Quinn Nordin: What happened between HS and Michigan?
With the season approaching, I've caught a couple of the games from last season on BTN. It reminded me how many great weapons we have returning on offense this year and how insane our D was. But the one thing I keep noticing is Quinn Nordin.
In almost every game, his misses are terrible, and kicks he does make look like knuckleballs that somehow found the right side of the uprights. There doesn't seem to be any preciseness or tight spin at all.
Legitimate question: how was the #1 kicking recruit in the entire country? Was he exceptional and just developed the yips in Ann Arbor? Was all the hype based off his leg strength and not off his accuracy?
Methinks he won't be having any sleepovers with those yips.
Nobody can answer this, and this is the very reason Brian created the #collegekickers meme
Never heard this before... must not be a good meme... 'Just sayin'
The Russians got to him. He's been compromised.
Well he's not Putin it through the uprights....
After watching his tape, it appears he is Russian all of his kicks. But it is what it is...So-vi-et
College kickers, man. Who the hell knows?
Although it's true in the pros, too. In 1997 the Packers drafted Brett Conway from Penn State in the third round. He'd set records at Penn State and the Packers thought he'd be their kicker for years to come.
The guy who actually wins the job is Ryan Longwell, who they picked up on waivers from the 49ers. Conway never attempts a kick for the Packers during the regular season and floats around with half a dozen teams and is out of the league before Longwell--who is at the time the Packers all-time leading scorer--goes over to the Vikings as a free agent in 2006.
My point? College kickers, man. Who the hell knows?
I sort of find Jay Feely's career arc to be a bit odd.
Prior to his senior year at Michigan he was just 3-4 on FGs, finished career 20-26.
Then he went on to have a 15 year NFL career going 332-402 on FGs.
Quite a late bloomer. I assume most 15 year NFL kickers made more than 20 FGs in college.
Then there's Robbie Gould - that guy was unreliable and awful at Penn State. He was 4-for-10 on field goals prior to his last game his senior year! He actually was working construction for several months prior to getting a call from the Bears.
Now he's among the longest-tenured NFL kickers around, and has the 2nd-highest field goal make percentage in NFL history!
As you said, kickers are a crap-shoot.
ahhh, good stuff. I was hoping there were other interesting stories like that. great share.
More recently, the Bucs took Roberto Aguayo in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft. He was 69/78 on field goals and never missed an extra point (198) at Florida State, won numerous awards and even skipped his senior season. Ended up going 22/31 with a long of 43 his rookie year. Bucs cut him after one season and he hasn't been able to make a team since.
Ryan Longwell had a great kicker name
August 8th, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
I'm sure most Michigan fans remember Nate Kaeding. Great career at Iowa. Live in San Diego and WAS a huge Charger fan. I believe Nate still has some distinction as the most accurate kicker ever percentage wise in NFL. Not exaggerating when I say that EVERY big meaningful kick he ever had as a Charger he missed. It was amazing. Lost couple playoff games because of it. He wouldn't miss any that meant nothing. Nailed em all day long. Game winning kick to win it? Whiff.
Everyone's saying it's mental, but I'm pretty sure he had a injury or two along the way. I'm sure with something as precise as kicking, having your body even a little bit off or needing to compensate for something that's recovering is going to screw with your mechanics. Maybe that developed into a mental thing, I don't know.
He and Moody both put on a kicking clinic in the Spring Game though. Both made everything from 50 and in, and both barely missed from 60 leaving it just short but in line.
Was thinking the same. We were there for the Spring Game and both were pretty impressive.
