PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo senior kicker
Jackson Smith (Centennial, Colo./Santa Barbara City College) has been named to the 2026 Preseason Watch List for the Fred Mitchell Award, which recognizes the nation's top kickers competing at the FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA levels of college football.
Smith, who was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Team, was a semifinalist for the award after his junior season in 2025. Last season, Smith earned Second-Team All-RMAC honors and Don Hansen's Division II Honorable Mention All-American honors after leading the RMAC in field goal percentage (76.2 percent) and field goals per game (1.6) and was second in kicking points per game (9.4).
During the 2025 season, Smith totaled 94 points and was 46-for-46 on extra points and was 16-for-21 on his field goal attempts, including making a school-record 60 yard field goal at New Mexico Highlands. Those 16 field goals in 2025 were fourth most in a season in school history and his 94 points were second most on the team. In addition, he was named an RMA Special Teams Player of the Week three times.
Smith was one of 12 kickers from Division II and one of two from the RMAC named to the 39-player preseason watch list for the 2026 Fred Mitchell Award. The other RMAC kicker named to the watch list was Colorado School of Mines sophomore kicker Preston Kyle.
The other Division II players named to the watch list besides Smith and Kyle were:
- Connor Fournier, Minnesota State
- Elijah Guyton West Alabama
- Brandon McCary, Emporia State
- Brady Myers, Virginia Union
- Jared Navidad, UNC Pembroke
- Ty Quintois, East Stroudsburg
- Harry Radcliffe, California (Pa.)
- Bleu Renfrow, William Jewell
- Layne Ryals, Missouri S&T
- Austin Schmitt, Pittsburg State
The Fred Mitchell Award, established in 2009, is presented annually to an outstanding place-kicker competing at the FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA, or JUCO level based on excellence on the football field and in the community. The award honors Fred Mitchell's distinguished football career and lifelong commitment to community service.
Throughout the 2026 season, members of the Watch List and other eligible kickers will be evaluated by the Fred Mitchell Award Selection Committee. Monthly recognitions will be announced during the season, culminating with the naming of the 2026 Fred Mitchell Award recipient later this year.
