University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: William Mote
October 07, 2021 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
William Mote comes by his long snapping skills naturally — his father, Patrick, snapped at Auburn in the 1980s. Who do the No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs play this week? The 18th-ranked Tigers. Mote said there will be no allegiance issues inside his house.
Earlier this week, Payne Walker, Georgia's long snapper on place kicks, sat down for a Quick Chat of his own: https://gado.gs/7po. Like Walker, Mote, from Hoover, Ala., is a redshirt sophomore walk-on that has not only earned a spot on the team but has snapped on punts in every game the past two seasons.
During our Quick Chat, Mote talked about his start snapping, snapping for punts versus kicks, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: I'll open with the same question I asked Payne the other day: how did you get into long snapping?
Mote: I got into long snapping because that's what my dad did. My dad snapped in college so ever since I was young I told him, I want to play college football. I always thought I would play as like a linebacker somewhere, and he was like, if you really just want to play football and play wherever you want to play, really, you need to get into long snapping.
It was kind of something I shrugged off until — I did it in middle school and I did it in high school, but I didn't take it seriously until sophomore year. That's how I got into it. My dad was my coach for a long time and then I started going to camps and stuff.
Frierson: So it's a big week for your household.
Mote: I don't think any of them will be wearing orange and blue.
Frierson: Snapping for punts versus snapping for field goals and extra points, is one harder than the other?
Mote: We have this conversation all the time, me and Payne. We both agree, I think, that punts are harder, it's just that field goals in certain situations can be a lot more stressful. Payne, his job is to give the holler a good ball, make it easy to catch, but there are a lot of parts to it that people don't realize: how high the ball is, where the holder wants it, and where the laces are pointed when the holder catches is.
With punts, they hold a really high standard here. I'm not complaining, I've gotten nothing but better from it — my job is to put Jake (Camarda) in the best position to punt the ball and not worry about anything else. He needs a good spiral to catch it, then if we're punting left then they want me to put it on the left hip. If we're punting right, put it on the right hip, and if we're rugbying, they want me to lead him. ...
A lot of punters, they'll tell you where they want it. Jake, he just wants it within his frame, belt-buckle (high). The coaches are more specific about which direction we're going.
Oh, and I completely forgot blocking. In our scheme of punt, I have to snap the ball and then block. It's hard; I'm surprised I haven't gotten laid out, to be honest. There are some big dudes coming full speed. It's not like they have to stop, they can hit me. If my head's down, though, they can't, that's the thing. My goal is to block, I have to protect — I can't just let the guy go by me.
Frierson: When it comes to tackling, you got down there and made a tackle in the second quarter against Arkansas. Was that your most satisfying moment as a Georgia Bulldog?
Mote: Satisfying? I don't know. This past game was really, really satisfying to me because one of my best buddies (Dan Jackson) blocked a punt. ... I don't know, it's surreal when you do it yourself and it's fun, but I almost enjoy seeing other people, other specialists especially, do really well.
When (kicker Jack Podlesny) hit his game-winner (in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) last season, we were hyped. There was a picture of all of us out there on the field and we definitely shouldn't have been on the field. I remember I threw my helmet on the ground when we ran out there and turned around and saw Coach (Kirby) Smart with it. One of our main rules is to never have your helmet off and we're in a bowl game and I just threw mine on the field [laughs]. And I rushed the field without my helmet on.
That tackle was a lot of fun but I want a lot more. I don't expect that to be my only one. I want more.
Frierson: Georgia like a lot of schools has a great tradition of walk-ons coming in and really contributing. Here you are on the No. 2 team in the country and you're out there making a tackle on special teams. There was Dan out there blocking a punt that led to a touchdown.
Mote: Me and Dan, we're in the same grade and came in as walk-ons together. We did not have any clue who each other were, and we've been hyping up Dan to the coaches all the time because we all knew Dan was a good athlete. You watch his highlight film from high school, it's ridiculous. ... Dan's exactly what you want in a walk-on in my opinion, and I feel like they genuinely try to find walk-ons like that. A guy that's going to play his heart out and try to find himself on the field one day. That's exactly what happened.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
William Mote comes by his long snapping skills naturally — his father, Patrick, snapped at Auburn in the 1980s. Who do the No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs play this week? The 18th-ranked Tigers. Mote said there will be no allegiance issues inside his house.
