quinn nordin wild thing but in a bad way

Previously: Last year. The Story. Podcast 12.4A, 12.4B, 12.4C. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback. Safety.

Depth Chart

When Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015 he hired three new assistants who raised some eyebrows. One was his son Jay, whose non-genetic credentials were three years as an Oregon State GA, and three as an offensive quality coach for his Uncle John's Baltimore Ravens. The second was Chris Partridge, the high school coach who was expected to go back in a year to collect #1 national recruit Rashan Gary. Not waiting to see if Partridge had any coaching value beyond his connection to 5-stars, the NCAA passed a "Partridge" rule to ban programs from hiring high school coaches whose players they recruit.

The third was John Baxter, a special teams savant responsible for USC's consistently excellent third phase. Michigan special teams shot up in Baxter's first season in Ann Arbor, from 74th the year prior to 11th in Fremeau's special teams efficiency index (FEI). Baxter didn't stick around for another, but left the cheat codes behind for understudy Partridge. FEI rankings since: 3rd, 28th, 12th, 2nd*. Along the way Partridge's special teams forced a kickoffs rule change by moonballing it to the 1 yard line, broke spread punting, broke Alabama's will to cover kickoffs, and broke the FG TARGET LINE stripe for half of a broadcast:

Just gotta get over the 40 guys.

Partridge, it turned out, was indeed more valuable than his connection to immediate blue chips, and took an SEC defensive coordinator job this offseason. The briefcase with the codes now passes to his assistant these last four years, Jay Harbaugh, who's also spent the intervening years proving himself more than worthy of his nepotistic opportunity.

With it comes the leg responsible for the ridiculous line above, the reason Alabama was pooching it up to the 30, a pair of senior specialists and their experienced backups, and the first wave of Josh Gattis's toys to play with. It'll probably be fine, plus or minus the vagaries of the most variable acts in football.

* [Those numbers are a little goofy because they include opponent field goal efficiency, which isn't really something you control. In 2018 they were 127th (second to last) in opponent field goal efficiency and last year they were 6th. #CollegeKickers happens]

[After the JUMP: Giles Jackson is not down]

Things Discussed

• Tyree Kinnel and Josh Metellus' progress
• Quinn Nordin is on the right track, definitely not the wrong track
• Trick plays! Michigan State might run some of those
• How Partridge tells players to respond to criticism

[After THE JUMP: A transcript]

This is the final round of this year's All Big Ten roundtablish preview. It's short and you don't need to read it and we might have skipped it altogether except it's bumping the Offensive Tackles preview off the front page. You're welcome.

Previously:

• Quarterback and Running Back
• Receivers and Tight Ends
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Linebacker
• Cornerback and Safety

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KICKER

Ace: Get healthy soon, Rafael Gaglianone’s back.

Seth: Just because we can't escape them this year. Dude's going to break every record because he got a season's worth of kicking into the season he got medshirted.

Ace: …if he gets healthy.

Ace: Otherwise, it’s Quinn Nordin or OSU’s Sean Neurnberger, I think?

Seth: Nope, there's another guy from the Big Ten West. Purdue has twitter legend who transferred from Baylor and was really good last year.

80 Yard Field Goal @SportsCenter @espn @NFL @BleacherReport @CBSSports #SCtop10 @ESPNCFB @FOXSports @YahooSports pic.twitter.com/uXoUuUdtio

— Spencer Evans (@Spencer_J_Evans) September 7, 2016

Ace: That is a long field goal.

Seth: Evans missed three long ones last year and that was it I think. Brohm doesn't kick field goals unless he has to.

Ace: lmao I had my laptop hooked to my speakers and my brother’s dog fell off the couch when I hit play. (She does this not infrequently.)

BiSB: Miguel Recinos was 11/13 for Iowa. And Iowa will kick them some field goals.

Seth: Anyway WILD THING is going to be the best kicker in the country or terrible and there's nothing in between.

BiSB: Yep, he's #1 with a bullet.

Ace: Northwestern had a freshman who went 13/15.

Seth: Charlie Kuhbander. Does he punt too? That's a great punter name.

No offense to banders/benders.

Ace: None taken. I would’ve happily been a punter.

Speaking of which,

[AFTER THE JUMP]