AUGUSTA, Ga. – Cal junior punter Steven Coutts was one of 29 players selected Wednesday by the Augusta Sports Council to the pre-season watch list for the 2017 Ray Guy Award honoring the nation's top collegiate punter. Coutts, a graduate transfer who played the last two seasons at Louisiana, was a national semifinalist for the honor in 2016. He joined the Cal football program this past June.

Coutts posted a combined average of 43.3 yards per punt during his two campaigns at Louisiana in 2015 and 2016, adding first-team LSWA All-Louisiana honors to his Ray Guy Award semifinalist selection as a 2016 sophomore when he averaged 44.1 yards per punt to rank second in the Sun Belt and registered a career-long punt of 68 yards. As a 2015 freshman, Coutts was selected to the Sun Belt's All-Newcomer squad and second-team All-Louisiana after averaging 42.4 yards per punt with a long punt of 64 yards.

Coutts spent his prep career at Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane, Australia, where he played Australian Rules football and rugby among several sports.

The Ray Guy Award committee will announce 10 semifinalists for the 2017 award on Thursday, November 16 and three finalists on Tuesday, November 21. The winner will be announced live at the Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show televised by ESPNU on Thursday, December 7, 2017.

The award is named in honor of College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Guy.

For more information on the Ray Guy Award, visit rayguyaward.com and follow @RayGuyAward on Twitter.

The Ray Guy Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 23 awards boast over 745 years of tradition-selected excellence. The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month from July 10-21. Seventeen of the association's 23 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates.