From Soccer Standout to Big Ten Kicker, the Journey Behind Iowa’s Special Teams Weapon
After developing his kicking skills in Missouri and establishing himself as a reliable special teams contributor at North Dakota State, Eli Ozick brought his experience to the University of Iowa in 2026. His journey reflects the value of versatility, technical development, and the ability to perform when a single kick can change a game.
In football, some of the most consequential moments arrive with the game resting on the foot of a single player. A kickoff can dictate field position, a long field goal can change momentum, and a successful extra point can preserve the value of a hard-earned touchdown. For Eli Ozick, mastering those details has become the foundation of his college football career.
Ozick's path to the Iowa Hawkeyes was not a conventional one. Before pursuing football at the collegiate level, the Liberty, Missouri, native distinguished himself in soccer, developing the coordination and striking ability that would eventually translate to placekicking. He then built his experience at North Dakota State University, where he contributed to a national championship team and earned All-America recognition.
By the 2026 season, Ozick had arrived at Iowa as an experienced specialist with a proven record in kickoffs and field goals. His transition to the Big Ten represented another step in a career shaped by adaptation, competition, and the pursuit of consistency.
- Full Name: Eli Ozick
- Sport: American football
- Position: Placekicker (PK)
- Jersey Number: 25
- Height: 5 feet 11 inches
- Weight: 199 pounds
- Birthplace/Hometown: Liberty, Missouri
- School/College: University of Iowa
- Current Team: Iowa Hawkeyes football
- Previous College: North Dakota State University
- Years Active: Collegiate football, 2023-present
- High School: Liberty High School, Missouri
Ozick's athletic foundation began with soccer rather than football. At Liberty High School in Missouri, he played as a center back, a position that demanded awareness, positioning, discipline, and the ability to respond quickly to changing situations. Soccer also provided repeated opportunities to develop his striking technique and coordinate his movements under pressure.
Those skills eventually opened a different sporting avenue. Ozick began experimenting with football kicking and discovered an aptitude that could carry him beyond high school. According to a 2026 report from Hawkeye Report, he initially developed as a soccer player before trying football kicking and recognizing his potential in the specialist role.
His high school accomplishments reflected that dual-sport background. Ozick earned first-team all-state recognition in football, along with first-team all-conference honors as a kicker and second-team all-conference recognition as a punter during his senior year. In soccer, he received conference, district, and regional Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior.
The combination demonstrated that his development was not limited to one sport. Soccer helped establish the foundation, while football gave him an opportunity to apply his athletic skills to a specialized position where technique and repeatability matter enormously.
Ozick was also a member of the National Honor Society. His academic recognition adds another dimension to his high school record, although detailed accounts of his childhood, family traditions, and personal inspirations have not been widely documented publicly.
His parents are identified in Iowa's official roster biography as Jon Ozick and Jennifer Johnston. He also has a brother, Dillon. Beyond those basic details, additional claims about the family's private life would be speculative.
Ozick began his collegiate career at North Dakota State, a program with a strong tradition of success in the Football Championship Subdivision. His early opportunities came primarily through kickoff duties, giving him a chance to build experience while contributing to the team's field-position strategy.
In 2023, he participated in four of the final five regular-season games and all four NCAA playoff games as the Bison advanced to the FCS semifinals. He averaged 62.2 yards on 55 kickoff attempts and recorded 20 touchbacks. During the postseason, he handled all 28 of North Dakota State's kickoffs.
The following season brought a championship experience. Ozick played in all 16 games in 2024 as North Dakota State won the FCS national championship. Across 111 kickoffs, he averaged 62.4 yards and recorded 70 touchbacks.
He also began demonstrating his range as a field-goal kicker. Against Tennessee State, he converted a 51-yard attempt in his first career field-goal attempt at home. A week later, he connected from 54 yards against East Tennessee State, recording what Iowa's official biography identifies as the second-longest field goal in North Dakota State history.
The season earned him a place on the Missouri Valley Football Conference Honor Roll and the conference's Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award. The recognition highlighted both his on-field development and academic performance.
Ozick's final season at North Dakota State represented his most productive campaign as a field-goal specialist. In 2025, he appeared in all 13 games, converted 16 of 18 field-goal attempts, and recorded a long of 54 yards against Indiana State.
His reliability became particularly apparent late in the season. Ozick made his final 11 field-goal attempts, demonstrating a sustained run of successful execution rather than relying on a single standout kick. He also made multiple field goals in three games.
For his performance, he earned second-team Associated Press FCS All-America honors and first-team Missouri Valley Football Conference recognition.
