LINCOLN -- An Australian rugby-style punter is visiting Nebraska this weekend, and could becoming the team's preferred option for 2025.
Archie Wilson, an 18-year-old who previously played Aussie Rules football in his home country, is making the visit according to a representative at Prokick Australia, which develops Australian footballers into punters for college and the NFL.
Iowa's Tory Taylor, now with the Chicago Bears, was developed by Prokick. As were the Seahawks' Michael Dickson and the 49ers' Mitch Wishnowsky, who will be with a new team in 2025.
Wilson, at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds according to an Australian Football League website, is already listed in the UNL student directory. In 2024, he played for the Old Carey Under-19 Men's AFL team, scoring 12 goals in 11 games.
Nebraska sought a rugby-style punter -- Aussie Rules is similar to rugby -- after new special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler arrived on campus over the winter.
At Tennessee, Ekeler's previous stop, he had a rugby-style punter in Jackson Ross, who was developed by Prokick while attending Haileybury College Preparatory School. Wilson attended the same school.
To make room for Wilson, Nebraska moved on from Jack McCallister, the transfer punter it had signed from Washington. McCallister, who picked Nebraska when Ed Foley was the special teams coordinator, is a traditional punter who catches the snap, stands in place and punts.
Rugby punters can punt traditionally as needed, but also have the ability roll out and punt on the run, the way rugby or Aussie Rules players do.
It's an effective style in college because interior linemen on the punt coverage team are allowed after the snap to run after the punt returner. A rugby-style punter buys time for his linemen by rolling out before punting the ball -- typically on a low line drive that bounces off the turf -- toward the returner, who is swarmed by coverage.
Rhule said he didn't "feel good" about McCallister's situation.
"Coach Ekeler has done a wonderful job and he strongly, strongly, strongly believes in utilizing the college rules, which are different than the NFL rules in which guys can get down the field," Rhule said in April, after McCallister announced his transfer. "So we will be more of a rugby punt team."
McCallister was "deeply disappointed" he had to transfer, Rhule said. He landed at Purdue.
Should Wilson join the team -- which reports back to campus in early June -- he would compete for the job with Kamdyn Koch, the son of former Husker punter Sam Koch. They'll be seeking to replace three-year starter Brian Buschini, who averaged 43.1 yards per punt over 37 games.
NU allowed 576 punt return yards over those three seasons, some of which came off blocks.
In that same time, Tennessee allowed 148.
Wilson would be NU's second rugby-style punter. The Huskers signed Daniel Cerni -- also developed by Prokick -- during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Cerni punted 16 times during the 2021 season after an injury before the 2020 season.