The Montclair State University Red Hawks trailed the Rowan University Profs, 10-7, in the first-annual Breakfast Bowl on Nov. 2, 2024, with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. 

The Red Hawks had a first down on the Profs’ 40-yard line. Rather than throw the deep ball, Montclair State head coach Mike Palazzo sent then-sophomore kicker Greg Casimir out on the field, and his 49-yard field goal sent the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rivalry game into overtime.

The crowd at Coach Richard Wackar Stadium was stunned. The radio announcers were at a loss for words.

“Do you believe it, 49 yards!”

Casimir didn’t know it at that moment, but just one year later, he’d be competing in the second edition of the Breakfast Bowl as a Prof. 

“I never thought that I’d be a Prof the next season after that,” Casimir said. “‘I’m not worried about anything but the kick in the moment.”

While he didn’t have any late-game heroics in this year’s Breakfast Bowl, he did nail a 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The distance was just one yard away from tying the career-high he set in his sophomore season at Montclair State.

As for the longest field Casimir’s ever made during practice, it’s much further.

“60 [yards] is the longest,” Casimir said. “I’m never gonna waver just because of how far the kick is.”

Casimir had a career year in his sophomore season at Montclair State. He hit four field goals of 45+ yards that season and went 18-20 in extra points. He was named D3football.com Third Team All-Region and NJAC Special Teams Player of the Year for his performance during the 2024-25 season.

And at the conference awards brunch on June 8, 2024, he met Rowan head coach Pat Ruley for the first time. By this point, Casimir was in the transfer portal and told his future coach that he was committed to playing for his program.

“At that point, I told him that I was good,” Casimir said. “It was my first time meeting him, and I told him I was gonna be committing to his program.”

Casimir speaks very highly of his first two years as a Red Hawk. He loved the coaches and his teammates, and the reasoning behind his decision to leave was simple. 

“There’s no animosity, anything like that. It’s just that school was becoming hard to afford,” Casimir said. “It just wasn’t sustainable to keep doing that. So I got in the [transfer] portal.”

The junior had countless offers from schools across Division I, II, and III when he hit the transfer portal. But, he chose Rowan both to save money and stay closer to home. He commutes over an hour both ways from his home in Hamilton, New Jersey, to Glassboro.

Casimir was a top recruit this past offseason for schools all across the country, but coming out of high school, he barely had any offers. Rowan ignored his emails when he first reached out as a senior.

“I didn’t do great in high school, like we didn’t have a lot of opportunities, got blocked a lot, so my film wasn’t the best,” Casimir said. “Coaches would recruit me off just my practice of just what I would do, like taking in an afternoon about myself, videos I would post on Twitter.”

Part of this can be attributed to his late start as a kicker. Casimir has always played football, but he’s fairly new to the American version.

He’s been kicking for about five years. Prior to that, he spent 13 years on the soccer pitch before transitioning to the football field. 

A left wing and right center midfielder by trade, he represented his alma mater, Steinert High School in Hamilton Square, New Jersey, but didn’t get much playing time.

“I’m just a role player. I was never the best,” Casimir said. “I was just a guy that liked to play soccer.”

Coming back from a scrimmage his sophomore year, Casimir was approached by one of his coaches with a suggestion. 

“He was like, you have strong legs, you should go to football,” Casimir said. “He just gave me the idea of it, and then I just ended up sticking with that.”

Casimir made the transition to being a kicker in his junior year of high school. He had the leg strength from his soccer days, but he had to make many technical changes to his kicking motion. Casimir says adapting is key. 

“If you kick a football, like how you pick a soccer ball, you’re guaranteed to miss every single game,” Casimir said. “It’s just not going to work out for you.”

He’s trained with his coach, Luke Gaddis, every Sunday, and still works with him to this day. From him, he learned the kicking motion and how to put power under the football. 

“I say my whole life because that’s what I feel like,” Casimir said. “I’ve been training with him for that long.”

Coach Ruley recalls casually speaking to Casimir after the first Breakfast Bowl in Glassboro. A few months later, he got the chance to welcome Casimir to the team. 

“We’re really excited to have a weapon like that [Greg Casimir] on our team,” Ruley said. “His ability under the gun and in late game situations to drill a long field goal like that, that’s definitely something we take into account.”

Casimir has been the Profs’ main kicker since the day he arrived on campus, and he loves being a part of his new squad.

“They all welcome me with open arms. I really enjoy being around all of them,” Casimir said. “Everybody here loves each other here.”

A year ago, Casimir’s kick silenced Rowan fans. Now, those same fans cheer him on every Saturday. From being on the losing end of the Breakfast Bowl last year to winning it as a Prof last Saturday, things for the kicker have truly come full circle.

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