Specialists are a rare breed in the game of football. They can go from hero to goat in the blink of an eye, and one missed kick can change the trajectory of a season.

Ben Freehill knows the mind games he has to manage that come along with being a kicker all too well. As he steps into his redshirt senior season in 2023, the Boilermakers' placekicker feels he's made strides in that area.

"It was really just looking myself in the mirror and telling myself I can do it and just believe in myself. When I started doing that, I just saw everything change," Freehill said.

Freehill admitted one of the things that may have held him back from reaching his true potential in the past was some "self-doubt," but that is no longer the case.

The Illinois native has shut off the doubt lingering in his mind and is now as confident as ever. That rise in self-belief has resulted in a standout spring with the Boilermakers.

"Then with accuracy, really started to start making more kicks when I was going out there confident," Freehill said.

Even the most accurate kicker in Purdue history, the now departed Mitchell Fineran, dealt with highs and lows during his time in West Lafayette despite making nearly 80% of his field goals. And that will be the man Freehill is trying to replace this off-season.

Coming into Purdue's first spring practice under a brand new regime, the Boilermakers had an open competition at the kicker spot with the aforementioned Fineran no longer in the picture. Freehill knew he needed to make a statement early to impress the brand-new coaching staff, which he understood had no loyalties to him.

"I don't know them. They don't know me. So, it's like you really have the spring to show them what you're capable of, and even more than that, you have like a couple practices," Freehill said.

One of those new coaches is Senior Special Teams Analyst Chris Petrilli, who came from North Texas earlier this year. Petrilli's results-driven approach has already made an impact on the Boilermaker specialists, according to Freehill.

"Coach P, he's really, really good. He holds us to a high standard, and I think that's been one of my favorite things about him," Freehill said. "He doesn't accept mediocrity, so just being perfect in everything we do has been a really, really good thing for us, and it's helped us a lot."