Earlier this week, Payne Walker, Georgia's long snapper on place kicks, sat down for a Quick Chat of his own: https://gado.gs/7po. Like Walker, Mote, from Hoover, Ala., is a redshirt sophomore walk-on that has not only earned a spot on the team but has snapped on punts in every game the past two seasons.
During our Quick Chat, Mote talked about his start snapping, snapping for punts versus kicks, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: I'll open with the same question I asked Payne the other day: how did you get into long snapping?
Mote: I got into long snapping because that's what my dad did. My dad snapped in college so ever since I was young I told him, I want to play college football. I always thought I would play as like a linebacker somewhere, and he was like, if you really just want to play football and play wherever you want to play, really, you need to get into long snapping.
It was kind of something I shrugged off until — I did it in middle school and I did it in high school, but I didn't take it seriously until sophomore year. That's how I got into it. My dad was my coach for a long time and then I started going to camps and stuff.
Frierson: So it's a big week for your household.
Mote: I don't think any of them will be wearing orange and blue.
Frierson: Snapping for punts versus snapping for field goals and extra points, is one harder than the other?
Mote: We have this conversation all the time, me and Payne. We both agree, I think, that punts are harder, it's just that field goals in certain situations can be a lot more stressful. Payne, his job is to give the holler a good ball, make it easy to catch, but there are a lot of parts to it that people don't realize: how high the ball is, where the holder wants it, and where the laces are pointed when the holder catches is.
With punts, they hold a really high standard here. I'm not complaining, I've gotten nothing but better from it — my job is to put Jake (Camarda) in the best position to punt the ball and not worry about anything else. He needs a good spiral to catch it, then if we're punting left then they want me to put it on the left hip. If we're punting right, put it on the right hip, and if we're rugbying, they want me to lead him. ...
A lot of punters, they'll tell you where they want it. Jake, he just wants it within his frame, belt-buckle (high). The coaches are more specific about which direction we're going.
Oh, and I completely forgot blocking. In our scheme of punt, I have to snap the ball and then block. It's hard; I'm surprised I haven't gotten laid out, to be honest. There are some big dudes coming full speed. It's not like they have to stop, they can hit me. If my head's down, though, they can't, that's the thing. My goal is to block, I have to protect — I can't just let the guy go by me.
Frierson: When it comes to tackling, you got down there and made a tackle in the second quarter against Arkansas. Was that your most satisfying moment as a Georgia Bulldog?
Mote: Satisfying? I don't know. This past game was really, really satisfying to me because one of my best buddies (Dan Jackson) blocked a punt. ... I don't know, it's surreal when you do it yourself and it's fun, but I almost enjoy seeing other people, other specialists especially, do really well.
When (kicker Jack Podlesny) hit his game-winner (in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) last season, we were hyped. There was a picture of all of us out there on the field and we definitely shouldn't have been on the field. I remember I threw my helmet on the ground when we ran out there and turned around and saw Coach (Kirby) Smart with it. One of our main rules is to never have your helmet off and we're in a bowl game and I just threw mine on the field [laughs]. And I rushed the field without my helmet on.
That tackle was a lot of fun but I want a lot more. I don't expect that to be my only one. I want more.
Frierson: Georgia like a lot of schools has a great tradition of walk-ons coming in and really contributing. Here you are on the No. 2 team in the country and you're out there making a tackle on special teams. There was Dan out there blocking a punt that led to a touchdown.
Mote: Me and Dan, we're in the same grade and came in as walk-ons together. We did not have any clue who each other were, and we've been hyping up Dan to the coaches all the time because we all knew Dan was a good athlete. You watch his highlight film from high school, it's ridiculous. ... Dan's exactly what you want in a walk-on in my opinion, and I feel like they genuinely try to find walk-ons like that. A guy that's going to play his heart out and try to find himself on the field one day. That's exactly what happened.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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