# List of NCAA major college football yearly punt and kickoff return leaders

The list of NCAA major college football yearly punt and kickoff return leaders identifies the major college leaders for each season from 1939 to the present. It includes yearly leaders in four statistical categories: (1) total punt return yardage, and (2) yards per punt return, (3) total kickoff return yardage, and (4) yards per kickoff return. Prior to 1970, the NCAA determined the punt and kickoff return champions based on total yardage. Starting in 1970, the return champions were determined based on yards per return. Unless otherwise noted, return champions and yardage totals for the years 1939 to 2021 are taken from the NCAA's "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" publication.

## Return leaders

Key $^†$ = Winner of that year's Heisman Trophy Bold = Figure established an NCAA major college record
| Year | Name | PR yds | Name | Yds/PR | Name | KO yds | Name | Yds/KO |
| 1939 | Bosh Pritchard (VMI) | 583 | Jackie Robinson (UCLA) | 20.0 | Nile Kinnick$^†$ (Iowa) | 377 | Nile Kinnick | 25.1 |
| 1940 | Junie Hovious (Ole Miss) | 498 | Jackie Robinson (UCLA) | 21.0 | Jack Emigh (Montana) | 395 | Bill Geyer (Colgate) | 27.0 |
| 1941 | Bill Geyer (Colgate) | 616 | Walt Slater (Tennessee) | 20.4 | Earl Ray (Wyoming) | 496 | Vern Lockard (Colorado) | 24.4 |
| 1942 | Billy Hillenbrand (Indiana) | 481 | Billy Hillenbrand (Indiana) | 20.9 | Frank Porto (California) | 483 | na | na |
| 1943 | Marion Flanagan (Texas A&M) | 475 | Otto Graham (Northwestern) | 18.4 | Paul Copoulos (Marquette) | 384 | Paul Copoulos | 34.9 |
| 1944 | Joe Stuart (California) | 372 | Glenn Davis (Army) | 19.7 | Paul Copoulos | 337 | na | na |
| 1945 | Jake Leicht (Oregon) | 395 | Jake Leicht | 14.1 | Al Dekdebrun | 321 | na | na |
| 1946 | Harry Gilmer (Alabama) | 436 | Harold Griffin (Florida) | 20.1 | Forrest Hall (San Francisco) | 573 | Forrest Hall | 38.2 |
| 1947 | Lindy Berry (TCU) | 493 | Gene Derricotte (Michigan) | 24.8 | Doak Walker (SMU) | 387 | Skip Minisi (Penn) | 28.8 |
| 1948 | Lee Nalley (Vanderbilt) | 791 | George Sims (Baylor) | 25.0 | Bill Gregus (Wake Forest) | 503 | Jerry Williams (Washington St.) | 29.9 |
| 1949 | Lee Nalley (Vanderbilt) | 498 | Gene Evans (Wisconsin) | 21.8 | Johnny Subda (Nevada) | 444 | Billy Conn (Georgetown) | 31.1 |
| 1950 | Dave Waters (Wash. & Lee) | 445 | Lindy Hanson (Boston U.) | 22.5 | Chuck Hill (New Mexico) | 729 | Johnny Turco (Holy Cross) | 27.4 |
| 1951 | Tom Murphy (Holy Cross) | 533 | Bill Blackstock (Tennessee) | 25.9 | Chuck Hill (New Mexico) | 504 | Bob Mischak (Army) | 31.3 |
| 1952 | Horton Nesrsta (Rice) | 536 | Gil Reich (Kansas) | 17.2 | Curly Powell (VMI) | 517 | Larry Spencer (Wake Forest) | 42.2 |
| 1953 | Paul Giel (Minnesota) | 288 | Bobby Lee (New Mexico) | 19.4 | Max McGee (Tulane) | 371 | Carl Bolt (Wash. & Lee) | 27.1 |
| 1954 | Dicky Moegle (Rice) | 293 | Dicky Moegle | 19.5 | Art Luppino (Tulane) | 632 | George Marinkov (No. Carolina St.) | 35.8 |
| 1955 | Mike Sommer (Geo. Washington) | 330 | Ron Lind (Drake) | 19.5 | Sam Woolwine (VMI) | 471 | Jim Brown (Syracuse) | 32.0 |
