East Lansing, Mich. – There may be no player that better embodies Mel Tucker’s philosophy of Living the Chop Life than graduate senior punter Bryce Baringer.

And he’s been chopping for six years, through two schools and three head coaches.

Baringer has overcome the financial difficulties of being a preferred walk-on at Illinois in 2017 who transferred to Michigan State as a regular student in 2018, holding onto diminishing dreams of playing college football.

Michigan State coaches knew who he was when he enrolled at Michigan State, and welcomed him to try out, but there was little expectation.

When Michigan State experienced a string of injuries at the punter position in 2018, with Jake Hartbarger and Tyler Hunt being lost for the season, Mark Dantonio’s staff recalled Baringer from the tryout list, activated him, and sent him onto the field.

Playing as a walk-on in 2018 for four games, he averaged a meager 32.4 yards a punt. In 2019, Michigan State had Hartbarger, Hunt and a scholarship freshman from Australia slated to join the team. Dantonio, special teams coordinator Mike Tressel, and his staff thanked Baringer for his service, but told him there was no room for him on the roster, and cut him.

He remained a student at Michigan State, and kept practicing on his own time, with a couple of Michigan State footballs he had taken home with him from the practice field. He worked on his punting on the turf field by Munn Ice Arena where the band practices.

In 2020, after Tucker’s hiring, Hartbarger’s graduation, Hunt’s move to tight end, and that scholarship punter having left school and gone back home to Australia, and Tressel still on the staff, Baringer was called back for another shot.

He was bigger, taller and much-improved. He earned the starting job in 2020, and led the Big Ten in punting in 2021 while setting a school record with a 48.4 punting average.

This season, his last as a graduate senior, he sits atop the NCAA rankings at 52.04 yards per punt. He has averaged over 50 yards per punt in five of MSU’s six games this season and has 11 career games in which he has averaged more than 50 yards per punt.

On Monday, he was named the Ray Guy Punter of the Week for the second time this season.

How does guy go from being a 32-yard emergency punter, and being cut, to becoming arguably the best college punter in the nation and an NFL prospect?

Curious for answers, SpartanMag sat down with the Waterford native, who has two advertising degrees, a minor in business, and is presently pursuing a Masters in leadership and administration, for a Q&A.

SpartanMag: So, talk about the time between the 2018 and 2019 seasons when you were no longer on the Michigan State football team and how you kept yourself engaged not knowing if you would get a shot to punt again collegiately.

Bryce Baringer: I still just worked out at The Crunch or one of the Powerhouse Gyms. I kept working on my craft, working on the (MSU) band field. I was reffing flag football, reffing for IM sports. I had a couple of balls still from when I was here (before he was cut from the team).

SM: Were you basically waiting by the phone for a call from MSU’s football program, hoping for another chance? BB: There was obviously a lot of uncertainty. I had been waiting six or seven months so, (I was thinking) is it going to happen? So, it was tough.

I was working in a bag room at a golf club just trying to make some money, keeping myself busy while still working out, trying to kick as much as I could. I was still doing summer classes online but I was back home in Waterford. You just have to be ready and it shows in the next level as well. You got guys who go down and boom, you’re in the free agent business. So you never just slack off. You’re always just trying to be ready.

SM: How do you go from averaging 32 yards per punt to where you are now? Is it stretching? How the hell did you do that?

BB: It’s just routine, trying to be a pro. Like I said, I can’t take anything for granted. So, I wake up everyday and try to attack it as well as I can and be grateful for the chances that I’m given.

SM: When you were averaging 32, did you think you had it in you to average what you’re doing now? Is it technique, is it repetition?

BB: Oh yeah. I thought I did, but back then I was very mentally immature. I let a lot of the surrounding things impact how I played. I let a lot of the outside noise affect my performances, like, ‘Oh, am I good enough?’ That definitely played a factor but that was what, four or five years ago? I’ve grown as a person. I’ve gotten 20 pounds bigger in the weight room. I’ve gotten taller and all of those things help as a punter.

We talk about long-leggers, trying to swing my leg, not as hard as possible but be efficient with the body weight that I have, getting it through the football. I definitely didn’t have that back then. I was maybe like a 175, 180 pounds. I think I weighed in the other day at 215. I’m taller. I’m about two inches taller.

SM: You grew two inches, you added weight and mechanical changes, mental changes?

BB: I’ve refined so much. Like I said, watching a lot of the NFL guys. I watch film more. I’m more committed to that craft because I know what I’m capable of and how I want to pursue what I know I can take this to. I know I have the chance to play at the next level and I just want to show the teams that I can do it. I know I’m capable of doing it but I need to prove it everyday when I practice and when I play but it’s nice when my coaches and my teammates trust me but like I said, I just got to take it one day at a time and be grateful for it.

SM: When you transferred to MSU, did you ask them if there was room for you on the team? Did they know you were transferring to Michigan State?

BB: They didn’t have roster availability. They were at their cap but they knew I was coming in. The whole staff did. I think Illinois actually reached out. Someone from their operations and recruiting came to ours and let them know, ‘Hey, this guys is coming in.’ I had a workout or tryout with them. I think it was mid-January, just in the indoor, so obviously, with the low ceilings it’s not ideal conditions. But that’s fine. Like I said, with our team, just the numbers, there wasn’t room. So, yeah, I knew what I was capable of and I just tried and stayed ready as long as I could.

