Team Co-Captain Goyette Aims for Perfection as Long Snapper

By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications

Next year Bucknell head football coach Joe Susan will be searching for a long snapper for the first time during his tenure in Lewisburg. Susan arrived at Bucknell in January 2010 and ever since current senior Jeff Goyette has filled the long snapper role admirably, accurately and quickly getting the ball to various punters and holders.

“Jeff is a very talented player for us,” says Susan about Goyette, who has snapped the ball close to 400 times in his Bucknell career with nary an error. “He comes from a very athletic family and has been one of our better leaders, both on and off the field.”

As most football fans know, long snappers prefer to remain anonymous, and Goyette has done a good job of that by keeping perfection as his goal.

“Our coaches expect everything to be perfect, especially now that I am in my fourth year,” says Goyette, who also plays linebacker for the Bison. “A few inches left, right, high or low and I try to correct that immediately. After the snap, I need to block and then run downfield looking to make a play.”

“Jeff is a very good linebacker, but is also one of the best long snappers I have been around,” mentions Susan. “His times as a long-snapper are within the range NFL scouts look for. This skill has impacted our opponents as they have backed off trying to block our punts.”

Goyette is one of the key reasons Bucknell's special teams are highly regarded throughout the Patriot League. He has also had the luxury of working with a pair of versatile punters in graduated two-sport star Ryan Gutowski, who was also a member of the Bison men's lacrosse team, and do-it-all Kyle Sullivan, who this year is a valuable contributor in all facets of the game as punter, holder, punt returner, kick returner and wide receiver.

“I have been fortunate to have two very athletic punters, so if I were to snap if off target, I knew they were going to make a play,” mentions Goyette, a team captain this year along with fellow seniors Travis Friend and Derrick Palmer. “That really helps my confidence. Kyle being as good of an athlete as he is helps me on both field goals and punts.”

Since most football players grow up wanting to be the star quarterback completing the winning touchdown pass or the feared defensive end who races around the double team for a bone-jarring sack, one of the most common questions asked of Goyette is how he became a long snapper, a behind-the-scenes position that wants to stay as far from the headlines as possible.

Long snapping started way back in seventh grade for Goyette. After longing for years to play organized football, his dad ― himself a long snapper at Penn in the early 1980s ― finally let him join a team. The father-son tutorial sessions began immediately since the squad was in need of someone to long snap. The rest is history as Goyette is now in his 10th year as a long snapper and has truly embraced the important role.

Having the ability to sell his long-snapping ability certainly helped Goyette during the recruiting process. He narrowed his choices down to Bucknell and fellow Patriot League member Fordham and ultimately chose Bucknell.

“I came on my official visit the week Coach Susan was hired,” remembers Goyette, a native of Dillsburg, Pa., in the Harrisburg area. “I could tell from meeting him the first time that he was a straight shooter. I got more of a community feeling that it was a team atmosphere here and the goal was to do one thing: win games. I have built many friendships here that will last a lifetime and I am glad I made the decision.”

While Coach Susan and the team unity certainly factored in to Goyette's decision, his choice was also influenced by his grandmother, who he calls one of his biggest supporters along with his parents. She told Goyette straight up to choose Bucknell since it is half the distance when compared to the Bronx, N.Y., campus of Fordham.

Bucknell also gave Goyette the opportunity to play linebacker and that was something he valued. Goyette spends each and every practice as an important part of the linebacker corps. The Bison have had some talented linebackers during Goyette's tenure, including All-Patriot Leaguers Beau Traber and Evan Byers, meaning he has not gotten on the field for as many defensive snaps as he would prefer, but he has added significant depth to the key position.

“Playing linebacker has been awesome,” raves Goyette, who has 20 career tackles. “Fortunately we have had a bunch of great players and great role models in that position. I am very fortunate to be able to practice and work hard every day.”

Goyette has certainly been there every day. Along with Friend, he is one of just two Bison that have played in all 37 games over the last four years. When prompted that he would hopefully have seven more to play, he quickly noted he is hoping for at least eight more, which would be the case if Bucknell is able to capture its first Patriot League title since 1996 and advance to the NCAA postseason.

Despite losing three of the season's first four games, Bucknell enters today's contest vs. Holy Cross just one game back in the Patriot League standings. The Bison are coming off a tough loss at Lafayette last Saturday, but with a couple of conference wins can still make some noise within the league.

Goyette credits his parents for putting him in his current position of success at Bucknell. They were both college athletes ― his mother, Mickey, was on Penn's women's basketball team in the mid-1980s and currently plays competitive ice hockey ― and he adopted their work ethic. That work ethic has been important to the whole family since each has been undersized for his or her sport, including Jeff, who measures 5'11”, 215 pounds.

Like he did as a long snapper, Goyette hopes to follow in his father's footsteps following graduation. His father, Jeff, is the President of JMG Wealth Management Group Inc., and Goyette, an economics major, hopes to work in the finance industry as a financial analyst or financial advisor.

While he does not have a job lined up yet, Goyette will be well prepared for whatever is thrown at him because of his four years playing football at Bucknell.

“Travis (Friend) recently went to a job interview and told me every single question they asked can be explained in a football manner,” mentions Goyette, a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member. “The experience academically at Bucknell will help me because it is a very good school, but at the same time I think football may have taught me just as much, if not more, about life. Football will continue to help me greatly throughout the rest of my time after Bucknell.”

Note: This story appeared in a recent edition of the Bucknell Football Gameday Program.