kyle seychel

Previously: Podcast 9.0A. Podcast 9.0B. Podcast 9.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End And Friends. Offensive Line. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback. Safety.

Nordin's huge field goal was close to being blocked by Hudson [Barron]

Depth Chart

Kicker	Yr	Punter	Yr	Kickoffs	Yr	Punt return	Yr	Kick return	Yr
Quinn Nordin	Fr.*	Brad Robbins	Fr.	Kyle Seychel	Jr.*	Nate Johnson	So.	Donovan Peoples-Jones	Fr.
Ryan Tice	So.*	Will Hart	Fr.*	Quinn Nordin	Fr.*	Eddie McDoom	So.	Chris Evans	So.

This section last year was dedicated to bemoaning the departure of impact special teams coach John Baxter after just one year. Baxter's teams had an unparalleled ability to block kicks over a decade plus at Fresno State and USC. While the block parade didn't get underway last year, Michigan did call time out in anticipation of a squib and return it to midfield and recruit an Aussie punter who had creepy Orin Incandenza skills. Last year's preview projected a "dropoff in effort applied" under Chris Partridge and Jay Harbaugh.

Naturally, Michigan blocked seven punts to lead the nation by a mile, got astounding punt returns from Jabrill Peppers, punted and covered excellently, and finished #1 in FEI's special teams metric. Michigan's special teams performance a year ago was sufficient to get me to shut up about how I hate pro-style punting. Some combination of passed-on Baxter experience, Harbaugh mania, and plain old shoe leather from the new coaches paid off immensely.

Now if they could do it again with entirely new dudes, that would be great.

KICKER: IF YOU KICK IT THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS, AROUND THE WORLD, AND THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS AGAIN DO YOU GET SIX POINTS

Rating: ?, but call it 4.

don't forget holder of the year Garret Moores's contributions [Barron]

QUINN NORDIN [recruiting profile] did this at the spring game:

That is a 48 yard field goal that I swear to God would have been good from 70. That thing barely passed its apex before hitting the net. It's deeply unfortunate that BTN never provided a sideline angle, which would have better communicated just how high and fast that thing was when it went through—actually over—the uprights.

So that's 1) awesome, 2) almost as much data as we got from Nordin's senior season (2/3 on FGs), and 3) probably not relevant until it's time to kick a 57-yarder at the end of a half or, God forbid, game. The jury is still very much out, as it has always been for kickers and always shall be until they have a season of efficiency in the books. 

For what little it's worth, Harbaugh seemed positively upbeat about the kicking situation a couple weeks back. New longsnapper Cameron Cheeseman is "fabulous" because "you can visibly see more velocity on his snaps" and Nordin is "really kicking well." This hasn't been a competition, and that's good news. It's been Nordin's job the whole way, so he keeck a touchdown.

Michigan also has walk-ons KYLE SEYCHEL and RYAN TICE. Both looked smooth hitting field goals of their own in the spring game and would likely be adequate replacements in case Nordin's guidance chip fritzes out. Harbaugh said he's going to split the kickoff duties from field goals and Seychel is in line for the former job, FWIW.    

[After the JUMP: ack no Peppers]

Previously: Podcast 7.0. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End And Friends. Offensive Line. Defensive Tackle. Defensive End. Linebacker. Cornerback. Safety.

Kicker	Yr	Punter	Yr	Kickoffs	Yr	Punt return	Yr	Kick return	Yr
Kenny Allen	Jr*	Blake O'Neill	Sr*	Kenny Allen	Jr*	Jabrill Peppers	Fr*	Jabrill Peppers	Fr*
Kyle Seychel	Fr*	Kenny Allen	Jr*	Andrew David	Fr	Jehu Chesson	Jr*	Jehu Chesson	Jr*

No coaching upgrade on the team is steeper than special teams. Under Brady Hoke and Dan Ferrigno, Michigan featured adequate kicking and terrible everything else. Their usual MO was one blocked punt against an early tomato can, archaic punt coverage that was terrible even with 11 guys on the field, and return units that did little except take penalties when Dennis Norfleet finally managed to escape from ravenous packs of defenders.

John Baxter's Fresno State teams led the country in blocked kicks over the course of his tenure there—one that overlaps with Virginia Tech at its Beamerball peak—and in his only year at USC took their special teams units from nowhere to 2nd and 4th in the country in blocked punts and kicks, respectively. Special teams is a low data, high variance enterprise but if anyone's got the track record to suggest he's going to make an impact, it's Baxter.

