Australia to Arizona: Chase Ridley excelling at punter for the Wildcats

The Arizona punter's home: Perth, Australia, the capital of Western Australia and one of the most populated cities in the Land Down Under. 

Ridley arrived at UA in the spring and is one of many specialists joining the Wildcats this season.  

"So far, I'm loving it," Ridley said of his short time in Tucson. "It's a beautiful place to be." 

Ridley isn't like most freshmen, because he's 22 years old. Ridley and fifth-year quarterback Noah Fifita are the same age. Once Ridley graduated from high school, he pursued a career in Australian rules football. 

"It's just kicking a ball, that's all it is," Ridley said. "I grew up playing that since I was a little boy."

Kicking a prolate spheroid-shaped ball has been the family business for Ridley. His father, Paul Ridley, played in Melbourne and Perth in the Australian Football League (AFL). 

"My old man was a freak athlete when he was younger," Chase Ridley said. 

The genetics were passed down to Ridley, who's now 6-3, 238 pounds. After his Australian rules football journey, Ridley wanted to pursue American football and be the next Aussie punter to thrive in the U.S. 

Ridley joined "ProKick Australia," an Australian-based program founded by former AFL player and NFL punter Nathan Chapman. ProKick Australia has become a pipeline for college football programs looking for punters.  

ProKick Australia has produced several NFL punters, including Mitch Wishnowsky, Michael Dickson, Cameron Johnston and Lou Hedley, among others. Dickson played for Arizona special teams coordinator Craig Naivar at Texas. Former Arizona punter Isaac Lovison, who was a one-year transfer, was added via ProKick Australia and Naivar's connections to the Aussie pipeline. 

"There's an entire continent with kids that kick the ball," Naivar said of Australia. "That's the primary thing they do. They train like linebackers, but in Australia rules (football), they're kicking from a lot of different platforms. There's not just spiral punting, but the rollout punting and all of those things like that lend to that. There's not bad American punters, but there's just a pool of bodies (like in Australia)." 

Ridley trained with ProKick Australia for 11 months and learned how to punt the American way, which is "a lot easier said than done," he said. 

"Going in there, I thought it would be a piece of cake," Ridley added. "You learn pretty quick that it's a completely different sport, completely different lifestyle, the way you kick it. Everything about it, it's kicking at the end of the day, but there's a lot of technical aspects to it.

"Trying to learn the technique, the steps, the mold of the ball, hang time and distance, it's a big thing. There are habits I had to break from being an AFL player. In the end, I got away from it and started punting well towards the end."

In Australian-rules football, "we bring the ball down to our foot, which is something you shouldn't do when it comes to punting," Ridley said.

Instead, "You should cave it out there and let the ball do its thing," Ridley said.

"That was the thing I had to break," he said. "Just leave it out there and let the ball come to the foot, don't bring it down, because it can definitely ruin a lot of things." 

Additionally, holding field goal kicks "was definitely one of the things I had to learn, the holding side of things. The holder's responsibilities are "a lot easier said than done. You gotta get the reps in. Once you get the reps in, you get confidence and it starts flowing from there." 

The field-goal holder duties were manned by former kickoff specialist Ian Wagner, who is graduating. Ridley, who is training to be kicker Michael Salgado-Medina's holder this season, understands the importance of a holder and said it "can win a game."

"Everything from the snap, to the hold, to the kick, it's gotta be precise," Ridley said. "Everything's gotta be perfect. Mike does a great job when he isn't perfect and he definitely makes up for it. It's something I had to learn and adjust to."

Before Ridley joined Arizona, he was signed to play under former UA head coach Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia, but "some things went sideways with them" and the Australian "got in touch with Coach Naivar and one thing led to another. Had a conversation with Coach Naivar and was lucky enough and fortunate enough to come here."

Ridley and Louisville transfer Carter Schwartz were the two additions at punter, with Western Kentucky transfer Drew Nicolson at long snapper. Arizona is adding freshman kicker and Texas product Ian French in the summer.  

Ridley "has attacked some milestones in his short career that have been pretty impressive," Naivar said.

"He's 22 years old, but he's a freshman," said Arizona's special teams coordinator. "He's never worn a helmet, never wore shoulder pads and never been around anybody." 

Ridley's first test was the first Saturday of Arizona's spring football practices, which Naivar called a "Lubbock scenario," referencing the West Texas city — and home of Texas Tech, which the Wildcats will visit on Halloween this year — that's known for often having windy conditions. Naivar said there's "about a 35-mile-per-hour gust and we gotta practice in it."

Ridley "ends up smoking the ball," his first try. Ridley has kicks of 50- and 60-plus yards with hang times ranging from 4.2-4.6 seconds. Not every kick has been eyebrow-raising. He's had a couple of kicks with low hang time, but the Australian has positioned himself as Arizona's starting punter.  

Said Naivar: "He has met the milestones of adapting to American football a lot faster than some have." 

Tim Tam in Tucson

When Ridley was asked about what piece of Australian culture he misses the most, he said "Tim Tam" cookies.

"It is definitely the biggest thing I miss from Australia so far," Ridley said. "It's an absolute delicacy in Australia. It's a little chocolate biscuit — the best thing ever. I'm currently organizing a day to get a stand out and get the Australian food there, so people can try what they like and don't like."

So, we had to try Tim Tam for ourselves — and the Australian cookies can be found at Safeway, Albertson's or World Market. 

The bio on the back of the box: "Created in 1964, Tim Tam is Australia's most-loved and most iconic chocolaty biscuit. Indulge in irresistible layers of Tim Tam with mouth-watering combination of smooth chocolatey coating, crunchy cookie, and a luscious velvety centre. What more could you wish for?" 

Best way to describe the Australian sweet treat: a chocolate version of "Biscoff" cookies with chocolate coating and a creamy middle. It's rich, which makes sense considering two of the chocolate-covered biscuits are 230 calories; there's seven biscuits in each package. 

Practice 11 notes and observations

The Arizona Wildcats are closing in on the final stretch of their spring football schedule, with the annual spring showcase a week away. 

Here are notes and takeaways from Arizona's 11th practice of the spring on Thursday:  

Arizona did a "Mortal Kombat" period, which is a one-on-one special teams drill for punt coverage. After the snap, one player blocks a rusher at the line of scrimmage, then, after a whistle, both players sprint upfield and the rusher turns into a blocker. The Mortal Kombat theme song was played on a loop during the drill. 

Arizona's defensive players have spent every practice working on different tackling drills with pads. Even though the Wildcats have only been in shells (helmets and shoulder pads), the Wildcats are finding creative — and safer — ways to work on tackling while keeping players healthy. 

In a 7-on-7 red zone drill, Arizona safety Gavin Hunter had a pass breakup in coverage of wide receiver Giovanni Richardson, who later "Mossed" UConn transfer safety Lee Molette in the right corner of the end zone. Molette nearly had an interception, but Richardson jumped over Molette and ripped the ball away. The pass was thrown by Fifita, who also threw a touchdown over the middle to wide receiver Tre Spivey. 

Arizona redshirt junior cornerback Johno Price ripped away a pass in the end zone for an interception. In the same period, Colorado State transfer wide receiver Jordan Ross had a toe-tap touchdown in the back of the end zone. 

Second-year running back Wesley Yarbrough caught a swing-screen pass for a 15-yard touchdown. 

Salgado-Medina missed his first field goal of spring, albeit it was a 61-yarder. Salgado-Medina made a 54-yard field goal and a 40-yarder.