A.J. Hughes Wraps Up Prolific Punting Career, Walking Out the Door with Mentor Frank Beamer

The Hokies' longtime starting punter reflects on four years of "punter swag" and his relationship with his head coach.

A.J. Hughes has one regular season game left after four years as Tech's starting punter. [Mark Umansky]

From the first day A.J. Hughes set foot in Blacksburg, he had no other choice than to become Virginia Tech's starting punter.

It wasn't a matter of will, or desire, or other football platitudes, but one of practicality.

Even with his well renowned love of special teams, Frank Beamer isn't one to use multiple scholarships on punters. Rather, he invites a select few in for a tryout and the top performer earns the job, and the financial aid that goes with it.

That gave Hughes an extra bit of motivation as he first tried to make the cut back in 2012.

"I knew coming in, my parents said that I only had one semester," Hughes said. "Either you're gonna be on scholarship or you're coming home, and I certainly was not going to go home. So to finally reach my goal and earn a starting job and a scholarship was expected, to say the very least."

The Hokies have to be very glad indeed that the Terre Haute, Ind. native reached that goal and stayed on campus.

Even before his final regular season game this weekend, Hughes stands as one of the most prolific punters in school history. He's currently third all-time in career punting average β€” his mark of 41.8 yards per punt is just shy of those set by Nic Schmitt and Brent Bowden β€” and his 12,453 total yards punted stand atop the leaderboard by a margin of more than 3,000 yards.

Those marks seem all the more remarkable considering that punting wasn't much more than a hobby for Hughes until his senior year of high school.

Chris Barrett, Hughes' coach during his days at Terre Haute North Vigo HS, recalls Hughes playing wide receiver when he first joined the team as a freshman, and football was hardly the only activity that piqued his interest.

"It seemed like growing up, he was always into sports," Barrett said. "Not just football, but (he) wrestled, played ice hockey, driving all over playing ice hockey, he ran track, an excellent pole vaulter."

Hughes admits that his personality back then was a bit "overactive," just as it was a sign of his athletic gifts β€” he ended up qualifying for the state championships multiple times in his pole vaulting pursuits.

"I'm always just doing random stuff," Hughes said.

But for all his other interests, Hughes says that "kicking a ball is something I've always enjoyed" and he saw a need opening up for a punter headed into his senior season.

"Pretty much every day after polo practice in that spring before my junior year I'd always kick because the field was right there," Hughes said. "I ended up getting good at it, so one thing led to another."

Barrett believes Hughes shouldn't be so humble about his devotion to the craft. Even though Hughes had yet to seize the starting punting job for the Patriots, Barrett remembers noticing his talents when he was just messing around on the practice field.

"A lot of kids punt and kick but you can tell when they've got the kind of special gift," Barrett said. "The kid was just a hard worker. It wasn't just a deal where he punted in season, he worked on it year round, he went to all the national camps, other camps just to hone in on his skill."

Hughes credits those camps with helping him make a name for himself nationally, and ultimately winding up on Virginia Tech's radar.

The summer before his junior year, Hughes decided to head to a camp put on by Steve Weatherford, the longtime NFL punter and an alum of Hughes' alma mater.

Weatherford, veteran NFL kicker John Carney and Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee were all on hand to offer instruction to local high schoolers, but Hughes stood out from the pack.

"I'm 17 years old, getting one-on-one work with three pro specialists," Hughes said. "I'm kicking with them and Pat is like 'Damn kid, you've got a chance to do this at the next level,' and I was like 'Really? Cool.'"

McAfee thought so highly of Hughes that he reached out to Jamie Kohl, an ESPN writer and founder of the Kohl's Kicking camp series.

"He was like 'Yeah, if Pat thinks you're good enough, that's as good a recommendation as any,'" Hughes said. "There was a scholarship invite camp the very next weekend in Wisconsin, and he said 'Yeah, man, come up and see what happens.'"

Hughes made an impression there as well, earning top punting honors and putting his name on the national stage.

"I walked out of there being ranked number 11 in the country, with me not even punting a down in high school," Hughes said. "It was really exciting for that to all happen like that, that fast."

Once his senior year arrived, Hughes ultimately took over both punting and kicking duties for the Patriots, yet Barrett recalls that "punting was, from the get go, where he really excelled."

"Just as the year went along it was like 'Man, this kid's gonna be pretty good,'" Barrett said. "He has just such great hang time, really great for coverage, allowed your team to get down there and not allow a return, very accurate with where he put it as well."

Between his strong performance in his lone year in the starting job and his national recognition, Barrett remembers Hughes being "highly recruited" as his senior year came to a close, with schools from the MAC and Big 10 taking an interest in Hughes.

But when the Hokies entered the picture, Hughes said his decision was an easy one.

"I always knew deep down, once I got my first recruiting letter from them that that was the school to go to," Hughes said. "It was by far my best offer, definitely my most appealing in all regards, and it's hard to turn down 'Beamer Ball.'"

Once he made his decision to take a shot at earning a scholarship in Blacksburg, Hughes was immediately locked in a tense battle that would determine both his academic and athletic future.

Yet Hughes remembers not fully feeling the weight of what he was fighting for, largely thanks to Beamer's demeanor throughout the process.

