Long before he was launching kickoffs 72 yards in practice for one of college football’s most storied programs, Jacob Baggett was just a kid lingering after soccer practice at Royal Lane Park.
Armed with a football, a pair of makeshift sticks and a dream he didn’t yet realize was possible, Baggett and his father, Bill, stayed behind while everyone else went home.
They kicked.Then they kicked some more.
And somewhere between those quiet afternoons in Clinton and the bright lights of Michigan Stadium, one of Sampson County’s most remarkable athletic journeys began.
Today, Baggett is a member of the Michigan Wolverines football program, joining a roster that competes in the Big Ten Conference and plays in front of more than 100,000 fans at the famed Big House in Ann Arbor.
It’s a journey that started with a soccer ball.
“Basically, I was in eighth grade and started kicking after soccer practice for fun,” Baggett recalled. “Usually I would practice three days a week at Royal Lane for soccer, and then after I would head over to the football field. My dad and I started out with one ball and bought a pair of sticks so I could hold the ball up with them, and I just started kicking.”
His father, Bill, never missed a session.
“My dad just kept on coming out with me, and we just kept on kicking,” Baggett said. “Then I eventually started getting really good.”
Bill Baggett remembers those early years vividly.
Jacob played nearly every sport available growing up — football, baseball, basketball and soccer — but it was soccer that laid the foundation for what would become an elite kicking career.
“He played soccer since he was 5 years old,” Bill said. “Sampson County Soccer Club, Clinton soccer, all of it. We were going somewhere every weekend. It just became competitive.”
The first sign that Jacob might have something special came during the summer before his freshman year when he attended a kicking camp at N.C. State.
It was his first opportunity to measure himself against other kickers.
“I realized that I was actually pretty good at it,” he said. “That’s when I started taking it more seriously and started training and working on things.”
Even then, football was competing with soccer for his attention.
At Sampson Middle School, Baggett excelled in both sports before earning a spot on Clinton High School’s varsity football team as a freshman.
Then came the moment that changed everything.
While Clinton’s soccer team was preparing for a state championship appearance, the Dark Horses football team was set to face East Duplin in the third round of the playoffs.
Baggett had a choice to make.
Many athletes would have chased the championship ring.Instead, he chose football.
“I ended up not going to the state championship and staying to play against East Duplin,” Baggett said. “That’s when I really started to take kicking serious. That’s when I noticed you could really make something out of this.”
That decision became the first major fork in the road.
The second came shortly afterward.
As Baggett’s talent continued to develop, he began working with Charlotte-based kicking coach Dan Orner. The frequent trips from Clinton to Charlotte quickly became difficult, and conversations began about whether relocating could maximize his potential.
“We were kind of looking at other schools,” Baggett said. “I wanted to get somewhere that would really help me maximize what I could do.”
Ultimately, Baggett transferred to Providence Day School in Charlotte, one of North Carolina’s premier athletic and academic institutions.
The move was significant.
He was leaving his hometown, friends and familiar surroundings for a new city and a nationally recognized football program.
Looking back, he believes it prepared him perfectly for life at Michigan.
“Providence Day basically runs like a college,” Baggett said. “It’s very structured. It’s very academic. There really isn’t another high school program that runs like Providence Day.”
The results were immediate.
Baggett flourished.
As a sophomore, he recorded 35 touchbacks.As a junior, that number jumped to 68.By his senior season, he had rewritten the North Carolina record book.
“He broke the state record with 95 touchbacks,” his dad attested, pride evident in his voice. “He was six-for-seven on field goals and almost perfect on extra points.”
For those unfamiliar with kicking statistics, touchbacks are among the clearest indicators of elite leg strength. Consistently driving kickoffs into or through the end zone eliminates return opportunities and dramatically impacts field position.
“He just has a strong leg,” Bill said with a laugh.
The numbers helped attract national attention.
Notre Dame recruited him heavily.So did numerous Power Four programs.
Eventually, Michigan emerged as the perfect fit.
The Wolverines needed a specialist capable of handling kickoffs and long-range field goals, and Baggett fit the profile.
His future coaches didn’t have to wait long to be impressed.
“We moved him in on June 1, and they started working him out,” Bill said. “He’s kicked 72-yard kickoffs and 55-yard field goals already in practice.”
Those numbers are eye-opening even at the collegiate level.
Yet Baggett’s journey has never been solely about leg strength.
Along the way, he has also collected championships.At Providence Day, he helped the Chargers win two state titles.
One championship team went undefeated, the first in school history.
The defining moment came during a nationally recognized showdown against Roman Catholic High School of Pennsylvania.Providence Day escaped with a 29-28 victory.
Baggett’s field goal proved to be the difference.
“They won that game 29-28 and he had a three-point field goal in that game to give them the edge,” Bill said.
For Jacob, however, the championships are remembered less for the trophies and more for the relationships.
“We were so close on that team,” he said. “Coach Chad Grier did a lot of good things with camps and team-bonding trips. It felt like a family there.”
That sense of family has followed him to Michigan.
Several former Providence Day teammates are already on campus, helping ease the transition from North Carolina to the Midwest.
Having familiar faces nearby has made the adjustment easier, but Baggett knows the biggest challenges still lie ahead.
Michigan’s demanding academic standards mirror the rigor he experienced at Providence Day.The football expectations are even higher.
Baggett’s goals are straightforward.
“I want to be able to be a true freshman starter and either kick field goals or kickoffs, whatever it is,” he said. “Even if that doesn’t work out right away, I want to make the travel team and keep up with school.”
The weather may be colder, stadiums may be larger, and the spotlight may be brighter.But the approach remains unchanged: work, improve, repeat.
Those lessons were taught years ago by a father who stood beside his son at an empty football field after soccer practice.
Bill Baggett believes those lessons matter just as much now as they did then.
“It’s a big challenge for him,” Bill said. “But he’s got that winning mindset. Do whatever it takes to win.”
As Father’s Day weekend passed and Jacob prepared for another chapter in Ann Arbor, he made sure to acknowledge the person who helped start the journey.
“Happy Father’s Day to my dad,” Jacob said. “He’s always been by my side. He really started this for me. He put me in this position. If it wasn’t for him, this definitely wouldn’t have been possible.” Baggett also wanted to ensure he gave a special shoutout to his entire family, especially his mother Patty and sister Emily.
For young athletes across Sampson County, Baggett hopes his story serves as proof that dreams don’t have geographic boundaries.
You can start in Clinton.You can begin with one football and a pair of homemade kicking sticks.
And if you’re willing to work, opportunities can find you.
“No matter where you are, it doesn’t really matter,” Baggett said. “If you have that work ethic and you work hard and get your talents in front of people who need to see them, people will find you. You just have to keep your head down and work hard.”
From Royal Lane Park to the Big House, that’s exactly what Jacob Baggett did.