Eddy Pineiro earns unique praise from Jim McElwain

Jared Roberts made 42-of-54 (78%) of his field goal attempts at Colorado State and his head coach called him, affectionately, “kicker.”

“I didn’t know his name,” Jim McElwain said to the Reporter Herald in 2013 when he was the head coach at Colorado State. “I still don’t. It’s Kicker. That doesn’t mean I lack confidence in him. The one thing I do know about kickers is their job is to put it through the uprights; that’s what they’re here for. You know what, he’s a guy who’s proven he can handle it. One of these days I might learn his name.”

It’s not that Jim McElwain doesn’t like kickers; he just views them as having one job — kick the ball between those two yellow things when called upon. Simple enough.

So the last place McElwain thought he would be one day after the SEC Championship game was eating Cuban food with Eddy Pineiro in Miami, Florida.

Austin Hardin made just five of his 14 attempts in McElwain’s first season with the Florida Gators. Hardin was so bad that Jorge Powell replaced him until Powell suffered a torn ACL. That led to McElwain holding open kicking tryouts in the middle of the season, hardly what he had expected he would be doing when he signed on to coach a perennial national power in Florida.

Hardin had a 40-yard field goal blocked in the SEC Championship that led to this post game comment from his head coach.

“We’ll get worked on this kicking thing, and somebody will get it up over the line far enough that maybe somebody doesn’t block it with their armpit,” a frustrated McElwain said.

Pineiro wasn’t a sure thing. He was committed to Nick Saban, the that McElwain affectionately calls “Coach” after spending four years coaching Saban’s offense at Alabama. Now, McElwain was going toe-to-toe with his coaching mentor for Pineiro. While Saban was picking championship confetti out of his hair, McElwain was knocking on Pineiro’s door first thing Sunday morning. It was the turning point for Pineiro.

“That was probably, I think that was where I knew I wanted to come to Florida,” Pineiro said. “Instead of coming to a quarterback’s house or a running back’s house, he was at my house at 8 o’clock the next morning after he lost the SEC Championship and I’m like ‘This guy really wants me to be here.'”

McElwain ate breakfast with Pineiro’s entire family. Pineiro joked that Mac was a little down after losing the SEC Championship game and this his grandmother made a few jokes to lighten the mood. Her authentic Cuban food certainly didn’t hurt either.

That visit was the turning point but Pineiro still took an official visit to Alabama on December 12. He posted videos on social media riding around in golf carts at Saban’s house that probably had McElwain sweating but Pineiro didn’t keep McElwain waiting long. He flipped his commitment two days after getting home from Tuscaloosa, it was then Pineiro’s turn to sweat it out as he had to call Saban to let him know he was going to be going to school at Florida.
“It was probably the hardest call of my life,” Pineiro said of informing Saban of his decision. “He’s a pretty intimidating guy, but he’s very understanding. He wasn’t mean about it or anything. He was just like, ‘Do what’s best for you and your family.’ I did what’s best for me and my family.”

With that out of the way, Pineiro was ready to break much different news to McElwain and the Gators.

Pineiro enrolled at Florida in the spring. Pineiro ran out on the field with 9:35 left in the first quarter for an extra point. He drilled it and the Swamp erupted like Jarvis Moss had just blocked South Carolina’s field goal in 2006 all over again. Pineiro connected on three of his five attempts, including kicks from 52 and 56 yards.

“After the spring game, I knew I made the best decision of my life coming here,” Pineiro said. “Just seeing the kicking struggles and helping this team out, putting points on the board and Coach Mac is like a father figure. That’s the reason why I came here.”

Pineiro made all three of his attempts in the season opener against UMass. Each time he took the field the crowd erupted, chanting his name.

“Eddy! Eddy! Eddy!”

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” Pineiro said. “Who doesn’t like their name getting chanted when they come out, but yeah, it feels pretty cool for a kicker. You never see that.”

It’s unusual, that’s for sure.

“I actually coached a Lou Groza Award winner (Art Carmody at Louisville in 2006). But nobody ever chanted his name,” special teams coordinator Greg Nord said. “Most of them you don’t even know their name.”

Pineiro missed two field goals in the Gators’ next game against Kentucky but bounced back connecting on his lone attempt against North Texas. He’s excitable. The camera pans catching Pineiro pumping his fist, jumping up and celebrating. He and punter/holder Johnny Townsend even hit the mannequin challenge after this kick against LSU.

Pineiro has made 18 field goals this season. He’s connected on his last nine attempts in a row, two more than Florida made all of 2015. He’s provided a consistent and reliable scoring option for an offense that has struggled down the stretch.

This Saturday he’ll face Saban for the first time since decommitting. He’s ready for that encounter and ready for the challenge the Crimson Tide brings.

“Who doesn’t want to play the best team in the country? I mean, it’s indoors, there’s no wind, so it’s good kicking conditions. It should be good,” he said.

“Eddy’s a lot of fun to be around, too. He’s got a team that’s really behind him and kind of enjoys it,” McElwain said of Pineiro. “He can keep it pretty loose at times and that’s not a bad thing.”

Do you notice something about that quote?

Jared Roberts, also known affectionately as “kicker,” does.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC