Brandon Doughty looms large for Western Kentucky’s current quarterback candidates, as does Tyler Higbee for the tight ends.

But don’t forget that Garrett Schwettman looms just as large for the Hilltoppers’ kickers.

WKU is on the hunt this spring to replace Schwettman, the school’s all-time leading scorer who brought unwavering consistency to the position.

“We all know if we want this job, we have to be consistent,” redshirt sophomore kicker Jake Collins said. “He set the standard, and we have to be as consistent as he was.”

That mission to recreate Schwettman’s consistency is, as special teams coordinator Tony Levine put it, a “work in progress.”

WKU lists seven kickers on its roster, including six who are redshirt sophomores or younger. None of them have kicked a field goal or extra point at the college level.

“The biggest thing we’re working on right now in terms of kickoffs and extra points and field goals is being consistent,” Levine said. “We’ve got young men right now in our program that have talent. I think we’re very young and inexperienced. … It’s been something we’ve worked at extremely hard every day.”

Collins is one of three redshirt sophomores, along with Ryan Nuss and Yanni Ramos. They’re joined by senior Joseph Occhipinti and redshirt freshmen Alex Rinella, Luke Frain and Andrew Upton, a South Warren High School product.

Collins and Nuss got experience last year for WKU on kickoffs and punts, but field goals and extra points are new territory at the college level.

Because of the position’s youth, Levine has been bringing the group along slowly in his first year on the staff.

“Whether you’re a quarterback, a middle linebacker or a kicker/punter/snapper, confidence is certainly very important,” Levine said. “We want to try to develop their confidence, but at the same time, on our end as coaches, try to evaluate as best we can if they can handle pressure situations.”

Before that pressure came, Levine started the kickers with work after practice, away from the rest of the team.

WKU has charted field goals, extra points and kickoffs at nearly every practice. The kickers also had meetings to study film as a group.

“We slowly started getting more into it,” Collins said. “We’ve all been trying to compete and do our best. We know that’s the job that everyone wants. That’s the job that everyone’s here for right now. It’s been really good competition.”

Over the course of spring ball, the Tops have turned up the heat a few times.

At the end of the team’s second scrimmage April 9, the entire squad gathered around the kickers in a long tunnel pointed at the goalpost. 

“It’s a lot different when we’re by ourselves, in terms of me with our six or seven kickers, a snapper and a holder off on one end of the field, all alone, and there’s no one watching but us,” Levine said. “That’s opposed to having the whole team around and telling them if we don’t make this kick, the whole team’s going to run gassers because of it.

“In less than five months, we’re playing football games on national TV, at home, on the road. There’s going to be pressure situations, and as a coach, we want to try to find out the answers to some of those questions before it’s a Thursday night against Rice or Saturday in Tuscaloosa (at Alabama).”

WKU posted a video to its social media accounts of Collins’ final field goal try with punishment on the line for his teammates.

He snuck it inside the right post and was promptly mauled by the entire group in celebration.

“You really get to see who’s been put in those situations before,” Collins said. “It’s just fun, especially when you make them, and you see the whole team going crazy for you – especially when they don’t have to run.”

WKU’s kickers are trying to live up to a model of consistency in Schwettman, who holds 10 school records, including the all-time scoring mark at 398 career points.

Schwettman set a Conference USA record in WKU’s two seasons in the league with an 83.8 percent field goal percentage, and he led the country in field goal accuracy as a senior at 93.8 percent.

Schwettman has been working with the returning kickers this spring, which Collins said has been a major benefit.

“He was unreal,” Collins said. “Him being out here every day at practice is really helping us a ton. He knows it. He’s seeing what we’re doing wrong, and he can relay it to us just like that. … We can fix it on the next kick.”

There are other aspects of the kicking game that also need work.

Occhipinti and Collins handled the punting duties last season, with Collins taking over the workload down the stretch.

Collins found success with his rugby style, although he said he’s trying to work on his traditional punting technique to keep opponents off-guard.

The versatile Louisville native also worked on kickoff duties for the final few games in 2015 after Nuss suffered a season-ending lower leg injury.

As WKU coach Jeff Brohm noted before spring ball began, kickoffs are a chief concern for a team that scores as often as the Tops.

“I’ve never seen a team statistically kick off this many times with so few touchbacks,” Levine said.

Levine has been a part of explosive offenses at Houston and Louisville, but he said he’s never seen a unit have to cover as many kickoff returns as last year’s Hilltoppers.

WKU registered just 10 touchbacks on 108 kickoffs. Of those 10 touchbacks, Levine said some were what he’d call “mishits,” meaning the ball bounced before the end zone and got away from the returner.

Levine said most teams typically have to cover 40-50 returns in a season. By his count, the Hilltoppers covered 96 last year.

In order to fix that, Collins said the kickers are spending Tuesdays and Thursdays in the weight room and the other days on the field, trying to build leg strength and get the ball deeper in the end zone.

“We’ve got some work to do there,” Levine said. “Both Jake Collins and Ryan Nuss handled those duties last year as youngsters. They’ll be a year better, and they’ve got great experience under their belt. But that’s something we’ve got to continue to work on.”

— Follow Assistant Sports Editor Zach Greenwell on Twitter @zach_greenwell or visit bgdailynews.com.