The Interesting Path to Michigan State for Kicker Liam Boyd
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Life has been all about the Carolinas for kicker Liam Boyd, until now.
Michigan State's new kicker is now at his fourth school in five years of college football. Coming out of Asheville High School in Asheville, N.C., Boyd redshirted for a season before transferring to North Carolina. He spent two seasons in Chapel Hill before going to Charlotte last season. Now, he's a Spartan.
Across his collegiate career, Boyd has gone 10-for-13 (76.9%) during his career on field goals and a perfect 22-for-22 on extra points. He's likely to take over the starting role from Martin Connington, who transferred to Kansas this past winter.
Boyd also has some other connections. He and former MSU star kicker Jonathan Kim didn't overlap at North Carolina together, but they both have the same kicking coach and have a "good relationship," Boyd said. He also knew Iowa kicker Drew Stevens, whom new Spartans special teams coordinator LeVar Woods coached while at Iowa.
Hear from Liam Boyd:
How Boyd Landed at MSU
"Yeah, so I entered the portal and then heard from Coach Woods," Boyd said when asked about how he got to MSU. "My kicking coach has a great relationship with Coach Woods, and I know Drew Stevens, he's a guy that [Woods has] had at Iowa for the last few years. They've had a pretty good relationship."
"So he kind of got me really interested in Michigan State and then, you know, I learned more about Michigan State's great history of special teams with kickers and punters. It seemed like a great marriage of like, you know, a top coordinator and program with a really good pedigree in what I do."
Plenty of great specialists have come out of Michigan State in the past. There is a pretty good chance that MSU punter Ryan Eckley will be drafted later this month during the NFL Draft. If he isn't drafted, he'll be a priority undrafted free agent.
Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen, who is second all-time in points scored in league history (2,544), played at MSU. The New England Patriots just got to the Super Bowl with Spartan alumnus Bryce Baringer as the team's punter.
Adding Woods as the team's special teams coordinator only ups the program's prestige in football's third phase. Since 2019, he's had seven All-American honors go to his players on special teams alone at Iowa, two of them going to punter Tory Taylor, and then another to kicker Keith Duncan.
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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