Six years ago, Ryan Jung moved from South Korea to the United States without knowing anyone, speaking English, or ever having touched a football.
Today, Jung is a Michigan commit and junior at Milton (GA) High School -- and the No. 1 kicker in the nation in the Class of 2028.
“I didn’t really know much about football," Jung said. "When I first started playing, it was definitely exciting, but I was also a little bit scared of how physical the sport was.”
When he first moved to California, he brought a passion for a different kind of football: soccer. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit just two weeks after he moved, soccer was his outlet. He spent his days kicking a soccer ball against a wall in his neighborhood, dreaming of playing the sport at the next level.
But when he finally started school, he realized all of his classmates had a different passion.
“The reason I started playing football was to fit in,” Jung said. “It definitely helped a lot with learning English because during recess we would just play football.”
The football journey begins
The more football he played, the more he enjoyed it, and he realized he could be quite good at the sport. He joined a tackle football team as a wide receiver before discovering his soccer skills translated well to kicking. Eventually, he decided to leave soccer behind and focus on kicking in high school.
“I went to a pretty big kicking camp in California and there were a bunch of high schoolers," Jung said. "I was kicking better than most of the high schoolers there and I realized, ‘Maybe I’m pretty good at this kicking thing.’”
It turned out he was right.
Jung said he's made a 70-yard field goal in practice, though the longest one on video is 67 yards.
His talent earned him the top ranking at the Kohl's Kicking Camp last January and made him one of the most sought-after kickers in his recruiting class. Jung committed to Michigan in June.
67 🏌️♂️ #goblue@DB_CoachCoombs@KornblueKicking@HKA_Tanalski@JamesWilhoit25pic.twitter.com/x4830QmvIk
— Ryan Jung (@RyanJung2028) September 20, 2026
A football journey that has been anything but ordinary
Jung's football path has been anything but smooth-sailing.
He started high school in Nashville before transferring to IMG Academy before his sophomore year. He then made the decision to spend his final year and a half of high school with his parents, who had recently moved to Milton, Georgia.
After transferring to Milton, however, he was ruled ineligible by the Georgia High School Athletic Association.
“It was definitely challenging," Jung said. "But what stood out to me was how much the community supported me. When I was ruled ineligible, our head coach and our booster club were all supporting me. They even got a lawyer so we could have one more chance to appeal for it. They even started a campaign for it.”
The appeal was successful, clearing the way for Jung to begin his junior year at Milton.
Now, he and the Eagles are preparing for one of their biggest games of the season: a matchup against Gainesville on Friday, Oct. 23.
Milton sits at No. 8 in Class 6A in Georgia's new postseason rankings (PSR) while Gainesville sits at No. 11.
“This week was definitely not a normal week for us," Jung said. "To be honest, we’ve been waiting for this game all year. This is the biggest game for us this year. We’ve been working harder in practice, our starters are getting more reps and practices are a little bit longer.”
Jung will face another kicker who has gained national attention this season: Dwayne Carter III, the son of rapper Lil Wayne.
For Jung, Friday night is another opportunity to showcase the talent that helped him become one of the nation's top recruits. But his ambitions extend well beyond high school.
The journey ahead? Perhaps NFL history
In the future, Jung hopes to become of the few Korean players to reach the NFL.
One player who helped him envision that possibility is Younghoe Koo, an NFL kicker with roots in South Korea.
Like Jung, Koo was a talented soccer player before moving to the United States and picking up football. Jung discovered Koo's story while learning more about football, and he quickly recognized how similar their stories were.