He started playing football after losing a bet. Now, he’s an SEC commit.

Today’s Four Questions interviewee is East Coweta kicker Aaron McWilliams, who is committed to play for Florida next season. McWilliams converted five of his six field goal attempts last week, including a 59-yarder, his career-best. McWilliams shared his unconventional path to playing SEC football below.

1. Take me back to the other night. How much fun was it to go 5-for-6 and kick a 59-yarder?

“Honestly, I thought we were only going to hit a 55-yard field goal. I wasn’t expecting 59 until me and my holder set the block, and I took my steps back, and I was like, ‘Oh, we are back here. OK.’ And of course, me being a mental guy, I’ve always worked on mentally, and I was like, ‘All right, same ball, kick it the same way. Don’t worry about trying to kill it. Hit it with pure contact, and just swing through. Honestly don’t overthink it. Just do it, because if you start overthinking it, you’re going to sink it.’ That’s kind of how it went, and it went through the uprights, so it was just a great way to practice it. My kicking coach, Jamie Kohl, the owner and founder of Kohl’s Kicking, has always told me that. Just swing smooth, kick smooth, and you’ll make them.”

2. How did you get into kicking to begin with?

“Actually, I lost a bet to my teammate that you’ve probably heard the name of, (Auburn commit) Chance Gilbert. So we were playing middle school soccer, and he was playing goalkeeper, and most football players don’t really care because, you know, they’re just doing it to play a sport in middle school. I was a soccer kid growing up. I cared about it a lot, and I wanted to win the championship and all that, and I told them, ‘I’ll make a deal with y’all. I’ll be y’all’s kicker if we make it to the middle school championship for soccer.’ And they were like, ‘OK, bet’ and we immediately started winning, (though) we lost in the championship.

So they were like, ‘All right Aaron, are you going to be our kicker?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I’ll be y’all’s kicker,’ and I just kind of fell in love with it, and it was a great time playing that eighth grade year. And I kind of realized I was kind of good at it once (East Coweta coach John Small) came to our game, and he says, ‘You’re going to be a great kicker in high school and soon to be in college.’ And I’m immediately thinking in my head, ‘There’s no way I’m going to play in college. There’s just no way.’”

3. When did you flip the switch to chasing a college football career?

“Definitely, I would say my freshman year. I’ll always remember this. The very first coach I talked to was a Georgia coach. I know it’s Florida’s rival, so it’s different, but us being from Georgia, it was just a surreal moment when a coach said ... ‘I heard (about you from UGA special teams coordinator Kirk Benedict),’ and I knew Coach Benedict was a coordinator at Georgia, and I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh. The University of Georgia is recruiting me.’ And I’m just getting all giddy, and I was just like, ‘I guess I do have a shot at this,’ and then after my sophomore season, I became a MaxPreps All-American for field goals and kicking, and I realized it was definitely becoming real.”