Garrett Schwettman returned to The Hill in February 2021 to work in a quality control role on special teams. From 2012-15, Schwettman put up one of the most storied careers by a kicker in program history, and also coached the Hilltoppers during the 2018 season as a graduate assistant. He was most recently at Illinois, where he had been a special teams analyst since early 2019.
A four-year letterman for WKU, Schwettman walked on and still holds the program’s all-time record in career points scored (398), single-season points scored by a kicker (2015, 124), career field goals made (54), single-season field goal percentage (2015, 93.8%), consecutive field goals made (11), career point after attempts made (236) and single-season point after attempts made (2015, 79). He was voted as the placekicker on the program’s All-Century Team prior to the start of the 2018 season.
Schwettman was a Conference USA First Team selection and a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2015 after leading the nation in field goal percentage that season, becoming the only kicker in WKU history to lead the nation in the statistic. His 236 career extra point makes were the sixth-most in FBS history at the time, and his C-USA career field goal accuracy mark of 83.8% also set a league record.
Following his playing career, Schwettman began his coaching career as a special teams quality control coach at Murray State. He then served as a co-special teams coordinator/specialists coach at Ave Maria University before coming back to The Hill in 2018.
At Illinois, Schwettman was a part of the 2019 that earned a bid in the Redbox Bowl, the team's first bowl appearance in five years. That season, punter Blake Hayes was voted Big Ten Punter of the Year after booting 77 balls for a gross average of 44.6 yards and a net average of 40.6 yards, which was second in the Big Ten and 23rd in the FBS. Also that season, kicker James McCourt made a 39-yard field goal as time expired to help the Illini upset No. 6 Wisconsin by a score of 24-23.
In 2020, Hayes earned All-Big Ten Third Team honors and McCourt was listed among the conference's Honorable Mention players. Hayes averaged 43.8 yards gross and 40.1 yards net on his 42 punts, while McCourt made six field goals in eight games and averaged 61 yards per kickoff.
Schwettman is a native of Murray, Ky., and graduated from WKU in 2016. He is married to the former Lindsey Littlepage, and the two have a daughter, Ella.
