Former Wildcat Tyler Loop named starting kicker for Baltimore Ravens

Tyler Loop was expected to become the starting kicker of the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie, but the former Arizona Wildcat solidified his starter status on Saturday.

In the Baltimore Ravens’ 31-13 preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Loop made 5 of 6 field-goal attempts and both PATs.

Loop made field goals from 29, 51, 42, 36, and 53 yards. Loop’s only miss was from 50 yards in the fourth quarter, but he redeemed his miss with a 53-yard field goal, which is his longest of NFL preseason; his previous longest was 52 yards.

“It’s fun to have a night like tonight, especially where you can just go out and do that over and over,” Loop told reporters Saturday night.

Loop grew up in Lucas, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and graduated from Lovejoy High School, so the former Wildcat had several family members and friends at his first NFL preseason road game. The contingent of roughly 30 Loop supporters all had “Loop! There it is” signs.

“It’s fun to come back to Dallas, be in this stadium and play the Cowboys,” Loop said. “Growing up here, that’s something that is really big. Just being able to get in front of my family again was really special. It’s just so fun. ... I had a lot of people come out and I’m super thankful to see my family and friends come back around, celebrate and be here. It was good.”

After Loop’s standout performance, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh named the rookie the starting kicker for the upcoming season.

“He will be the kicker,” Harbaugh said. “He has earned it and he’ll get another chance to get back out there next week and kick some more and just keep improving. I just appreciate the fact that he wants to make them all, but he had a good night.”

Loop discovered he was anointed as the Ravens’ starting kicker through reporters during postgame media availability on Saturday.

“Oh, nice. That’s fun!” Loop said. “It’s special. It’s something that I can celebrate a little bit with my family. I’m just really excited to be in Baltimore. ... For me, faith is a big part of my life, and just seeing how orchestrated and well things have fallen into place, it just makes me really thankful to be here. I love the staff, I love my teammates and being in the city of Baltimore is really fun. I’m excited to be here for that. It’s really fun, but I gotta earn it every day.”

Loop is now the official successor to Justin Tucker, who is one of the top kickers in NFL history.

Tucker was released by the Ravens nearly four months after he was accused of sexual misconduct. In a report by the Baltimore Banner in January, six women accused Tucker of sexual misconduct at eight different spas in the Baltimore area between 2012-16. Since the initial report, a total of 16 women have accused Tucker of sexual misconduct.

Even Tucker has publicly denied the allegations multiple times and called the accusations “unequivocally false.” The kicker was released following an investigation by the NFL. In May, Harbaugh said the decision to release Tucker was “based on football.”

Tucker is currently the most accurate kicker in NFL history with an 89.1% field-goal rate and is a seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro selection. Tucker is coming off the worst season of his career after he a posted a career-low 73.3% (22 of 30) on field goals last season.

Loop, the first-ever kicker drafted by the Ravens, was selected by Baltimore in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in April. Following an illustrious career at the UA, Loop became the first Arizona kicker drafted since Nick Folk in 2007; the 40-year-old Folk is currently kicking for the New York Jets.

Since joining the Ravens, Loop has made 6 of 8 field goals, with misses from 46 and 50 yards. He also made a 60-yarder in the Ravens’ first training camp practice at MT&T Bank Stadium.

In both games, Loop made field goals after misses, which he said “builds more confidence, when maybe you fall short of your process once.”

“Then you can come back and just go back into that process,” Loop said. “It builds those repetitions and just makes you feel more confident and comfortable. It was really cool and fun to get a lot of kicks. ... We gotta earn it every day and every rep, especially at my position. ... My name is gonna get called again, so you have to be able to step back up and go through it again and earn it.”

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Loop and the Ravens conclude their preseason schedule against the Washington Commanders on Saturday at 9 a.m. The Ravens officially kick off their season on the road against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 5:20 p.m. for Sunday Night Football on NBC.

UA assistant spends time with L.A. Rams

Arizona offensive assistant coach Greg Stewart was one of two UA staffers selected to the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, along with Caleb Moore.

The Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship has exposed minority coaches from the high school and college ranks to the NFL since 1987. The NFL coaching program is used to increase the number of full-time minority coaches in the NFL.

Moore spent time with the Green Bay Packers, while Stewart worked with the Los Angeles Rams for 10 days earlier this year. Stewart said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan asked Stewart about the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

“It was one of those cool opportunities where I was like, ‘Heck yeah, let’s do this!’” Stewart said.

Stewart, who specializes in coaching offensive line, worked with Rams offensive line coach Ryan Wendell and head coach Sean McVay. Stewart said he was “a sponge” learning from a Super Bowl-winning coaching staff for 10 days.

“It was one of those cool experiences to see one of those top-notch programs that went to the Super Bowl and knows how to win,” Stewart said.”Not giving away their sauce, but the connectivity they have within their team, not just with the staff, but with the players.”

Stewart, a Vancouver, Washington native, played linebacker at Southern Oregon, but due to his struggles in pass coverage, he was moved to fullback and became “essentially a pulling guard.” Stewart’s last season at Southern Oregon was in 2007 and his coaching journey began in ‘08.

At multiple coaching stops in the Pacific Northwest region, including College of Idaho, Central Washington and Oregon Tech, Stewart not only coached, he painted fields, grabbed coffee for staffers, hosted recruits and served as a video coordinator.

“I learned all of these things and then when I get here, there are people who have those jobs and not a coaching job,” Stewart said. “The cool thing here is that you get to be a coach.”

Stewart joined Brennan’s staff last season and was an assistant running backs coach, but is now working alongside UA offensive line coach Josh Oglesby. Stewart “once had dreams and aspirations of being a head coach, but I just love being with those guys on the O-Line,” he said.

“It was one of those things where I felt like if I could be a dang good O-Line coach, I’ll have an opportunity anywhere,” Stewart said. “My passion was towards that the whole time.”

Whether it’s coaching the offensive line or running backs, a stint at Arizona “was a job I could not say no to,” Stewart said.

“Trust me, the Big 12 is awesome and everything else, but I just knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime to work with Brent Brennan,” he said. “The way he coaches our kids, the way he operates, it aligns with my vision with how I coach kids as well.”

Extra points

— Arizona canceled its 14th practice of training camp at Arizona Stadium Saturday night following a severe thunderstorm. The turf field at Arizona Stadium was flooded and parts of the UA campus experienced a power outage.

— Hundreds of fans attended Arizona’s “Meet the Cats” event at Davis Sports Center Saturday afternoon. Attendees received a season poster that featured quarterback Noah Fifita, wide receiver Chris Hunter, safety Genesis Smith, defensive end Tre Smith and safety Dalton Johnson, along with a UA football yard sign. Players and staffers — including Brennan, Chuck Cecil and Brandon Sanders — sat at tables and signed autographs for fans. Earlier this year, the UA football team held autograph sessions at two UA men’s basketball games, a beach volleyball match, a gymnastics event and a baseball and softball game.