SM: How have you taken your punting from being second-team All-Big Ten to now being a leading candidate for All-America?

BB: Last season was a big season of growth for me. Instead of letting the opposing team, their rush, their scheme affect how I kick, I essentially said. ‘Let’s flip the script.’ Let me dictate to them, how I’m going to perform and I just became kind of one within myself. I found some strides within that regard.

SM: Why did you decide to come back for sixth season?

BB: There were some factors that made me want to come back. Just working on being more consistent, better direction and working on giving our defense the best chance to be successful. Thankfully, so far, it’s worked out well.

SM: Do punters watch tape?

BB: I watch every day. On a normal day, I’ll go and watch on the iPad that they provide. I’ll watch technique, what I’m doing. Today was a pretty windy day so that was a good day of work for me.

I’m working on lines, my drop, my position, where I need the ball to be; nose down, flat. What I like to do, is we can watch NFL film on our iPads as well. So my three favorite people that I like to watch are Thomas Morstead (Miami Dolphins), Pat O’Donnell (Green Bay Packers) and Jack Fox (Detroit Lions).

I know Jack pretty well. He’s come up and we’ve kicked together in the offseason but then Thomas and Pat are two guys that have done it for a very long time. Pat especially, I like to watch because he played in Chicago for eight years which is tough place to play as far as conditions. So he’s a really good dude to watch and now he’s in Green Bay, another Northern outdoor, cold weather type of team and he’s being really successful. Just nitpicking those kinds of things. What I see in their form and technique and anything like that, I can try and bring it over to mine.

Then, this week, I watched the opponent’s scheme. What they like to do; skin, backside pressure, front side, they can stem across, come across the center on a punt rush. I look for those types of things but I’ve grown so that I don’t let that impact how I perform. I like to, like I said, be very one, just catch the snap, do what I’ve done so many so many to be successful and just let it go from there.

SM: How did you establish a relationship with Lions’ punter Jack Fox?

BB: So Jack’s obviously just in Detroit. So there was just one day, I followed him on Instagram and he followed me back. It helps that I told him I thought he did a good job because I got verified on Instagram because he’s verified and he followed me back. This summer, we just talked and chatted, and connected and he came up three or four times and we got some really good training in.

SM: So what did you get from the NFL punter?

BB: A lot of mindset. Understanding that a mishit can be a good and employable mishit and not get upset with it. For example, my first punt with Minnesota. I think it was like a 46:4.23, a little bit of a sidewinder off my foot but it was an effective mishit (because) it was a two-yard net return and it still gave us a chance to cover it.

I’ve also learned that that type of ball is a lot more effective than hitting a 60-yarder where the returner might have 20 yards of space to do whatever he wants with. So, just trying to give my guys a chance to get down there, play through your mishit and commit to your line, is something we (he and Fox) talked about a lot, which is something I appreciated.

SM: What does it mean to you when the announcers says during the game that the punter has been MSU’s best defense?

BB: Just that I’m doing my job. My job is to optimize our field position and help our defense as much as I can and I take a lot of pride in that and it’s nice when I have guys on the punt unit that truly want to be out there. They take a lot of pride in it. So it’s cool because sometimes you don’t always get recognition but sometimes, you don’t need the recognition. It’s my job. Like a lot of times, our offensive line doesn’t get the recognition they deserve. They play well, they make their blocks. Sometimes, you just have to do your job.

SM: Where are you at in understanding that you’re not just the punter?

BB: That’s kind of what I was talking about earlier, being a pro and treating it like I’m trying to be a professional. Taking care of my body. It could be something like a kick count, kind of like a pitcher has a pitch count throughout the week. Making sure I don’t burn myself out. Cold tub, getting my boots in game day. Just doing stuff that I know works for me. Attacking the weight room on lift days, maybe getting in extra lift in during the week. Getting extra drill work.

I know it’s a responsibility and that’s the one thing that I like. I like helping our team as much as I can. I’m trying to be more of a vocal leader. I know I need to grow in that regard.

I’ve been through my fair share of teams, seasons, coaches. I’ve had three coaches from Coach Smith at Illinois, Coach D and now with Coach Tucker and I know what gets it done too and I’ve also seen what can get it done. That’s why I think routine is so critical.

SM: As a punter, do you have that dream of getting that one big hit on punt coverage?

BB: Sometimes yeah, it might be fun but my job … I just want to see the ball go high, far and I want to see a fair catch. That’s what I really want to see. I want to see that returner put his hand up in the air and say, I can’t return it.

SM: So, considering your journey, how do you react to something like being ranked by NFL analysts as a potential future pro?

BB: Obviously, I appreciate my journey but after last season I put that journey to bed and now, I’m trying to start a new one; knowing what I’m capable of doing, committing to a routine and trying to be a pro. Being a professional is doing something every single day and doing it well and at a high level.

I think a lot of times, and I’m not speaking towards anyone, but some people, athletes, might take the positions they’re in for granted and I’ve tried to do a very good job of not doing that. Just being very grounded where I am and if I go out and do what I know how to do, I think my performance and my play will speak for itself.

I know how fast it can get taken right away. I know how quickly things can change, whether it be injuries or performance or just life. So I just try and be grateful for every chance and every day.

I know I have a chance to play at the next level. I know what I’m capable of and how I want to pursue what I know I can take this to. I want to show the teams that I can do it.