Missouri’s No. 49 is in good hands.
As the Tigers count down to their 2026 opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday, Sept. 3, at Faurot Field, Brett Le Blanc stands out as the player wearing the number that matches the day on the calendar. He’s Missouri’s long snapper, a senior in 2026, and one of the more specialized pieces on the roster.
Le Blanc is 6-foot-3, 214 pounds, from Elkhorn, Wisc., and he has already played in 38 games over the last three seasons. He’s 21 years old, and by the time 2026 arrives, he’ll be one of the veterans in the room.
Missouri landed him as a major specialist prospect. Kohl’s Kicking rated him a 5-star recruit and the third-best long-snapper in the 2023 class.
He was also an Under Armour All-American, a distinction reserved for just two long-snappers each year. His scouting report made the case plainly: "Le Blanc's ability to apply instruction immediately has taken his snapping to an elite level," read his scouting report on Kohl's website.
"He not only snaps one of the best footballs I have ever seen, but he also snaps one of the fastest.
"Le Blanc has already committed to the University of Missouri and has the talent to start as a freshman."
That’s exactly how his career began. In his first season with the Tigers, he appeared in all 13 games during Missouri’s 11-2 run and Cotton Bowl win, and the College Sports Network named him a Freshman All-American.
His early years were split with Trey Flint, who played four years at Ouachita Baptist from 2019-22 and two years at Missouri from 2023-24. Le Blanc and Flint shared the job again in 2024. Then in 2025, Le Blanc handled everything himself, snapping on all 45 punts and all 63 kicking chances: 44 extra points, with 42 made, and 21 field goals, with 15 made.
That’s the kind of work that usually goes unnoticed, which is sort of the point. Long snapping is one of football’s strangest jobs, and one of its most unforgiving.
The snap has to be clean, fast, and accurate in about a second, over and over again, while the rest of the game hangs on what happens next. The better the long snapper, the less anyone thinks about him.
There’s a real technical side to it, too. Morgan Cox, a 10-year NFL veteran who played at Tennessee, once told ESPN that he aimed for 35 miles per hour with exactly 3.5 rotations to give his team the best chance on kicking plays.
Weather, humidity and even altitude can change the equation. And if Le Blanc’s name really jumped out to most fans over the last three seasons, it was probably after a couple errant snaps in last year’s rainy season finale at Arkansas, when Missouri beat Arkansas 31-17.
The position has only recently started getting the recognition it deserves. The Associated Press began including long snappers in its NFL All-Pro process in 2020. The AFCA started naming All-American long snappers in 2021, and the SEC added them to all-conference teams in 2022.
Le Blanc’s path to that spotlight wasn’t exactly conventional, either. Even with his blue-chip status, he arrived at Missouri as a preferred walk-on and didn’t go on scholarship until after his freshman season.
The role has even drawn attention from Bill Belichick, who delivered a nine-minute answer in 2021 about long snapping, its history and why it matters so much to special teams. Belichick said, "It's a pretty tough position," Belichick said during his 9-minute long-snapping answer.
"Nobody knows or cares who the snapper is until there's a bad snap, then all of a sudden, it's a front-page story. There's a decent amount of pressure on that player."
Le Blanc clearly embraces that world. He takes photos after games with other long snappers, including Alabama’s David Bird, Alabama’s Kneeland Hibbett, and Shea Freibaum, the other 2023 Under Armour All-American who began at Oklahoma State and is now at Texas A&M.
The family business fits the niche, too. Le Blanc and his father, Dean, run Long Snapping Target, which sells American-made snapping targets for punts and place-kicking, along with at-home practice tools and individual lessons with Le Blanc. Their tagline: "Built By A Long Snapper For A Long Snapper."
Le Blanc also runs BAIL Consulting and Marketing, where he helps businesses with creative work and workflow systems. He describes that venture as: "Built by someone who has lived pressure, systems, and execution."
In a February in-house interview with Junior Reporter Axton, one of the few interviews he has given since arriving at Missouri, Le Blanc talked about the nerves before taking the field and the satisfaction of the job. Asked what it feels like to run out before a game, he said: "Honestly, your heart gets pumping a little bit," Le Blanc said.
"You're a little nervous at first. Definitely some butterflies.
But it's electric."
Asked what he likes most about being a long snapper, he said: "Not that it's not a team position, but it's you vs. you because I'm the only one who can affect the ball," Le Blanc said. "Then being able to cover the field and go make a tackle, that's always a great feeling."
He has one career tackle, coming after a 52-yard punt by Connor Weselman in the first quarter of Missouri’s game against Vanderbilt in Nashville last season, when Le Blanc and Nick DeLoach Jr. combined on the stop.
And if he were asked to line up at center instead? He didn’t hesitate.
"I would not. I am nowhere near big enough.
I feel like we average 6-foot-5 across the board and almost 300 pounds. I'm nowhere near that."
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