| 1956 | Billy Stacy (Mississippi St.) | 290 | Ron Lind (Drake) | 19.1 | Sam Woolwine (VMI) | 503 | Paul Hornung (Notre Dame) | 31.0 |
| 1957 | Bobby Mulgado (Arizona St.) | 267 | Bobby Mulgado | 19.1 | Overton Curtis (Utah St.) | 695 | Overton Curtis (Utah St.) | 30.2 |
| 1958 | Howard Cook (Colorado) | 242 | Herb Hallas (Yale) | 23.4 | Sonny Randle (Virginia) | 506 | Marshall Starks (Illinois) | 26.3 |
| 1959 | Pervis Atkins (New Mexico St.) | 241 | Jacque MacKinnon (Colgate) | 17.5 | Don Perkins (New Mexico) | 520 | Don Perkins | 34.7 |
| 1960 | Lance Alworth (Arkansas) | 307 | Pat Fischer (Nebraska) | 21.2 | Bruce Samples (BYU) | 577 | Tom Hennessey (Holy Cross) | 33.4 |
| 1961 | Lance Alworth (Arkansas) | 336 | Tom Larscheid (Utah St.) | 23.4 | Dick Mooney (Idaho) | 494 | Paul Allen (BYU) | 40.1 |
| 1962 | Darrell Roberts (Utah St.) | 333 | Darrell Roberts | 20.8 | Donny Frederic (Wake Forest) | 660 | Larry Coyer (Marshall) | 30.2 |
| 1963 | Ken Hatfield (Arkansas) | 350 | Rickie Harris (Arizona) | 17.4 | Gary Wood (Cornell) | 618 | Gary Wood | 32.5 |
| 1964 | Ken Hatfield (Arkansas) | 518 | Ken Hatfield | 16.7 | Dan Bland (Mississippi St.) | 558 | Bob Baker (Cornell) | 35.1 |
| 1965 | Nick Rassas (Notre Dame) | 459 | Floyd Little (Syracuse) | 23.5 | Eric Crabtree (Pittsburgh) | 636 | Tom Barrington (Ohio St.) | 34.3 |
| 1966 | Vic Washington (Wyoming) | 443 | Don Bean (Houston) | 20.2 | Marcus Rhoden (Mississippi St.) | 572 | Frank Moore (Louisville) | 27.9 |
| 1967 | Mike Battle (USC) | 570 | George Hoey (Michigan) | 24.3 | Joe Casas (New Mexico) | 602 | Altie Taylor (Utah St.) | 31.9 |
| 1968 | Roger Wehrli (Missouri) | 478 | Rob Bordley (Princeton) | 20.5 | Mike Adamle (Northwestern) | 732 | Kerry Reardon (Iowa) | 32.1 |
| 1969 | Chris Farasopoulos (BYU) | 527 | George Hannen (Davidson) | 22.4 | Stan Brown (Purdue) | 698 | Chris Farasopoulos BYU | 32.2 |
| 1970 | | | Steve Holden (Arizona St.) | 19.2 | | | Stan Brown (Purdue) | 33.6 |
| 1971 | | | Golden Richards (BYU) | 18.9 | | | Paul Loughran (Temple) | 33.5 |
| 1972 | | | Randy Rhino Georgia Tech | 17.6 | | | Larry Williams Texas Tech | 30.8 |
| 1973 | | | Gary Hayman (Penn St.) | 19.2 | | | Steve Odom (Utah) | 29.4 |
| 1974 | | | John Provost Holy Cross | 18.3 | | | Anthony Davis (USC) | 42.5 |
| 1975 | | | Donnie Ross (New Mexico St.) | 16.1 | | | John Schultz (Maryland) | 31.0 |
| 1976 | | | Henry Jenkins (Rutgers) | 15.0 | | | Ira Matthews (Wisconsin) | 29.6 |
| 1977 | | | Robert Woods (Grambling) | 25.4 | | | Tony Ball (Chattanooga) | 36.4 |
| 1978 | | | Ira Matthews Wisconsin | 16.9 | | | Drew Hill (Georgia Tech) | 30.0 |
| 1979 | | | Jeffrey Shockley (Tennessee St.) | 16.9 | | | Stevie Nelson (Ball St.) | 31.4 |
| 1980 | | | Scott Woerner Georgia | 15.7 | | | Mike Fox (San Diego St.) | 32.8 |
| 1981 | | | Glen Young (Mississippi St.) | 16.2 | | | Frank Minnifield Louisville | 30.4 |
| 1982 | | | Lionel James (Auburn) | 15.8 | | | Carl Monroe (Utah) | 30.1 |
| 1983 | | | Jim Sandusky (San Diego St.) | 19.0 | | | Gizmo Williams (East Carolina) | 31.1 |
| 1984 | | | Ricky Nattiel (Florida) | 15.7 | | | Keith Henderson (Texas Tech) | 28.9 |
| 1985 | | | Erroll Tucker (Utah) | 24.3 | | | Erroll Tucker | 29.1 |
