Sixty yards used to feel like a stretch. Now it’s turning into a normal part of an NFL Sunday.
It’s getting there closer in college than it’s been since Steve Little at Arkansas, Russell Erxleben at Texas and Tony Franklin at Texas A&M did it in the 1970’s.
Those were the days when they were kicking field goals and extra points with two-inch tees with a “kicking ball” that was word down to be nearly round and nearly slick as a helmet.
But that’s ancient history and the Razorbacks really don’t want to acknowledge much of anything before 2000 if it didn’t involve the 1964 football team or the 1993 basketball team.
There was a time, though, when getting across midfield put college teams in at least field goal range.
Kickers made 12 of 22 field goal tries from 60 yards or farther during the 2025 NFL regular season. That works out to better than half.
Long field goals are piling up around league
Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey topped the league with three makes from that distance giving his offense a scoring shot the second they crossed midfield.
One name stands out above the rest and Arkansas fans will recognize it. Cam Little kicked for the Razorbacks from 2021 to 2023 before turning pro and he now holds the record for the longest field goal in football history.
He drilled a 70-yarder for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2025 preseason then broke the NFL’s regular-season distance record a few months later with a 68-yard make against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Much of the credit for the longer kicks goes to a rule change involving the footballs.
Teams now get 60 “K-Balls” at the start of the season and can break them in at practice which softens the leather over time. Three of those balls get approved by officials before kickoff and stay in use for three games.
Kickers point to the softer footballs as a factor though better technique training and stronger legs get mentione too. Nothing like what was flying through college goal posts in the 1970’s.
Long field goals have mattered to Arkansas for a long time.
During my high school and college years that shaped the program kickers like Bill McClard, Steve Little, Ish Ordonez, Bruce Laney and Steve Cox helped build a reputation for a strong leg in a Hogs uniform.
Arkansas’s record book and today’s kicking room
Back then a Razorbacks long snapper had one job on kicking plays: snap the ball to the holder or punter then sprint downfield and try to make the tackle.
Mike Burchfield, an old neighborhood buddy when we lived in Crossett in elementary school, was the first put on scholarship for that.
Steve Little’s name still tops the program record book. His 67-yard field goal off a tee against Texas in 1977 remains the second-longest field goal in NCAA history.
That mark has stood for decades and figures to stand a while longer.
The NFL’s surge in long makes raises a fair question for the college game. Could deeper field goals become common there as well?
Arkansas special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford doesn’t expect it unless new rules come into play.
He said the football itself makes the biggest difference since college teams don’t get to break one in ahead of games the way NFL teams do.
He also said the country has plenty of strong-legged kickers and that making smart choices for the team matters more than chasing extra yardage.
Arkansas already has a proven option at placekicker in Max Gilbert.
A backup kicker with untapped distance
The Tennessee transfer made 34 of 45 field goal attempts last season for a 75.5% rate and didn’t miss a single one of his 118 extra points. His career long sits at 53 yards and 80% of his attempts have come from inside 49 yards.
He hasn’t hit from 55 yards or farther in a college game but sounds confident he could.
Gilbert said most kickers at the Power Four level could hit from 60 yards on on a given day depending on wind and temperature and he trusts himself just as much as his coach does when he gets the call.
Lunsford said Gilbert would be the choice right now for an unusually long attempt. The Razorbacks also have a second option in Braeden McAlister a transfer from Georgia State who has already shown he can go deep.
The 6-foot 196-pound kicker drilled a 60-yard field goal last season that tied a Sun Belt Conference record and ranked as the second-longest make among all FBS kickers that year.
McAlister joined Arkansas mainly to handle kickoff duty and did that job well booting 36 of 43 kickoffs for touchbacks as a redshirt junior.
Lunsford said McAlister’s leg strength gives him a real shot at a long field goal down the road but wants to see his accuracy improve first since a long kick still has to go through the uprights.
Key takeaways
- NFL kickers made over half their 60-yard-plus field goal tries in 2025 with former Razorback Cam Little now holding the sport’s all-time distance records.
- Arkansas’s kicking tradition goes back decades to names like Bill McClard and Steve Little whose 1977 record still stands as the second-longest field goal in NCAA history.
- Arkansas has two potential long-range options today in Max Gilbert and Braeden McAlister though neither has topped 60 yards in a Hogs uniform yet.
