wings on fg/xp. After that any of the 3, K, P and LS can make tackles on special teams.
Almost forgot there is one more…holder for fg/xp. Same rules apply you can’t hit them.
Long Snappers do get additional protection as per NCAA rules (one second). Also, I believe that the NFL has long snapper protection rule.
Though holder for field goals and extra points is often a backup QB who would be subject to hits.
FG/XP holders are usually back-up QBs.
However, the holder may be someone who ordinarily plays some other position. For example, some teams use a punter or quarterback as a holder for field goals and extra points.
I have the answer.
Is it an unwritten rule ?
If so, the coach’s son.
@Publisher Now that’s funny!
Penn State’s John Urshel earned his master’s in math while at PSU. He played a few years in the NFL and is now pursuing his PhD from MIT. But he’s clearly an exception. Here’s an analysis by conference:
@Cookies510 It’s also one of the reasons that using the academic scholarship at UF or Ivy means at either school if he “chooses”(He loves football so I don’t see it happening) to stop playing football it will not affect his status of enrollment at the school. One of the Ivy league schools has discussed how they actually have mentors for the football program. Ex players who majored in the same degree guide them thru the whole process as they have been there done that. Very appealing.
One other thing to consider. EVERY kid wants to start and see the field from day one but the reality is almost none will do so as a true freshman regardless of position. At UF he could red shirt and focus on academics 1st year to get acclimated.
What are the renewal criteria of the UF academic scholarship?