"When I was a freshman, competing for that starting job, I never left practice without a smile on my face," Hughes said. "Obviously I was pleased and happy (to win the job), but if you're gonna be good at something, you've got to stay humble in moments like that and move onto the next goal and find purpose and drive to continue to get better."

With the top spot secured, Hughes said that his work with Beamer was a major part of his development process.

"That's one thing that I've been so fortunate and blessed to be a part of is being with Coach Beamer every day for the four years I've been here, the most out of, I'd say, anyone on the team," Hughes said. "During practice, it's always a competitive environment, obviously, and he's great at instilling that kind of mood or atmosphere when we go about it. He's hilarious, we always have fun, even in the thick of competition."

Hughes' first year with the Hokies was a strong one for a freshman, as he averaged 40.6 yards per punt on his 76 total attempts. But he also made his fair share of youthful missteps as he learned the ropes, and he said he learned plenty about how his legendary coach responded to a less-than-ideal kick.

"I've been on the far spectrums of both ends," Hughes said. "When you experience success at the highest level (and) when you're not performing to your abilities, there's different ways he goes about handling that, and it's always been, I think, in my best interest."

In his sophomore year, Hughes started to earn national attention for his performance, punting 78 times for an average of 44.1 yards. By the end of the year, he was rewarded with second team All-ACC honors for his work, but one play likely stood out above all else for Hokies fans: His forced fumble against Miami.

"I definitely think that it changed the momentum for us as a team and kind of propelled our success moving forward in that game, and helped us get the win," Hughes said. "Can't say it's solely on me, but it's electric moments like that in the game that help the ball roll in your favor."

Hughes only has six career tackles to his name, but, past his protestations and efforts to deflect credit for the play, it's clear just how much that big hit meant to him.

"That was sick, that was so much fun," Hughes said. "As a specialist, it's truly just what your foot's gonna do to the football, so to be able to do other things on top of that, that's something I know I pride myself on and definitely our kicker Joey (Slye) does as well."

Hughes lacked for similar explosive plays in his junior campaign last year, but he did still perform admirably. His average declined to 39.9 yards per punt, but he did still have 22 kicks downed inside the 20-yard line and a more advanced look at the numbers revealed that his performance largely remained on par with his efforts the prior season.

Headed into his final year, Hughes underwent back surgery in January to address back pain that bothered him throughout the bulk of the 2014 season. By March, he felt he was fully recovered, and the results on the field have borne that out.

So far, he's managed an average of 43 yards per punt on his 58 attempts, with 17 downed inside the 20.

But it's been a punt that was logged as traveling just 20 yards that's raised the most eyebrows this year.

Indeed, it's hard to forget Hughes' effort to recover a ball snapped over his head in the driving rain against ECU, before managing to kick it away from the end zone and somehow get it into Pirate territory.

"Moments like that, you've just got to react," Hughes said. "I'm sure everyone watching had the 'Oh, shit' moment, but it's just like, sometimes the cards are dealt and you play it to the best of your ability, and that's just what I did, I kind of reacted."

That quick thinking could end up paying off for Hughes in a big way. Barrett said he's received "several letters from NFL teams wanting information about him" since video of that play hit the Internet.

"I think that had to open up some eyes that not only is he a good punter, but he's also an athlete," Barrett said. "He can do some things with his feet when he needs to and he's in those types of situations."

That's very welcome news for Hughes, who's been hoping for just such an opportunity for a long time now.

"That's always been a dream of mine, since I was three years old, was to be a pro athlete," Hughes said. "Who would pass that up?...I'm just hopeful that someone will give me the opportunity to to succeed."

But with one final matchup with UVA left, with a bowl berth on the line, Hughes says those NFL aspirations are relegated to "the back of my head."

Besides, he has a whole other emotional rollercoaster to confront as well, as Beamer prepares for what could be his last game as Tech's head coach after a 29-year career.

"He has the biggest heart, kind, genuine, he's just straight up and honest," Hughes said. 'At the end of the day, it's just something that you respect most about him. That's what makes you want to lay it all on the line for him."

Considering the countless hours the pair has spent together in practice, Hughes says he expects to feel the emotional weight of Beamer's departure especially acutely.

"Getting to know him, I can't really say he's like a father figure to me, because I've only got one dad, but you couldn't even put him in a category. It's Coach Beamer," Hughes said. "I love the man. He's given me everything in life at this moment, and you couldn't put words together to explain what he's done."

Now, the pair will get a chance to end their Virginia Tech careers at the exact same time. Whenever the final whistle sounds and the two walk off the field for the last time together, Hughes expects that it will be a "moment all on its own."

But he can take a good guess at how he wants it to turn out.

"Hopefully we walk off with a 'W' and we're happy and celebratory," Hughes said. "There's only one way you can send a man like that out. And that's, above all, with a win."

Yet Hughes points out that Beamer is hardly the only person he'll miss when his time at Virginia Tech is done. Had his tryout turned out a little differently four years ago, Hughes would've never met the people that have become extended members of his family.

"That's what I'm going to miss most about it, the family atmosphere," Hughes said. "My teammates, my brothers, my fellow specialists, my bus three swag."

"The stuff that we do to pass the time, all the fun stuff we do during practice when everyone else is doing middle drill and we're out there kicking balls over the scoreboard or punting balls from 60 yards out into a trashcan and losing our minds and having a good time. The stories, pregame in the hotel, so many things."

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