ORONO, Maine — Place-kickers have a sometimes lonely job.
They are expected to routinely convert extra points, and there is pressure to make field goals when called upon, often in tense situations. The may bring praise, but the misses are magnified.
Welcome to the world of Sean Decloux, the kicker for the University of Maine football team.
“A pretty common expression used around the kicking world is, ‘You don’t really get seen until you screw up,’” said the senior from Ottawa, Ontario.
Like any place-kicker, Decloux has experience his share of disappointments, but his hard work, persistence and resilience have enabled him to excel for the Black Bears.
Decloux likely will play a pivotal role during Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. Colonial Athletic Association game at Villanova.
“I can’t think of another kicker that’s worked as hard as he has over his time here,” said UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove.
“It’s been great to watch him grow and develop,” he added.
With four regular-season games remaining, Decloux has already surged to the top of UMaine’s all-time field goals list with 43 in 38 games. He also has set the career scoring record with 226 points.
Decloux is 10-for-14 this season, twice connecting from 43 yards, his career best.
Last week, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder made three of four field-goal attempts to help the Black Bears post a 23-10 CAA victory over Stony Brook at Alfond Stadium.
In that game, Decloux put UMaine on the board with a 43-yarder, then missed a 48-yard try to end the first half, but responded by hitting both second-half kicks.
“It’s all about having a short memory,” Decloux said. “Every kick is separate from the last one or the one ahead of it.”
Ultimately, it’s a matter of trust — Decloux in his own abilities and the reciprocal trust between him and his teammates to execute their jobs — that enables him to work through the highs and the lows.
Successful field goals and extra-point kicks require not only Decloux but the other 10 men on the field to successfully execute their assignments.
“There’s a lot of working parts. They all need to go perfect in order for the kick to be good,” said senior John Hardy of Portland, who is the holder.
Yet it is Decloux whose performance is most closely scrutinized based on the result of the kick.
“There’s a lot that goes on his shoulders,” Hardy said. “Every time he goes on the field, he’s responsible for putting points on the board.”
Decloux played soccer, hockey, basketball and baseball growing up, but as a high school sophomore was asked to try kicking a football for St. Peter Catholic High School. With some guidance from the team’s senior kicker, Ryan Begin, Decloux booted good kickoffs and made some field goals.
“The accuracy of field goals and the maturity of how to rebound [emotionally] from missed kicks came with time,” he admitted.
Decloux spent his senior year at Red Lion Christian Academy in Delaware, where St. Peter teammate Eli Ankou, a defensive end who wound up at UCLA, was headed. In the meantime, Decloux trained during the offseason with Victor Tedondo and attended Kohl’s Kicking Camps, directed by former NFL kicker Jamie Kohl.
“[The benefit] was the exposure to what playing football in America was really like,” said Decloux, who played in front of 10,000-15,000 fans at Red Lion.
He was subsequently recruited by UMaine, which offered him a partial scholarship.
There was no gradual transition to Division I football for Decloux, who took over as the place-kicker after an early-season injury to senior Brian Harvey. He made seven of 10 field goals and 24 of 25 PATs.
Decloux knew he had a lot of work to do.
“I knew the first thing I really wanted to do was put some meat on my bones,” he said of his then 165-pound frame.
“He’s one of the hardest workers on the team in the weight room and what he has done increasing his size and strength to become a better athlete,” Cosgrove said.
Decloux enjoyed a breakout season in 2013. He went 45-for-48 on PATs and made 16 of 21 field goals to earn All-CAA first-team honors as UMaine won the conference championship. He had fewer opportunities with the Bears’ rebuilding offense last season, getting only 32 chances to kick the ball.
“It did teach me to be more patient and make the most of whatever you do get,” he admitted.
Throughout the process, Decloux has relied heavily on his own study and workouts, along with extensive discussions with his fellow kickers, to get better. That includes watching video of both practices and games to work out any kinks that might develop.
“It’s a credit to him because he really works hard at understanding the intricacies [of kicking],” said Cosgrove, who is the de facto mentor of UMaine’s kickers.
“Our job is not to screw them up,” he added.
Decloux, who models his kicking after Dustin Hopkins of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, appreciates the working relationship that has developed between Cosgrove and the kickers.
“He knows me pretty well, and he knows that once I miss one, he doesn’t need to give me a shakedown. He knows I’ll rebound from it,” Decloux said.
Decloux, who also handles kickoffs for the Black Bears, has excelled in the classroom. He is pursuing a degree in civil engineering and credits his parents, Mary Jane and Victor Decloux, with instilling his passion for academic excellence.
“The support I’ve received in every facet of being a student-athlete has been incredible,” he said. “It’s definitely prepared me for the next level, whether that is in athletics or in the world of civil engineering.”
Decloux has exhibited the same commitment and poise in his life.
“Sean is a gentleman. He’s very well-liked, well-spoken, polite, caring, conscientious, hardworking,” Cosgrove said.