Jesse Mirco was thrilled as the horns sounded across West End and the goalpost came down after the Commodores’ upset of Alabama on Oct. 5. He wasn’t surprised, though. He knew it was only a matter of time until Vanderbilt would shake the notion that FirstBank Stadium was the perennial stomping ground of the SEC. 

But something more personal hit home for him when he took in his surroundings after the victory: He made the right decision in coming to Vanderbilt. 

Mirco was born in Fremantle, located on the western coast of Australia. From an early age, his parents encouraged him to play Australian football, an amalgamation of rugby, football and soccer. Mirco’s raw skills on the oval would eventually translate well to the gridiron, regardless of the sports’ different set of rules. 

It wasn’t until Mirco traveled to Miami and attended a University of Miami Football game in 2019 that he saw a punt for the first time. There he saw Lou Headly, a fellow Australian, punt for the Hurricanes. Mirco may not remember the score of that game, but he did remember the nagging feeling that it could be him on that field. 

“I went to a game in Miami, and there was a guy punting, Lou Headley, who’s [Australian],” Mirco said. “I didn’t know that at the time, but I kind of watched and thought it was something I could maybe do.”

The same year, he also visited Lexington, Kentucky, to watch another Western Australian native, Max Duffy, punt for the Wildcats. After the game, Mirco spoke to Duffy, who introduced him to Prokick Australia. 

The rest is history.

Prokick Australia is perhaps the most prestigious punting academy in the world. Founded in 2007, the program has produced eight Ray Guy Award winners, 85 All-Americans and 29 alumni who have signed NFL or CFL contracts. Mirco quickly jumped at the opportunity to attend Prokick and fondly remembers his experience at the academy. 

“There’s a handful of coaches that help out. We do some classroom work, weight room stuff and punting techniques. We all grow up kicking the Aussie style, like the roll style, but the coaches there really focus on trying to kick traditional American spirals,” Mirco said. It’s awesome there. It was a good time.”

By the program’s end, he had earned 3-star recruit status and was ranked as the No. 4 punter in the Class of 2021 by 247 Sports. Mirco ultimately decided to take his talents to Ohio State University.

“[Ohio State] was honestly the first place I really ever got in contact with through the Prokick guys. So there wasn’t too much to [my commitment], other than [it being] just the first opportunity that really popped up,” Mirco said.

Despite Mirco’s nonchalant attitude toward his commitment, his on-field production was clinical. At Ohio State, he ranked fourth in all-time career punting average yards and was a Ray Guy Award — given each year to the top punter in the nation — semifinalist in 2022. 

Before he ever played for the Buckeyes, however, he was connected to former Ohio State punter Cam Johnston. Mirco attributes his relationship with Johnston as a cornerstone of his progression in Columbus.

“[Going to Ohio] gave me a good relationship with Cam Johnston, an Australian ProKick [trainee] who played at Ohio State. He was the first [Australian] before me [to play for the Buckeyes], and he’s [still] in the NFL,” Mirco said. “Having someone like him who was based in Columbus during the offseason definitely helped me improve pretty quickly and get a better understanding of the game as a whole.” 

Three years at Ohio State left Mirco wanting more, though. Despite the incredible experience of playing for a highly successful team in Ohio Stadium, he found getting recognized as a stellar punter at Ohio State difficult. The Buckeyes — thanks to a dominant offense filled with NFL talent — created few opportunities for him to punt. When he did see the field, he was often instructed to pooch punt in an effort to pin teams close to their end zones. 

“When you do a lot of pooch punting and stuff like that, it’s obviously never going to be a spot where you stuff the numbers and kick the ball as far as you can because, obviously, it’s not the objective most of the time,” Mirco said on the Any Given Sunday Australia Podcast earlier this year.

So, after graduating from Ohio State in 2023 as a sports industry major, Mirco knew it was time for a change. He hit the transfer portal seeking a program that would develop him as a punter and offer more experience in punting spiral style. Prokick alumni and former Commodore Matthew Hayball persuaded Mirco to consider Vanderbilt.

“[Hayball] couldn’t speak higher of Coach [Jeff] LePak or Coach [Clark] Lea, so that was a big part of it,” Mirco said in a Nov. 7 interview.

Hayball’s praise prompted Mirco to visit Nashville. After talking to Lea and special teams coach LePak, Mirco realized that the Commodores would offer him the opportunity he sought. 

