BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football punter Cole Maynard has been named to the Walter Camp All-America Second Team, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced Friday.
Maynard has been recognized as one of the top punters both in Conference USA and nationally throughout the season. Maynard led the nation in punting average during the regular season at 48.7 yards per punt over 51 punting attempts. He was named the CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year and was a First Team All-CUSA selection. He was named to the Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List, the 2025 CUSA Preseason Watch List, and was twice named to the Ray's 8 List honoring the top punting performances of the week. Maynard was also recognized with the top special teams performance of the week in the league twice as CUSA's Special Teams Player of the Week.
Over his 51 punts this season, Maynard sent 25 50-plus yards – with a long of 71 yards – and has downed 12 inside the 20-yard line, with 15 fair catches and only five touchbacks. His 48.7 yards per punt would be a new WKU record for single-season punting average, topping the previous mark of 45.9 yards per punt by John Haggerty during the 2019 season.
Maynard's All-America status marks the first time a WKU player has been named to a Walter Camp All-America team since 2011, when running back Bobby Rainey received Second Team recognition. It is WKU's first time having a player named to one of the All-America teams that comprise the NCAA's annual consensus team since wide receiver Jerreth Sterns was named Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America Second Team All-America in 2021.
It is the 136th edition of the Walter Camp All-America team, the nation's oldest college football All-America team. Twenty-five players were selected to the First Team by the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. In addition, 27 players were selected to the Second Team. The team was certified by the New Haven-based accounting firm of CBIZ. In all, 34 different schools from nine conferences, including independents, were represented on the All-America First and Second Teams, with a total of 52 players selected.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football's most prestigious awards, and its 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients dating back to 1935.
WKU went 8-4 during the 2025 regular season and will face Southern Miss in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at Caesars Superdome. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN. To purchase tickets click HERE, and to donate tickets click HERE. For WKU's full 2025 New Orleans Bowl Central page, click HERE.
For all the latest on WKU Football, follow @WKUFootball on Twitter and Instagram and like the WKU Football Facebook page.
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