2015 Introduction: Charlie Beall

The departures of Ben Rhyne and Jordan Williamson will leave a significant void in Stanford's special teams room next year. Williamson, a four-year starter, is the program's all-time leading scorer. Rhyne, meanwhile, has been a steady force as Stanford's starting punter for the last two years.

It might be up to a pair of Southern California natives - who happen to be good friends - to fill the shoes of the graduating fifth-year seniors.

San Diego-area specialist Jake Bailey earned a scholarship offer from Stanford after a standout performance at the Cardinal's camp. He committed to Stanford in June.

A few months after St. Margaret's High School (San Juan Capistrano) kicker Charlie Beall had a strong showing at the same camp, Beall became the second 2015 specialist to verbally commit to the Cardinal. He accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Stanford special teams coach Pete Alamar.

Beall's relationship with Stanford football began after his freshman year of high school when he attended one of the Cardinal's specialists camp. He returned for another camp this past summer, where he caught Alamar's eye.

"I went to the Stanford kicking camp between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, in the summer," Beall said. "And I did pretty well. I talked with some of the coaches but it was really early in the recruiting process for kickers so there wasn't extreme interest or a lot going on. And then I actually got injured between my sophomore and junior year. I had spine surgery.

"This summer I went to a bunch of camps, doing kind of the college tour for recruiting. I went to Notre Dame, most of the Ivies, Duke, Stanford and UCLA. I ended up doing pretty well at Stanford and then a couple of weeks later got a call from Coach Pete Alamar. He invited me out in the summer, in July, to come visit for the weekend. They had a little recruiting trip. And then Coach Alamar came to one of my games midway through the season and offered me a preferred walk-on a couple of weeks later."

Shortly thereafter, Beall committed to Stanford over a preferred walk-on offer from Notre Dame and an offer from Princeton. He made his decision after receiving word that he had been admitted to Stanford.

"I really loved Stanford," Beall said. "Being on the campus, I fell in love with it. And overall I just really liked the coaching staff. I thought that Coach Alamar, being strictly a special teams coach rather than like a special teams and wide receiver coach or a special teams and linebacker coach, I thought it was really cool that he solely focuses on special teams. I thought that would really help me along in the process in college, too, and make the transition even easier. And I have a great relationship with him, too."

Beally and Bailey will compete for playing time when they arrive on The Farm next year. Though neither player's role is set in stone, the Cardinal tentatively views Beall more as a placekicking candidate and Bailey more as a punter.

"First of all it's going to be a competition," Beall said. "Jake is definitely a very strong punter, as well as kicker, but I know his favorite is punting. And, so, they've talked a little to us about him maybe focusing more on punting and me maybe focusing more on field goals and then kickoffs are just kind of up in the air. That being said, it's still a competition. So if one of us comes in an doesn't do as well it could go either way."

If Beall does win Stanford's placekicking job next year - he'd have to best the likes of Bailey and Conrad Ukropina to do so - he'd follow in the footsteps of a good family friend. Beall's family has known Jordan Williamson's family for several years, and Beall and Williamson have become friends. Williamson has shared some of his experiences of the ups and downs of college football with Beall.

"My dad and his parents somehow got in contact three or four years ago and I've gone up to visit him a bunch of times and our families have become really close and we've become really good friends," Beall said.

"We've talked about the whole Fiesta Bowl fiasco a lot. He's been a guy who's gone through a lot of what there is to go through and it's just about keeping your head up and keep going and not focus on the bad but try and just move on to the next kick."

Beall missed only two field goals during his senior campaign, and has hit from 45 yards in game action. His actual range, however, is much deeper than that. He's connected from 65 yards in practice.

Beall, who visited Stanford earlier this year for the Cardinal's matchup with USC, will likely return to The Farm in January to participate in the program's big recruiting weekend, though the trip is not finalized.