Maryland punter Wade Lees knew living in the U.S. would require some adjustment as soon as he stepped off the plane last January. He had left the 95-degree heat in Melbourne in flip-flops and board shorts. Maryland greeted him with what he estimated was four feet of snow.
Other than the weather, though, Lees said his transition to life as the Terps’ 28-year-old freshman punter has been smooth.
He’s continued the lineage of Australian special teams players excelling in college football, while forming bonds with his teammates, some of whom are 10 years younger than him and coaches, a few of whom are his junior, too.
“I just go out there and get excited to go out there and punt,” Lees said, “even though it’s not really great if I’m punting.”
Lees’ chilly arrival wasn’t his first time in America. He had taken a four-month trip throughout Europe a few years ago, and ended the vacation with four weeks in the U.S., visiting the likes of New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
He also came in 2015 with Prokick Australia, a breeding program for future NCAA kickers and punters, to visit the academy’s former players’ schools. Lees stayed with former Michigan punter Blake O’Neill in Ann Arbor, where the Terps play this weekend, and learned about NCAA options.
Lees didn’t graduate from high school, so he earned his GED and took college placement exams while working and playing Australian League Football. One of his contacts from Michigan also connected him with coach DJ Durkin soon after he took the head job at Maryland.
When Durkin extended the offer to join the Terps, Lees announced his decision on Twitter and soon boarded his plane.
“I just jumped in with two feet,” Lees said, “and haven’t looked back.”
Lees admitted he was nervous for his first kick against Howard, but he’s become more comfortable since, averaging 39.8 yards on his 43 punts. Perhaps his best boom — and his personal favorite from the first eight games — was his 41-yarder to pin Central Florida on the one-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
“That was huge,” Durkin said after the Terps’ double overtime victory on Sept. 17. “To go execute that punt in that moment, that’s perfect.”
Lees said his Australian training has helped him develop versatility by building his leg muscles and honing techniques for different punting styles. But the Australian form allows for more physicality. He played as a midfielder and relished tackling opponents — something he doesn’t often do now.
He tried to square up on Jacquille Veii in Tuesday’s practice, but the wide receiver sidestepped him with quickness. Other times, Lees has asked coaches to participate in tackling drills.
“They just, like, whisked me out of the way,” Lees said, “and said ‘Just go back over there and punt.'”
Still, in the few long gains opponents have managed against the Terps’ punt coverage, Lees’ eyes have “lit up.”
“I suppose it’s not a good thing if the ball’s coming back down past me,” Lees said. “So I’m sort of hoping to get down there to make a tackle, but I’m sort of hoping it doesn’t.”
That enthusiastic approach has endeared Lees to his teammates, too.
The Terps laugh when Lees tries to pronounce certain slang words, especially the ones the team’s Florida natives use from back home. They laughed, too, when coaches asked Lees to get in a stance as a blocker and he instead lowered into a sprinter’s position.
Lees, meanwhile, dished back some ribbing when he told fellow freshman Jake Funk he made one of the team’s rookie graphics on social media “look ugly.”
“He’s got a funny accent, he says a bunch of funny words,” defensive lineman Roman Braglio said, pausing with laughter. “I don’t have a specific story, but yeah, he’s definitely a character.”
He can poke fun at himself, too. He sits a middle seat during plane rides, a Terps freshman tradition despite his mature age. And on social media, he embraces his foreign adjustment as the Terp nicknamed “the Godfather.”
Last week, he tweeted, claiming he would “be a millionaire” if he had a dollar every time people referenced his age when talking about him. “It’s just a bit of fun to sort of reach out to people,” Lees said. “I’m sort of down on followers at the moment, so I’m trying to get them up as well.
“At least people are talking about me, I suppose.”
