Garrett Schwettman was teammates three seasons ago with Ryan Nuss and Alex Rinella. He’s around them again for 2018, but in a different role.

The former Western Kentucky kicker (2012-15) is in his first season as a special teams graduate assistant. He works hands-on each day coaching Nuss, Rinella and the rest of the Hilltoppers’ specialists.

“It’s good to be back with these guys,” Schwettman told the Daily News on Thursday after WKU’s sixth fall camp practice. “They’ve been really welcoming, all of them, the entire staff, the teammates that are still here.”

Nuss was teammates with Schwettman as a redshirt freshman in 2015. He’s now a redshirt senior kicker for the Toppers.

Rinella’s freshman season of 2015 also coincided with Schwettman’s final year. He’s a redshirt junior who’s listed on the roster as a kicker but is taking over punting duties this fall.

Nuss and Rinella watched in 2015 as Schwettman broke WKU’s all-time scoring mark. The Murray native’s school records include career points (398), career field goals made (54) and career PATs made (236).

“He really knows what he’s doing,” Rinella said of Schwettman. “He can teach technique, but he doesn’t push it on you. I think he does a great job with that.”

Schwettman works with co-special teams coordinators Maurice Crum and Jami DeBerry in managing that area of the team. WKU hopes for a rebound this fall – it slipped to No. 83 nationally last year in the Football Outsiders S&P+ Special Teams rankings after coming in at No. 43 in that metric in 2016.

“We’re still getting comfortable, still developing the young guys in our unit to be better,” Nuss said. “I think we’re going to be better off throughout the year as we get more comfortable with each other and develop that trust.”

Nuss earned the starting kicking job last year in fall camp, beating out Rinella and 2016 starter Skyler Simcox. His year was highlighted with a 37-yard, game-winning field goal Nov. 17 to beat rival Middle Tennessee in three overtimes.

The Fairfield, Ohio, native struggled with inconsistency though in his first fall as a starter. Nuss was 10-of-16 kicking field goals, with five of his misses coming on kicks of 35 or fewer yards.

Nuss noted that kicking “is 99 percent mental” and said Schwettman’s offered him helpful tips each day.

“If I need to tweak some things on field goals, he knows, ‘Hey man, you’re opening up your hips,’ or, ‘You need to close them,’ or, ‘You need to stay fluid through it,’ ” Nuss said. “That’s awesome. That’s a great thing to have on a team, because most teams do not have that.”

Nuss will work again this fall on field goals and PATs with sophomore long snapper Ben Reeder. He’ll need a new holder though after punter Jake Collins graduate transferred this summer to Northwestern.

Freshman punter Adam Krause and redshirt freshman linebacker Rex Henderson are competing for holder duties. Henderson is a Morgantown native who came to WKU as a walk-on quarterback before moving this season to defense.

“He’s a guy that we think can help us out on all special teams and make an impact,” Schwettman said of Henderson.

Rinella has assumed punting duties in the wake of Collins’ transfer. He punted for his high school team in Johnson City, Tenn., but will do so at WKU in 2018 for the first time.

Collins was solid last fall with directional punts, pinning Topper opponents inside their own 20-yard line 19 times. He also drew 15 fair catches over his 57 punts.

Rinella possesses a strong right leg and is working on the technical aspects of the position, including the ability to punt both in a traditional manner and rugby-style.

“I would compare rugby to more of a field goal kind of swing,” Rinella said. “They’re definitely different. I’ve been working on both and I think we’ll be able to use both during the season.”

Schwettman has worked with Crum and DeBerry on mixing a new punter in with WKU’s special teams units after Collins’ departure.

“I think those guys have done a good job on the field of relaying what’s necessary and then working with Rinella, breaking things down in the meeting rooms and everything,” Schwettman said. “It’s been really good for him. He’s done really well getting some good hang times and adjusting nicely.”{&end}