Western Kentucky redshirt senior Cole Maynard has been named the Associated Press All-America First Team punter, the outlet announced Monday.

On Tuesday morning, Maynard was named the American Football Coaches Association All-America First Team punter, the AFCA announced Tuesday.

A total of 52 media members, all of whom are on the AP Top 25 voting panel, submitted ballots for the AP All-America team.

Maynard, who was also named to the Walter Camp All-America Second Team on Friday, 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 has also been 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 has 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 is the first WKU player to be named to one of the All-America teams that comprise the NCAA’s annual consensus team since wide receiver Jerreth Sterns was named a Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America Second Team All-America in 2021. Maynard is the program’s first player to be named AP All-America First Team since Buster Ashley in 2004, and he is the program’s first player to be named AP All-America First Team during WKU’s FBS Era (since 2009).

Maynard is one of 54 players included on the AFCA FBS Coaches All-America Teams, and one of 27 players to receive AFCA All-America First Team recognition. He is the lone representative from CUSA.

Maynard is the first player named to an AFCA All-America Team during the program’s FBS Era (since 2009) and the first since Erik Losey in 2005.

Maynard’s recognition Friday by the Walter Camp Football Foundation marked 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.

On Monday, Maynard accepted an invitation to the 2026 American Bowl.

Maynard will be the first WKU player to play in The American Bowl, which is in its inaugural year. As America’s newest premier college football all-star game, The American Bowl will showcase top national prospects projected in the fourth-seventh rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft. Airing in prime time on NFL Network on Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. CT, the game fills the spotlight with no competing football events between the College Football Playoff National Championship and NFL Conference Championships, and is to be played before an expected sold-out crowd of 4,000 at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida.

WKU went 8-4 during the 2025 regular season and will face Southern Miss in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 23 at Caesars Superdome. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.