| 1986 | | | Rod Smith (Nebraska) | 18.9 | | | Terrance Roulhac (Clemson) | 33 |
| 1987 | | | Alan Grant (Stanford) | 16.5 | | | Barry Sanders (Oklahoma St.) | 31.6 |
| 1988 | | | Deion Sanders (Florida St.) | 15.2 | | | Raghib Ismail (Notre Dame) | 36.1 |
| 1989 | | | Larry Hargrove (Ohio) | 18.2 | | | Tony Smith (Southern Miss.) | 32.5 |
| 1990 | | | Dave McCloughan (Colorado) | 16.4 | | | Dale Carter (Tennessee) | 29.8 |
| 1991 | | | Bo Campbell (Virginia Tech) | 18.2 | | | Fred Montgomery (New Mexico St.) | 29.4 |
| 1992 | | | Lee Gissendaner (Northwestern) | 21.8 | | | Fred Montgomery (New Mexico St.) | 32.6 |
| 1993 | | | Aaron Glenn (Texas A&M) | 19.9 | | | Leeland McElroy (Texas A&M) | 39.3 |
| 1994 | | | Steve Clay (Eastern Mich.) | 19.9 | | | Eric Moulds (Mississippi St.) | 32.8 |
| 1995 | | | James Dye (BYU) | 21.9 | | | Robert Tate (Cincinnati) | 34.3 |
| 1996 | | | Allen Rossum (Notre Dame) | 22.9 | | | Tremain Mack (Miami-FL) | 39.5 |
| 1997 | | | Tim Dwight (Iowa) | 19.3 | | | Eric Booth (Southern Miss.) | 34.8 |
| 1998 | | | David Allen (Kansas St.) | 22.1 | | | Broderick McGrew (North Texas) | 32.6 |
| 1999 | | | Dennis Northcutt (Arizona) | 19.0 | | | James Williams (Marshall) | 32.9 |
| 2000 | | | Aaron Lockett (Kansas St.) | 22.8 | | | LaTarence Dunbar (TCU) | 33.7 |
| 2001 | | | Roman Hollowell (Colorado) | 18.0 | | | Chris Massey (Oklahoma St.) | 34.8 |
| 2002 | | | Dan Sheldon (Northern Ill.) | 22.7 | | | Charles Pauley (San Jose St.) | 31.6 |
| 2003 | | | Skyler Green (LSU) | 18.5 | | | Michael Waddell (North Carolina) J. R. Reed (South Fla.) | 31.7 |
| 2004 | | | Ted Ginn Jr. (Ohio St.) | 25.6 | | | Justin Miller (Clemson) | 33.1 |
| 2005 | | | Maurice Jones-Drew (UCLA) | 28.5 | | | Jonathan Stewart (Oregon) | 33.7 |
| 2006 | | | DeSean Jackson (California) | 18.2 | | | Marcus Thigpen (Indiana) | 30.1 |
| 2007 | | | Kevin Robinson (Utah St.) | 18.9 | | | A. J. Jefferson (Fresno St.) | 35.8 |
| 2008 | | | Antonio Brown (Central Mich.) | 20.5 | | | Travis Shelton (Temple) | 31.3 |
| 2009 | | | Greg Reid (Florida St.) | 18.4 | | | Ray Fisher (Indiana) | 37.4 |
| 2010 | | | Shaky Smithson (Utah Sr.) | 19.1 | | | Nick Williams (Connecticut) | 35.3 |
| 2011 | | | Dustin Harris (Texas A&M) | 18.2 | | | Raheem Mostert (Purdue) | 33.5 |
| 2012 | | | Tramaine Thompson (Kansas St.) | 19.8 | | | Quincy McDuffie (UCF) | 34.2 |
| 2013 | | | Ryan Switzer (North Carolina) | 20.9 | | | Kermit Whitfield (Florida State) | 36.4 |
| 2014 | | | Tyler Lockett (Kansas State) | 19.8 | | | J. J. Nelson (UAB) | 38.3 |
| 2015 | | | Christian Kirk (Texas A&M) | 24.4 | | | Evan Berry (Tennessee) | 38.3 |
| 2016 | | | Christian Kirk (Texas A&M) | 21.7 | | | Kylen Towner (Western Kentucky) | 40.3 |
| 2017 | | | Dante Pettis (Washington) | 20.4 | | | Tony Pollard (Memphis) | 40.0 |
| 2018 | | | Marcus Hayes (New Mexico) | 21.2 | | | Savon Scarver (Utah State) | 33.7 |
| 2019 | | | Jaylen Waddle (Alabama) | 24.4 | | | Tony Pollard (Memphis) | 40.0 |
| 2020 | | | Marcus Jones (Houston) | 19.8 | | | Joe Reed (Virginia) | 33.2 |
| 2021 | | | Jaylin Lane (Middle Tennessee) | 15.5 | | | Zonovan Knight (NC State) | 34.4 |