Those achievements helped establish his credentials for the next level of competition within college football. In January 2026, Ozick transferred to Iowa, bringing experience from three seasons at North Dakota State and a championship background to a program competing in the Big Ten.
A placekicker's performance is measured through more than field-goal percentages. Kickoff distance, trajectory, consistency, and the ability to execute under pressure can all influence a team's defensive position. Ozick's statistical record at North Dakota State suggests that kickoff placement and field-goal reliability are central strengths in his game.
During his 2025 season, he averaged approximately 63 yards per kickoff and recorded 54 touchbacks on 91 attempts. His 16-of-18 field-goal conversion rate also demonstrated an ability to contribute points when the offense reached scoring range.
His longest documented field goal at North Dakota State was 54 yards, a distance that requires a combination of leg strength, clean contact, and technical precision.
Ozick's soccer background offers useful context for his development. His experience striking a ball and playing a position that demanded defensive awareness gave him a foundation he could transfer to football. However, his exact training regimen, preferred kicking techniques, and individual performance metrics beyond published statistics are not publicly documented in sufficient detail.
At Iowa, kickoff responsibilities also offer a different kind of opportunity. By consistently sending the ball deep and producing touchbacks, a kicker can reduce opponents' chances to generate return yardage. The value of that contribution may not appear in the scoring column, but it remains an important component of special-teams performance.
Ozick's career includes several notable milestones that illustrate his development from a high school multisport athlete into an established college specialist.
His high school record included nine field goals on 11 attempts and a perfect 33-for-33 mark on extra points. He also recorded 42 touchbacks on 50 kickoffs, demonstrating his potential in kickoff duties before entering college.
At North Dakota State, his accomplishments included participation in the 2024 FCS national championship season, a 54-yard field goal against East Tennessee State, and his second-team Associated Press FCS All-America selection in 2025. First-team Missouri Valley Football Conference honors followed that productive final season.
In 2026, Iowa's preseason recognition placed him on the Lou Groza Award Watch List, while Phil Steele named him a preseason third-team All-Big Ten selection. The Lou Groza Award recognizes the nation's top placekicker, making inclusion on its watch list a notable distinction.
These honors do not guarantee future success, but they establish the level of performance Ozick brought to Iowa.
Ozick's story stands out partly because his athletic development crossed the boundaries of two sports. Soccer was not merely a secondary activity; it was the environment in which he developed before discovering that his kicking ability could become a path into college football.
His academic achievements also form part of that story. At North Dakota State, he earned the Missouri Valley Football Conference Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award in 2024, and he is listed as a business management major in Iowa's official biography.
Ozick joined Iowa in January 2026 after transferring from North Dakota State. His move brought him into a new program and a different competitive environment, where he would have to establish himself among the Hawkeyes' specialists.
During Iowa's first five games of the 2026 season, the official roster biography credited him with 29 kickoffs covering 1,800 yards, an average of 62.1 yards per kickoff, and 15 touchbacks. Those figures reflected his continued involvement in the kickoff game.
The transition also placed him in competition for the placekicking role. An April 2026 report from Hawkeye Report described his preparation with Iowa's special-teams coach and private kicking coaches during spring practice.
His future opportunities depend on maintaining consistency, earning trust within the special-teams unit, and converting those opportunities into reliable game-day production. Any claims about his eventual professional prospects remain speculative at this stage.
For Iowa, Ozick's value lies in the details that can quietly shape a football game. Strong kickoffs can help a defense begin its work with a favorable field position, while reliable placekicking can turn offensive possessions into points.
His experience at North Dakota State also gives him a background that extends beyond statistics. He has played through a championship season, handled postseason responsibilities, and produced an All-America campaign before transferring to the Big Ten.
His legacy is still developing, and it would be premature to assign him a lasting place in Iowa football history. What can be established is that his journey reflects a specialist's gradual progression: learning the craft, proving his reliability, and seeking opportunities at a higher level.
Eli Ozick's route to Iowa began on the soccer field in Missouri and advanced through the demanding environment of championship-level football at North Dakota State. Along the way, he developed into a kicker capable of contributing from long range, handling kickoff duties, and earning national recognition.
Now wearing No. 25 for the Hawkeyes, he faces a new challenge in the Big Ten. His story is not defined by a single kick or a dramatic moment, but by the steady development required to turn an unexpected athletic skill into a college football career.
For a position where preparation often happens away from the spotlight and execution is judged in seconds, Ozick's journey illustrates a simple truth: sometimes, the path to a larger stage begins with discovering an ability in an entirely different game.
