Rich Rod Has Zero Idea Who the Field Goal Kicker is Right Now — It's a Three-Man Battle

Nate Flower, Jack Cassidy, and Peter Notaro are all fighting for the job.

WVU Athletics Communications

When West Virginia brought in two kickers out of the transfer portal, I think most assumed, myself included, that Fairmont, WV native Nate Flower would be a long shot to be the team's field goal kicker in 2026.

Not so fast.

According to head coach Rich Rodriguez, Flower is right there in the battle, one that is far from being decided.

“That is probably one position where we are still…you talk about legitimate competition…big Jack (Cassidy) has the strongest leg, but Nate (Flower) has done a great job. He’s been really consistent. And Peter (Notaro) has been banged up most of the summer, so he’s kind of catching up. If you were to ask right now who would kick the 35-yard field goal today, I’m really not being coy; I don’t know. It’s one of the three. It’s wide-open competition.”

Flower was the Mountaineers' kickoff man for a good chunk of the 2025 season, with 11 of his 24 (45.8%) kicks going for touchbacks.

Cassidy is a 6-foot-6, 230-pound transfer from Western Kentucky and has felt like the obvious choice to win the job because of how strong a leg he has. He only had three field goal attempts last season, but all three were 40 yards+, including two that were 50+ — he went 3/3.

The third kicker in this battle is Petera Notaro, who transferred in from Alabama after just one season in Tuscaloosa. He did not attempt a single field goal during his freshman season, but did get a handful of opportunities on PATs, which he went a perfect 5/5 on. I wouldn't rule Notaro out from winning this job, but with him missing a good bit of time in the offseason, it's going to be a bit of an uphill battle.

The good thing is the Mountaineers have three guys they believe in and can give each of them different roles. They won't have to use one guy for field goals, PATs, and kickoffs, and knowing how many times Rich Rod has said he wants to play as many guys as possible, it's not all that far-fetched to say all three could split those duties.

With the first game now less than three weeks away, there's a good chance this thing spills over into the season and isn't settled until the end of September — when West Virginia gets set to enter Big 12 Conference play.