Louisville K James Turner in the portal
Brian on the recent round table mentioned going for a kicker in the portal and I think this guy would be a great candidate.
A Saline MI(!) native, Turner kicked for Louisville the last 3 seasons Overall he went 47-59 including a stellar 20-22 2022 season. Only real downside I see is he doesn’t appear to have great distance hitting only 1 of his 6 kicks from 50+. He’s very accurate inside 40, missing only 1 kick in his career. Seems like a pretty good fit to me.
It's paywalled, but ON3 is reporting that insiders are saying he's planning to transfer to Michigan. He may need to complete a few classes to be able to do a grad transfer.
https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-wolverines/news/itf-extra-has-michigan-found-its-portal-kicker/
Surely nothing bad will happen when Michigan admissions is the last obstacle to getting him here
Isn't avoiding that the point of the grad transfer?
That's how I read it.
Well good effort my lad. Ill still cheer for you wherever you end up.
Would be a fantastic pick-up.
Come in and at least handle all of the short stuff. Doman or Samaha may be better with the longer FGs.
Either way, we need some competition at that position.
April 25th, 2023 at 10:15 PM ^
I think for kicker psyche it's better that the long guy handle the short stuff too. But we lack depth, and a competition for the #1 is a good thing.
Either way, if he gets a Michigan post-grad education out of it, he wins.
April 26th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Aw dangit. I thought I would get to break something for once. Damn the Michigan beat all being so good at their jobs.
"He asked not to be contacted by schools" Not too many transfers say that, lol.
Maybe he already knows where he wants to go. Seeing as he's a Michigan native, I'd say that's a good sign for us.
I’m all for experience kickers, but how badly do we actually “need” a kicker?
Samaha could probably do with some extra time considering he kicked off a tee in high school, and maybe the staff simply doesn’t want Doman handling both duties. But Doman didn’t look bad at all in warmups at the spring game. Looked like he was hitting pretty well from ~45 yards.
Maybe let this guy handle the short stuff and call Doman in for anything 45+ while Samaha learns the fine art of kicking with a holder. Doesn’t sound like a bad setup.
You never know if you "need" a kicker until your starting kicker has a dozen or so live game attempts under his belt. Sometimes at that point he's 5 for 12 and you find out you really need a kicker, and by then it's too late. I'd feel a lot better with a sure thing on the roster.
I'd feel a lot better with a sure thing on the roster.
Experienced or not, there’s no such thing as a “sure thing” when it comes to college kickers. My point is that some people have made it sound as though getting a kicker is a big need.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for an experienced kicker. But I would see this more as a luxury pick-up than a “need” based one. I would think between Samaha and Doman, we’d be just fine. I won’t turn down an experienced option at all though.
April 25th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
Moody was pretty much a sure thing. Close enough, at any rate. Having a great kicker is often the difference between winning and losing; I would like to see as much competition as possible for the position.
Moody was 7-13 in 2019 and 2020. You could see the leg strength but we didn’t know how good he was going to be until 2021, his 4th year.
It took Moody a while to get to that point, and we’re talking about Groza level kickers at that point. #CollegeKickers is a thing for a reason.
I would think the coaches seeing our current crop of kickers in practice would know if we need an experienced kicker or not?
They would. And considering the coaches haven’t said one way or another if we need a kicker, and all we have to go on is vague message board rumors that this kid plans to come here… we can’t really take the opinion of the coaches into consideration at this point, can we?
April 25th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Three of the field goals he made last season were from 48 yards. He was a perfect 17-of-17 from inside the 40. Hell, yes, we want him.
April 25th, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
He's got a leg, but he's not exactly Brad Robbins in the mustache department.
April 26th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
But he's Rad Bobbins in the mullet department. Take!
April 25th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
I already miss him. Maybe my favorite UM kicker (in my lifetime, obviously).
I was an Epstein fan just for his ridiculous leg. It may not go through the uprights but it'll have the distance haha. I thought Nordin was going to be Epstein with accuracy but he just never took off here.
Obviously guys like Hamilton, Rivas and Feely have a place in my heart but Moody was the dude where the rare miss shocked you. He never left you with that dreaded "of course he missed it" attitude. His misses were always met with surprise and then the certainty that he'll nail the next dozen.
Let's clear this up by saying HAYDEN Epstein. Hayden.
Lmao
Ex-Michigan student athlete, HAYDEN Epstein. No others that may or may not share that same last name.
good point. sometimes people just leave you hanging
Too soon
Let's clear this up by saying HAYDEN Epstein. Hayden.
Ha! Hayden doesnt have an island so I knew what you meant.
ISLE say that you shouldn't have kept us HANGING about the EPSTEIN of your fandom.
April 25th, 2023 at 10:50 PM ^
I'm not counting out our young kickers.
I don't think anybody here is. But it's nice to have options and competition.
April 26th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
Not counting out our young OL either but it was nice to add some all conference senior captains to the room.
April 26th, 2023 at 12:18 AM ^
on the wall
The kick was clean!
April 26th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^
Coach friend told me he's coming to Michigan. If I had a crystal ball or something I'd put one in right now but this will have to suffice. Is this what it's like being an insider? I feel so important right now.
EDIT: Saw above that Balas has it.