Isaac Kaplan Interview - Class of 2027 Duke LS Commit

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is the Locked On Podcast Network, celebrating 10 years of your team every day.

**JJ Jackson** (0:11)
Great day here on Locked On Blue Devils. JJ Jackson here with another class of 2027 Duke Football Commit. Today, I've got the long snapper folks, Isaac Kaplan, the native of West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, joining me on the show today. Isaac, the time is greatly appreciated. How are you doing, man? How's the summer going so far? How are things in your world?

**Isaac Kaplan** (0:32)
Things are great. Obviously, I'm excited for Duke. I'm absolutely excited for this opportunity. And I'm thankful for all the coaches and all the staff and everyone that's helped me get this way. Summer's been great. Football's just getting started.
How's your summer been?

**JJ Jackson** (0:48)
Yeah, my summer's been awesome. I'm super ready for football season to get here. And I'm excited to have this conversation with you to hear a little bit about your journey to becoming a football player.
So when we look at Kickers and Long Snappers, it's such an interesting process to get on the radar, to get rated for coaches to be aware of you. From your perspective, what has that been like?

**Isaac Kaplan** (1:10)
I mean, it's a very messy process, obviously.
The biggest part was for me was Kohl's. I live and die by Kohl's. Coach Casper is a great coach and Coach Kohl, they've helped me get to where I am with all the exposure. And basically, I started out my freshman year. I've only been doing this for about two and a half to three years now. And Kohl's was my first exposure camp that I did. I went to the Midwest Showcase in Chicago, and I've been going there ever since. I've done the Midwest Showcase in the fall and spring. I got invited out to the underclassmen challenge, which is like their biggest camp, well, their highest honor really, which was awesome. Great experience. I've met a bunch of like friends that I have all over the country now.
And it's been a real messy process, but I got where I am. And obviously, Duke is amazing. And this is going to be a great opportunity.

**JJ Jackson** (2:04)
For sure, man. I mean, super excited for you to be able to be a Division I football player and in a place like Duke, who's fresh off ACC championships. We'll get to that in just a second. But you're mentioning Kalshi, for those unaware, basically a signature camp for kickers and long snappers, the specialists to elevate their game with reps and for other coaches to come on board and evaluate. Is that right? Do I have a good summary there?

**Isaac Kaplan** (2:28)
Absolutely right. That's just a big exposure camp that is the largest exposure camp for special teams. So I obviously recommend it for anyone that wants to get into kicking punters or snapping.

**JJ Jackson** (2:39)
Yeah. So I mean, why snapping? How did this fall? You mentioned starting in ninth grade, but I mean, not many people wake up saying, I want to be a snapper in college football. How did this become your path?

**Isaac Kaplan** (2:50)
So crazy story, I was on a family trip to Arizona with my grandparents, cousins, everyone. And we happened to be staying in the same hotel as the Michigan and the TCU parents during that playoff game.

**JJ Jackson** (3:05)
Oh, wow. Yeah.

**Isaac Kaplan** (3:06)
Yeah. So it was that bowl game. And my grandparents just happened to be talking to the Long Snapper's parents, which is crazy coincidence. And so I met them and the parents, and they were talking to me about like, this would be a really cool opportunity and you should get started. So I was like, yeah, you know what, maybe I'll get started with this.
And my dad hooked me, like my grandpa, he helps build me like these targets and all this stuff. So I started like doing it every single day and stayed consistent with it. And, you know, it's like a really niche position. Like it's hard to like find out about. And my dad was like, yeah, they're offering all these scholarships. So I started in doing long snapping and it's brought me to where I am today. So I'm happy I did that.

**JJ Jackson** (3:43)
Yeah. What a cool story, man. You got to showcase. I mean, grandpa is making targets for you to snap to just to get reps in. Tell me a little bit more about that.

**Isaac Kaplan** (3:52)
So he, well, he's been like the most supportive person in like this whole process. Him and my dad, my dad catches my snaps every single day whenever I need it, travels the country with me. And my mom is always there helping me to give me support. But my grandpa, he built me like this target that Rubio uses, which has the high snap, the mid snap and the low snap. So I started off with that and I keep it in my basement.