Falcons' Soderberg working to get his old job back

Air Force kicker Erik Soderberg was making an earnest effort to improve last offseason, with no idea it would screw him up.

Soderberg figured that if he could make second-team all-conference as a sophomore without fine tuning his mechanics, he should be even better using a more conventional style.

That backfired on him. Soderberg missed some kicks early in the season, and his confidence plummeted. He was 5-of-10 on field-goal attempts when the Falcons made a change, letting senior Zack Bell handle kicking duties in the regular-season finale and the Independence Bowl. Soderberg has a chance to get his job back this season, but he’ll need to show he’s past what happened in 2010.

“I’m using last year as a motivation to get better,” Soderberg said. “I’m not worried about my form and technique. I think I was worried about that too much instead of going out there and kicking, like I did my sophomore year.”

Soderberg isn’t ignoring all fundamentals, he just won’t let that consume him, which is what happened when he struggled early last season.

“I missed a couple early, and then I started thinking a lot about ‘I’m doing this and this,’ ” Soderberg said .“I don’t have the greatest form or technique, but when I can hit it well it works. Usually when I’m hitting it best is when I say ‘Let’s just go kick.’ ”

Bell is out of eligibility, so Soderberg is back to the front of the line. He needs to prove himself again before the season opener. 

Coach Troy Calhoun said what Soderberg does during spring practices and in the offseason will determine if he can regain his spot as Air Force’s kicker. Calhoun made it clear the job wouldn’t be handed right back to Soderberg without competition.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” Calhoun said.

Soderberg said last season was tough for him. He said he had sleepless nights after he missed kicks in games. He doesn’t want to forget what happened entirely, because he wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“You learn from good and bad experiences,” Soderberg said. “Sometimes the bad experiences you learn the most from.”