By Bill Thompson
Uploaded: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 10:45AM EST
It doesn’t take long listening to Chance Poore talk before you’ll notice a unique Anderson accent. Nor does it take much research to find out how highly touted his talents are.
According to 24/7 Sports, Chance Poore was the #1 kicker in the nation when he was being recruited as a senior at Westside High School in 2018. According to the University of Kentucky depth chart, Chance is 6’2”, 216 lbs. That’s a BIG kicker!
Most football fans have probably wondered what kickers think about when they run out onto the field in front of a crowd with the game on the line. I know I’ve wondered it. So I asked Chance:
“I just think, “This is my job. This is what I have to do”. Everyone has a job on the field and I’m the next guy that has to contribute. I think you just have to focus and do your job and whatever happens, happens.”
Chance is currently competing at the highest level of his sport in one of the toughest conferences in college football. The SEC features the very best athletes and Chance is seeing tons of action at place kicker as a red shirt freshman. That in itself is a huge accomplishment.
Chance began kicking in the 8th grade at Lakeside Middle School in Anderson. “Every boy in middle school wants to play football.” he says. “I started out as a wide receiver and defensive back. But the team needed a kicker. So I started kicking.”
By the time Chance reached tenth grade at Westside, he had completely committed his talents to kicking. “Somewhere around sophomore year is when I started thinking I could take it somewhere.” And take it somewhere he did.
In what Chance recalls as one of his fondest memories at Westside, he scored 20 points in a 32-0 win against cross-town rival T.L. Hanna his junior year. Yes, you read that right. 20 points (6 FG’s and two PAT’s).“We executed on everything that night.” Chance said. “Just a great team win.”
Chance uses the word “we” whenever talking about a victory or accomplishment from high school or college. He’s consistently crediting his teammates with successes all the while remaining humble about his own. This is unique coming from a kicker because kickers are so often credited, or blamed, for wins and losses.
“We’re human too.”, Chance said when asked about common misconceptions about kickers. “We make mistakes all the time. Many people forget that we’re human. We’re just like the next guy. A quarterback specializes in throwing the football. We specialize in kicking it.”
Chance speaks of former Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro when asked about a kicker he looks up to. “You always have to have someone to look up to. You can’t just go out there all on your own. You look at Chandler and we kind of have the same mechanics, same build, same swing.”
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