Head coach Scott Milanovich has plenty on his plate during the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' training camp, but he's not worrying about the state of his kicking game.
That's because veteran Canadian Marc Liegghio has been stellar the last two seasons.
"I just trust him," said Milanovich, who's entering his third season as Hamilton's head coach. "I just don't worry much about Legs.
"He just needs to keep doing what he's doing."
The five-foot-eight, 193-pound Liegghio has hit 95-of-104 field goals (91.3 per cent) and 84-of-88 converts (95.5 per cent) the past two seasons. Last year, the 29-year-old Woodbridge, Ont., native made 52-of-56 field goals (92.9 per cent) and 46-of-48 converts.
The former Western Mustang also handles kickoffs and can punt (45.3-yard average with Winnipeg in 2021-22). Liegghio hasn't had to do so with the Ticats as they've carried a punter who's also served as Liegghio's holder.
Last year, Australian Nik Constantinou did both for Hamilton but he's now with the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Fellow Aussies Nick Haberer and Mitch McCarthy are battling to replace Constantinou.
Liegghio said knowing he has the confidence of his head coach and teammates is very gratifying.
"I love that feeling," he said. "I have many guys say they don't even watch me kick because they have that much confidence in me and that's kind of what I want the team to feel when I'm out there.
"The guys always have your back, good or bad, which is why we have such a good room here."
Liegghio is entering his fourth season in Hamilton and sixth in the CFL. He has found training camp to be somewhat easier with each passing year.
"You get more comfortable with the lay of the land, the guys on the team," he said. "Getting to know the new guys obviously takes a bit of time but everyone is pretty easygoing and friendly as heck so it's very easy to merge with each other when you're out here."
Liegghio's consistency the last two seasons is impressive given half of his games have been at Hamilton Stadium, where windy conditions often create challenges. That's compounded in November when the weather turns cold.
"It's a bonus we get to practise there all week so we get used to it," he said. "It's definitely a windy stadium but it just makes us better keeping our head down and driving the ball through the uprights."
However, sometimes Liegghio can overthink matters.
"I always talk to him before the game and I'm like, 'What's the wind doing,'" Milanovich said. "He gives me a bunch of crap about it's swirling and I'm like, 'How about if I just send you out there and you try to make it,' and he says, 'OK.'
"That's kind of our relationship."
It's an explanation that caused Liegghio to chuckle.
"I try and go a little bit too much," he said. "He (Milanovich) says, 'Pick a spot, aim for it and just put it through the pipes.'"
Life in the CFL has taught Liegghio the importance of having a very short memory. He doesn't spend much time either celebrating a successful boot or lamenting a miss.
"It's kind of like a 20-second rule, then move on to the next one … it's something you work on over the years," he said. "The pro environment, it's a different animal.
"I try and tell the young guys mental strength is massive for our position, I always say it's 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent skill. If you believe you're good at it and everyone's got your back, it just makes it that much easier."
And it's a discipline that helped Liegghio move past Hamilton's heartbreaking 19-16 home loss to the Montreal Alouettes in last year's East Division final. Not only did it extend the CFL's longest championship drought (Ticats' last title was '99) but the organization fell short in its quest to claim a league crown for general manager Ted Goveia, who died in September of esophageal cancer at age 55.
"It's always in the back of your head but you've got to kind of wash it and move on to the next season," Liegghio said. "Obviously there's a little bit of fire within us and guys are going to come after us because we're kind of a team to beat now, which is nice.
"But we're just going to go out there and try to go one step further, especially, and finish it off for Ted because he deserves that."