“I wanted to be somewhere where I was appreciated for what I was doing. [Lea] lets you get to know him on such a deep level, which makes it more meaningful because we want to play and win for him,” Mirco said.

The Black and Gold football family readily embraced Mirco when he committed ahead of the 2024 season. He and his girlfriend moved into Hayball’s apartment in the spring of 2024, allowing the two punters to spend time together and develop a relationship as Hayball prepared for the 2024 NFL Draft. 

The positivity and high expectations for Vanderbilt’s 2024 season were palpable in the locker room as Mirco — along with the Commodores’ other transfers — integrated into Vanderbilt’s routine over the summer. 

“When I first got here with the other transfers, it was an exciting time, and everyone was pretty positive. And everything felt good.” Mirco said.

Mirco quickly established himself in the existing special teams room and developed a strong relationship with Brock Taylor, who he regards as a younger brother. 

“Brock’s like a little brother. I love him. He’s a great kid, so we get on really well, and he’s really good at what he does,” Mirco explained. “It’s been awesome to work with him and the rest of the special teams room.”

He was also pleased to be given the freedom he sought by transferring to Vanderbilt. 

“[The special teams staff] just let me do my thing,” Mirco said. “They let me have input and some say, rather than just making me do whatever they [thought was] best, which is definitely helpful [to my development].”

Many uncertainties surrounded how Vanderbilt would perform in 2024 with a reformed roster. The team’s success — highlighted by its upset over Alabama — was a pleasant surprise for many. 

Mirco and his teammates were not among those surprised; they knew what they were capable of.

“Seeing success on the field has been awesome because I feel like we have definitely put in the work on and off the field,” Mirco said. “I feel like it’s something that we’ve earned [rather than been] given.”

Mirco found flashes of success during the first half of the season. He blasted an average of 55.5 yards per punt and tied his career-long record of 69 yards against Alcorn State in Week Two. Despite boasting 44.4 yards per attempt in his first five games, he only punted 3.4 times per contest.

Mirco’s breakout as a Commodore finally came in Week 10 against Auburn. As the team took to the road after a close loss to Texas, the Commodores’ slowing offense created more opportunities for Mirco to punt. 

Mirco took the field a career-high eight times in the game and finished with the program’s second-best single-game performance for average yards per punt at 52.9. Mirco’s punts consistently pinned Auburn within its 25-yard line and put the Tigers in poor field position — helping alleviate the pressure on Vanderbilt’s defense. These efforts helped buoy an otherwise quiet offense. 

“[Auburn] was one of the first times all year — or one of the handful of times all year — where I feel like I’ve been able to have a bigger impact,” Mirco said. “Punting more times [is] never ideal [for] the offense, but it means I can have a chance to make a difference.”

Mirco isn’t focused on individual accolades, and he certainly isn’t stressing about the future. He has approached this season one kick at a time. 

“When I go out there, each punt is its own rep, one kick at a time,” Mirco said. “I do [the] best I can each time, and hopefully, at the end of the game, it helps and contributes to us winning.”

Mirco was again placed on the Ray Guy watchlist after the matchup with the Tigers as he solidified himself as one of the top punters in the SEC. These accolades, however, have never been Mirco’s top priority. Instead, his goals for the year are relatively simple.

“Help[ing] us win games and be a successful team, and then also giving myself a chance to play the next level [NFL] is the main goal,” Mirco said.

Mirco is on the right track to accomplish both of these goals through his unique mindset. His approach to achieving his goals is similar to how he approaches punting — one rep at a time. 

“As long as I keep playing well and take it one rep at a time, hopefully I get a chance at [playing in the NFL] in the future,” Mirco said.

LePak described Mirco’s methodology of accomplishment as detail-oriented and driven. 

“Kick in and kick out, he tries to have a process for every kick so that it will be the exact same every single time. It’s about catching the snap, foot placement on the ball, letting the ball fly and getting it up with good hang time and direction for our kick coverage,” LePak said.

This process has yielded results. Mirco finished the regular season with 48 yards per punt attempt, ranking first in the SEC fourth in the nation. He has also posted a career-high of 2,255 punting yards, which will stand to increase in Vanderbilt’s bowl game later this month.

While fans may wonder where Mirco will be next year, he’s focused on just one thing — winning Vanderbilt’s first bowl game in more than a decade.

This story was originally published on The Vanderbilt Hustler on December 4, 2024.