RALEIGH -- Football wasn't the primary reason Andy Leffler wanted to transfer to N.C. State.
The 5-foot-10 punter from Dublin, Ohio, was eager to get to N.C. State to study to be a veterinarian after three years as a backup for Elon's football team.
Leffler was unhappy about the limited playing time he had logged, but his father Jon Leffler encouraged him to continue playing football. So, after speaking with the N.C. State coaching staff, Leffler walked on and became the answer to one of the Wolfpack's biggest on-field problems.
"If you would have sat me down five or six years ago and told me that I'd be playing for a Division I school and playing football on national television, I would have told you, you were crazy," Leffler said.
Yet here he is, not only starting, but thriving at a position that has long caused N.C. State trouble. Leffler's average of 41.5 yards per punt is the highest for an N.C. State player since John Deraney averaged 41.9 yards as a sophomore in 2004.
Leffler isn't the only one who had not envisioned him occupying this position, however. A strong-legged scholarship player from Georgia named Chris Ward was supposed to be the answer for N.C. State as a redshirt freshman. But he was suspended from the team in the spring and did not return to the program for the 2010 season.
Jeff Ruiz, who struggled in 2009 as a starter, had decided to transfer but returned to reclaim his starting job. After he averaged just 37.1 yards per kick over his first three games, the coaching staff decided to give Leffler a chance.
"He has a tremendous upside in terms of his flexibility," said N.C. State special teams coach and recruiting coordinator Jerry Petercuskie. "If you notice him on the field, he really has unbelievable extension. He still has to improve his drops, and he still has to improve technically sliding under the ball sometimes. But when he hits the football, for a little guy, he puts it in orbit."
Leffler never would have had the opportunity to play this season if not for the work of his father and Petercuskie. In order for the NCAA to waive the standard requirement that transfer students must sit out a year, Petercuskie said, the Lefflers had to show that Andy was not recruited by Elon before he walked on there.
Proving that and transferring his academic credentials required a huge amount of paperwork by Jon Leffler and Petercuskie before Leffler got clearance to play. He made his first start Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech and has been solid since he entered the lineup.
He met a personal goal by hammering a punt that hung in the air for five seconds on Oct. 9 against Boston College. He has downed 10 of his 18 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard-line.
But he isn't sure what to expect in the future. Before his emergence, Wil Baumann of Wilmington's Hoggard High committed to N.C. State as a scholarship player, with plans to take over the starting punter job in 2011.
So Leffler will face strong competition next season, but he said he's OK with that. He already has gotten more out of his experience at N.C. State than he had ever imagined.
After struggling to consistently deliver good punts in the preseason, when coach Tom O'Brien said about every third Leffler punt was a shank, he has rarely had a poor punt in his five games as a starter.
"Once he's had the opportunity to perform, he's made the most of it," O'Brien said, "and it's been a great boost to our football team."