Kicking is a fine motor skill unlike something like playing RB which involves gross motor skill. Fine motor skills involve being able to repeat movement patters with little to no change. You can't get away with even the slightest changes in form or technique. The same thing happens in golf, hitting or throwing in baseball, etc. So, something like what happened at PSU, which is when Nordin got the shanks, can mess with your head & influence your technique. He was mocked relentelessly, which if you recall he was originally a PSU commit before he decommitted and came to UM. I was at that game and it was brutal. Ever since he's been very inconsistent. You see golfers go through this. Baseball players go into slumps. Chuck Knoblauch can't throw to first base any more. Something happens that gets into your head, you change your fundamentals/technique, you lose your confidence, and it's hard to get it back. He's an emotional guy, which means he's more easily influenced by others for both better or worse. Unfortunately that means he's likely to be inconsistent. He needs some sports psych help.
That PSU game shook him up like the MIG did to Cougar.
Chuck Knoblauch can't throw to first base any more.
triggered
It's very difficult to tell what is going on mechanically from TV and without actively watching him in person. But as other's said, it's primarily in his head.
His leg is as strong as it's ever been. But it's a lot like golf. You get on the course and you align a little close to the ball (plant foot a little close) you start blocking it. You try to correct and you slice. You try to square the club face and it's something else. You try to slow down and suddenly everything is out of sync.
Meanwhile you're taking practice swings until it feels right. Eventually it does. But then you go to hit the ball and it's the same old shit.
Now add a ton more pressure on a college kid that wasn't the most consistent even to start and that clearly feeds significantly on energy and confidence. It's a pretty bad mixture.
Guy can still figure it out. If he loses the FG battle, I'd hope he can contribute on kickoffs. He's got an incredible leg. But that's not everything to kicking.
He's a kicker is what happened.
He got the yips.
Your mom
Confidence
Happens at all levels. My Browns invested a 5th round pick on the kicker from Arkansas to try and bolster their anemic kicking game. So far he has struggled to hit the ocean from the beach kicking-wise and his misses would make you think he's never kicked a football in his life.
Pressure impacts kickers like no other position IMO and the further you rise the more pressure you feel.
Raises an interesting question... Is being a college kicker the most difficult position in sports?
- 75K onlookers expect you to make it no matter what, while another 25K are praying you miss (with millions more watching on tv)
- Your social status, general popularity, and hopes of a career in the NFL are based largely on how you perform on field goals for which you only get about 2 opportunities per game
- It's not uncommon for a kick to decide a close game, meaning the success of your team is on your foot
- Provided the holder and OL do their part, the success of the play is just you and the ball with no other defenders in play
Nope.
Mayhaps you have a counterpoint to offer?
Forrest Gregg felt the punter should be the most talented player on the team. That type of unique talent provides broad situational options like pinning the enemy inside their ten, converting a short (or long, in a crucial moment) 4th down into a new set of downs (and counted internally as a forced turnover) via run or pass with heightened reliability. Additionally, it really fucks with the opponent by forcing them to devote significant time for preparation which takes away prep time from other areas.
I would say the hardest position in sports is still anyone trying to hit major league pitching.
I apologize for my hasty and terse response to what was a well-intended comment. I meant no disrespect to markp, but I do disagree with the premise that kickers have the most difficult job in CFB, let alone all sports.
While they have singular attention paid to their work at isolated points in a game, I don’t think you can compare the difficulty of executing their kicking stroke with what other players have to do throughout a game in the face of hundreds of variables and with hundreds of pounds of angry beef trying to stop them from:
QB - pre-snap reads, precise footwork and handoff/throwing motions, all while readzing keys and making intuitive decision
Safety - see QB without handoff/throwing mechanics. Bad decisions look worse for them than most other positions
Center - lots of the same issues as QB and Safety, but with the prospect of getting mashed on every play.
Anyway, that was my though when I read it, but I settled for a simple nope and forgot my manners.
At least composing this is better than watching the Lions.
Seibert is from Oklahoma, not Arkansas. Otherwise, I agree.
...Moody Blues...
Take a look at the NFL the last couple years. The greatest college kickers ever get there and they can't handle it. The Browns spent a 5th round pick on a kicker trying to fix their issues, and he's actually lucky he was a 5th round pick or he would have been cut already.
