Daniel LaCamera provides insight into the world of an SEC kicker

Former Texas A&M kicker Daniel LaCamera joined us to reminisce about his time at Texas A&M on Thursday's edition of TexAgs Live. LaCamera broke down his recruitment, strategies and what brought him to Aggieland before sharing what he expects from the Aggies in 2025.

Key notes from Daniel LaCamera interview

• I’m now a family of four. I have a 2.5-year-old and a five-month-old. Father of two. My oldest is my daughter Lily, and my youngest is my son Liam. Kicking fizzled out for me, but now I've started the real chapter of my life. I make live-edge tables with my father. It basically is exotic wood from Costa Rica that we turn into dining tables and conference room tables. Not what I thought I'd be doing, but it's great. It's something new. Woodworking wasn’t something we always did, but something I had an interest in doing.
   
• Growing up, both my parents went to the University of Florida. The kicking world is different. A lot of people get recruited off game footage. For kickers, it's mostly off kicking camps. I thought I'd grow up going to the University of Florida. Then I got invited by Jeff Banks, and he had me come out for an official visit. There was no other school like A&M. The culture behind it, the atmosphere... I wanted to go to a college town, not a college in an already large town. Texas A&M had everything I wanted to have, and it was just the right fit.
   
• I wasn’t moving away from Texas. This is where I belong.
   
• I believe my first kick was at a game against UCLA. I believe I hit it off the right upright, then I believe I went on to make nine field goals in a row. There were a lot of emotions and nerves. We’re human. We can’t avoid it, but then you get used to kicking under the pressure with all those nerves.
   
• I imagine every kick is a kick in practice, as is a kick in front of 100 thousand people. Our job isn’t determined based on what other people do. We had a strong snapper at the time, Austin Frey and Christian Robertson. We had three different holders, but our routine was great. All I had to focus on was that this was a kick in practice. You kind of get used to being nervous. I used to tell people growing up, you get used to being nervous, but you don’t get used to it. It’s just something you have to deal with and understand how to work with it.
   
• That Florida game in 2017 meant everything. I wanted to go to Florida before my recruiting process. I had a little bit of history there because I went there and won the field goal portion of their camp. They said they would give me a scholarship, and they didn't. So there was a little bad blood there. Now that I'm at Texas A&M, going back home… I think I had 16 tickets for that game. Some of my old friends were yelling at me from the student section. I had to tell them not to do that next time. It meant the world because it was a field goal kicking game, which was really fun looking back.
   
• Of course, our defense was strong that game. But yes, everything lined up for that game. The hardest environment, most people would say, is a big school like Alabama. But Florida was tough. The students are right on the sideline. There’s no avoiding them. LSU is kind of the same thing. The difference between LSU and Alabama, Arkansas or South Carolina is that the fans will cheer against the team. LSU and Florida will find your name plate on the backs of your jersey and cheer against you specifically. They’ll look up your family and your dog's name. They get more personal.
   
• The Tennessee kick is my most haunting memory. It came down to the game-winning field goal. It was 35-35. It was College Gameday, and we were at home. I may have some reasons why it shanked left, but ultimately, it was nerves. Then I came back in overtime to hit a game-tying field goal, which I think is more stressful than the game-winning field goal. It's definitely a blessing that I made that kick, but it ended up being a good learning lesson that every kick is the same.
   
• Mike Elko is a smart guy. He’s well spoken. His knowledge of football is amazing. As a kicker, I don’t know as much as he does, but he’s a very intellectual guy for sure.
   
• My wife says I'm being annoying because I keep bringing up how close we are to kick off. I’m way bigger a fan than I ever was.
   
• We Aggie fans will always say it's our year. But, truly, I believe it's our year. I don't have the knowledge on the depth chart, but I think it's one of the highest returning in terms of starters ever. Experience goes such a long way, not just being nervous but knowing how to p; play when you’re nervous. Experience is huge. We have Marcel Reed back, who I think will be incredible. You have to cover him both ways. He’s a smart player and getting better every day.