Now about that scholarship kicker…

KICKER

Rating: 2

The holder becomes the holdee [Fuller]

This is looking hairy all of a sudden. Scholarship freshman ANDREW DAVID was immediately dumped well down the depth chart, and Michigan must turn to the walk-ons that populate any D-I team's kicking roster. One, KENNY ALLEN [hello post], was the heir apparent at punter until John Baxter rolled into town with an Aussie in tow; the other, KYLE SEYCHEL, is a redshirt freshman who fans didn't even know was on the team until fall camp.

Reports out of said camp have been worried. Those coming out of the open practice were mixed, but guys who had been around for more than a few attempts were disquieted. There are reports Michigan is reconsidering their decision to forgo a scholarship guy in the 2016 class. That is not a good sign. Neither is that OR on the depth chart.

"I dunno, is kicker" is always a valid thing to say about kickers you have not seen much of; in this case I'm just hoping for a guy to bang them in from 40 yards and in.

PUNTER

Rating: 5

wait isn't this guy in twilight or something [Eric Upchurch]

The OR is much more welcoming at this spot. Things are looking just fine at punter despite the departures of both Matt Wile and Will Hagerup. Allen has been booming punts in practice for a few years now, and during the Hoke era we saw a lot of punts in practice.

And then there's that imported Aussie. BLAKE O'NEILL [g'day mate post] comes from a land down under where small children carry around football-shaped objects to punt at anything they run across that is poisonous. Everything in Australia is poisonous. (Yes, especially the koalas.) When the survivors reach adulthood, the resulting skills are impressive:

Asked if the 6-foot-2, 215-pound kicker is the type of special teams player who can change a game, Baxter nods, saying, "He's that."

"Listen," he continued, "if you put a trashcan out there 40 yards, he can usually hit it, OK? He's as accurate, and in some cases more accurate than, the quarterbacks."

O'Neill's first year in college football was last year, when he did this at Weber State:

O'Neill finished sixth nationally (Football Championship Subdivision) in punting during the 2014 season at Weber State. He played in all 12 games and averaged 44.1 yards per punt, setting a single-season punting average record for the Wildcats.

O'Neill tallied 62 punts for 2,737 yards with a long of 74 yards. He boomed 18 punts of 50-plus yards and notched 25 boots inside the opposition's 20-yard line. O'Neill ran for a first down on a fake punt and tossed a completion for a first down on another fake.

Are you ready for some punting highlights? Woo!

AUSSIE PUNTS: SKY TERRITORY sounds like a Chuck Norris movie

Not sure if he's going to be able to do the thing where he idles for a couple seconds before he punts at at D-I level, but Michigan now has a special teams coach with a terrific track record. If he can make it so, it will be so.

O'Neill can rugby punt with either foot and his directional kicking skills in the video above are creepy, Orin Incandenza-level stuff. Real life Blake O'Neill probably isn't going to be good as a fictional punter who is the highest paid player in the NFL. Probably.

[After THE JUMP: gratuitously placed Jabrill Peppers highlights designed to make you click through mooohahaha]

[Fuller]

How do you feel about your unit here going into the first game?

“You know, the thing that’s unique about the kicking game is the first time you really test it is the game, and we don’t have preseason games in college. So, I feel great about the practices we’ve had so far. We get 29 of them. We’ve had whatever, however many we’ve been allotted. The head coach has given us incredible meeting time, practice time, and availability and so to this point I like the focus of our players and what we’ve done and look forward to the contest, but you get to see what you’ve got when you play. It’s very hard to simulate a kickoff or a punt in practice and the intensity of the game.”

Who’s leading at the kicker spot?

“Well, you know, we’ve got three. This competition is going to go all the way up until pregame. And there’s really no need to pick one at this point because there’s none of them that have been in a game. Coach Harbaugh really believes in competitive excellence at every position, and those guys are duking it out. They’ve been taking- they took equal turns today in team. Each of them got four kicks. They’ve taken equal turns pretty much through camp.”

Who are the guys working there?

“Kyle Seychel and Kenny Allen and Andrew David- you know, the new guy, the freshman. They’ve done a nice job. Once again, we get the opportunity to practice 29 times so we’re going to take that opportunity. There’s not an established starter or whatever there, so…”

What about at punter?

“Well, at punter, Kenny Allen and Blake O’Neill are both punting. They will both punt, okay? They will both punt for Michigan this year. Blake has some skills Kenny doesn’t have, [and] Kenny has some skills Blake doesn’t have. And we’re a pro-style team on offense, defense, and kicking game, and Blake came here to want to be a pro in one year, and Kenny has really embraced being accurate. So here’s the thing: they’re both good. Kenny’s improved a lot. Blake adds some nice depth there, and they’ll both play. Don’t know how often you see a two-punter system, but we got one.”

[After THE JUMP: Kick and punt returners, and a personal connection]