Richards seeks opportunity

An argument could easily be made that in August of 2007 Zach Richards out-kicked future Lou Groza Award winner Thomas Weber in what was, at the time, a fierce competition for Arizona State's starting placekicking job.

Now, he's looking for any job.

Despite making as many, or perhaps even more kicks in practice than Weber over a multi-week period of fall camp, Richards was a walk-on while Weber arrived in Tempe with a scholarship. That gave an edge to Weber, and after being named the starter, he capitalized by making all but one of his field goal attempts as a red shirt freshman in 2007, capturing the award given annually to the nation's top placekicker.

Richards languished in the background as Weber's backup, his academic focus taking a backseat to his disappointment and eventually leading to ineligibility.

"I do regret not taking more of an effort toward the grades at ASU," Richards said. "As far as the way I performed, I thought I did great [that first camp]. I thought I did as well or better than Thomas, but he's obviously a great kicker, one of the best in the country. After things went they way they did, I was down for a bit, tried to bounce back and didn't."

In Nov. of 2008, Richards' mother died of pancreatic cancer, passing away just months after a diagnosis. Richards took a compassionate withdrawal from his coursework at ASU and eventually ended up at Mesa Community College, where he spent the 2009 season as the team's kicker and punter.

Richards went just 2-of-8 on field goals for the season, numbers that won't impress anyone when looking at a stat line, but a deeper look reveals a critical detail that might otherwise be missed. Four of his five missed field goals were actually blocked attempts, Richards said.

"We had problems with it all season," Richards said of his team's inability to protect its field goal attempts. "It was just breakdowns. Every time I kicked a field goal it seemed like they were three deep in the backfield. It's frustrating but what can you do."

Richards went 19-of-21 on point after attempts and as a punter, averaged 38 yards per attempt with six punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line and a long of 70 yards. Perhaps most impressively, 85 percent of his kickoffs were touchbacks.

In an effort to make it back to the Division I level, Richards is returning to the Chris Sailer kicking camp in January and then participating in the Arizona Cardinals' camp later in the month. It's in those types of venues where he's been successful in the past, finishing 18th in the Top-20 at the Sailer camp coming out of high school.

The hope, Richards said, is that it leads to an opportunity. Any opportunity.

"As far as right now we've been calling coaches, my coach at Mesa has called Houston and Iowa,' Richards said. "We've got a lot of interest from 1AA because their seasons are all done. Coming toward next couple weeks there should be a big growth spurt and teams showing interest.

"For kicker it doesn't really matter what school you go to, it just matters how well you perform. Spending last few years being told I can play at the next level through the (famous-for-their-kicking) Zendejes brothers and what I was able to do going up against Thomas has me hoping for a chance to show what I can do."