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2026 kicker Hayden Chambers recaps Mississippi State decision

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby: Paul Jones07/01/25PaulJonesOn3

Not long after officially visiting Mississippi State last month, 2026 kicker Hayden Chambers admitted he had a tough decision to make. His options were good as the Fort Payne (Ala.) High School product holds SEC offers from Mississippi State and Auburn.

But on Monday, Chambers came to a conclusion with his decision and committed to the Bulldogs. At the end of the day, Chambers simply went with his “best opportunity” for his future. Chambers became the 24th commitment in State’s Class of 2026 with his decision.

“In the end I wanted to go to the school that had the best opportunity for me,” Chambers explained. “I want to go to the NFL and I wanted to be at a school and play with a kicker (Kyle Ferrie) that I look up to. I wanted to be at a place I know I will get better at.”

Also big on his Christian faith, Chambers started to have a good idea about his Mississippi State future last weekend. He spent a lot of time praying about his decision and followed that feeling to Starkville.

“It was probably this past weekend,” added Chambers. “I am really big on my faith. I was at a church conference and I prayed a lot about my decision. I just felt like God was calling me to go to Mississippi State.”

At Fort Payne High School, Chambers is expected to handle all aspects of the kicking game this fall. For Mississippi State, he wouldn’t mind having dual responsibilities either.

“Mississippi State wants me to be the kicker,” Chambers remarked. “But they know I’m a good combo guy, too. So I am going to go in there and compete for both kicker and punter.”

Payne is listed as the nation’s No. 6 placekicker by Kohl’s kicking and naturally, he has worked on his game often this offseason.

“My kicking has been going good this summer,” noted Chambers. “I’ve had a bunch of camps and I’ve been resting my leg a good bit, too. I have a couple more camps coming up and I’m ready to get back at it.”

Of course, kickers always face a huge amount of pressure on game days and that is no different for Chambers. But now that his college decision has been made, that’s one less worry on his plate.

“It’s a lot of stress off my back,” Chambers mentioned. “I don’t have to worry about recruiting anymore. Now all I have to focus on is the season coming up.”

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