What looked like a straightforward answer for Colorado’s place-kicking job has turned into one of the Buffs’ strangest offseason battles.
Elliot Arnold entered the 2026 conversation as the expected choice, but the competition around him has kept shifting. At different points, the room included Grambling transfer Josh McCormick, JUCO addition Cadel Ayala and, potentially, a pair of veterans who know Colorado’s kicking duties well.
The first twist came in the spring, when McCormick was in the mix with Arnold. McCormick’s background had mostly been as a kickoff specialist, so the assumption was that he would handle that role and leave the place-kicking work alone. Colorado didn’t make that part of the picture clear until Deion Sanders addressed the situation after the spring game.
"Elliott is the guy," Sanders said. "Everybody knows their role right now. We've got the utmost faith and confidence in him."
Not long after that, McCormick left the program through the transfer portal and chose to pursue track and field, leaving Arnold as the only kicker on the roster heading into the summer.
Colorado then added another body to the room on June 26 with the commitment of Ayala, another kicker who has done most of his damage as a kickoff specialist. Chris Sailer Kicking listed him as a 4.5-star recruit, in part because of a reported 3.9-second or longer hang time on kickoffs. Ayala arrived at Colorado at the start of fall camp and is now the only player currently challenging Arnold for the job.
Even with Arnold and Ayala in place, the competition may not be finished changing. A recent court ruling confirmed that former college players from the 2022 recruiting class who did not sign NFL contracts can return to their previous programs, and that opens the door for two more Colorado kickers: Alejandro Mata and Buck Buchanan.
Colorado does not have any roster spots available right now, though that could change if defensive lineman Ezra Christensen’s eligibility is resolved in a way that opens one up.
If Sanders does look to the veterans, Mata would be the likeliest name to surface first. He was a trusted part of Colorado and Jackson State teams under Sanders. Arnold, for his part, said on Tuesday that having both Mata and Buchanan around last year helped him a lot.
“Being able to redshirt last year and learn from senior guys like Mata and Buck was awesome,” Arnold said. “Seeing how they go through their routine, they were a lot of help to me. Just teaching me things and being great mentors to me, it was really nice watching them do their thing and help me out.”
Arnold also said the competition itself has been productive rather than tense, even with McCormick and Ayala pushing him.
“In kicking, you learn things from everyone,” Arnold said. “If you have a bad rep, they can see what you did and point stuff out. We all help each other because I don’t really see it as a competition; I see it as, ‘let’s try and win some games and help each other be the best.’”
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