-mgrowold beat me to my take, Go Browns
I'll one up you. Not only did the Bucs take a kicker (Roberto Aguayo) in the 2nd round a few years ago, they moved up to get him. How fucking stupid must a GM & staff be to move up in the 2nd rd. to grab a kicker? Anyway, the dude got cut a year or so later and is still out of the league today.
He’s a kicker and a pretty good one. All but a few kickers hit rough patches and it just so happens his backup was a very good kicker who seized on the opportunity
Also HS kicker rankings don’t mean a whole lot. Small sample sizes from actual competition, holders are often just the QB or backup QB, long snapper is often whoever was willing to do the snapping, rankings are done by the people the kids pay to train them, etc.
not everyone can be a martin gramatica or sebastian janikowski
He had a major dental issue involving complications with Wisdom teeth being taken out. To the point where he was practicing kicking into the net and literally passed out & fell over into said net. It is my understanding late in the year he began out kicking Moody in every practice & competition and wanted his job back, but clearly Moody isn't going to be benched when he goes 10-11 in FGs.
I don't think I was supposed to say anything about this (for whatever reason) but here we are. Take it for what it's worth, I or my source have no reason to lie about it. I originally thought it was the yips too FWIW. Hopefully he's back to normal this fall.
This made me feel stupider. thanks
That came directly from the counter strike guy, right?
It is probably worth pointing out that he attempted a grand total of 16 FGs last season, and 40 for his career. Small sample size may be the best explanation as to "what happened".
Nordin is a classic type of player to enjoy the college experience too much and stop caring about sports. His parents could easily afford the instate tuition, and he probably just wants to chase pussy all day and go back to work at his dad's company afterwards.
I was in a pretty similar situation in college, and it's honestly tough to motivate yourself to do the school/athletics thing when motivation is low.
This response is what I hate about the internet.
GoBlue456 is a classic type of poster to enjoy the anonymity of the internet too much and starts posting dumb things. His parents could've easily told him that just because he has thoughts, he doesnt have to share them, but he probably would've ignored them anyway because he wants to talk crap about a college kid.
If he was in a different situation where he had to say this in front of the kid, he probably wouldnt be motivated to do the dumb thing he already did.
dude. please.
Quinn Nordin and other college kickers are much like relief pitchers. Extremely unpredictable. Nordin in particular is the fireballer with a wicked slider who has no command. That's really all there is to it.
Being a kicker is a thankless job. Unless you make the game-winning kick against a hated rival or make the kick that wins you a national championship, you're never congratulated for doing your job right, and you're the scapegoat for when you do your job wrong. Its a stressful job, man. The kind of pressure you face in front of a few hundred fans on Friday night is nowhere close to the kind of pressure you face in front of 100,000 fans on Saturday night.
I could be wrong, but I also think I remember at one point Brian did a write-up on Quinn (may have been his Hello post) where he said there wasn't a ton of data or production to go by for him in high school, but what was there was largely phenomenal. So whoever got him was taking somewhat of a chance, but if things panned out he would be the next edition of Roberto Aguayo. Well....the college version of Roberto Aguayo.
He's 20 years old, kicking in front of the biggest crowd in America, and usually millions more watching on TV. How would any of the posters here do in that situation? Hell, I've missed 3 foot putts because of nervousness and I'm a 3 handicap. He still has time to figure it all out, and there's a good chance that he will do just that.
He does have a powerful leg but Jake Moody is good as well. Personally, like a QB, I feel better with two capable kickers than one and both have experience. Good situation for Michigan to be in
He's a young man doing a low frequency/high variance task. Or, #collegekickers#
If Moody beats Nordin out for FGs and XPs, I hope the coaches use Nordin for kickoffs and really long range fieldgoals. If all he has to do is put the kickoff deep in the end zone, and make a couple of long shots no one expects him to make, it could be what he needs to find his confidence.
Kickers, man.