Should Michigan go after this MI kicking recruit?
September 13th, 2010 at 9:35 PM ^
Mike Stepanik, 6'5" Goalie/ Kicker at Unity Chr. Kicked four field goals this past Friday against Holland Chr. Two of them over 40 yards... He may be a kicker to look at.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:45 PM ^
Then no I don't think we should pursue kickers. I don't care how many people we've lost in the past month, we shouldn't be spending scholarships on kickers when we have a RS FR scholarship kicker. Gibbons will pan out, give him time.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^
I wouldn't offer a schollie but maybe a preferred walkon.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:50 AM ^
How many scholorships does a team have to offer?
I'm curious, because kicking seems to be one of Michigan's biggest weaknesses right now. Gibbons is one for four, with a completely awful looking attempt against Notre Dame. He hits those two field goals, and Michigan wins by two scores.
I would seriously consider going hard after the top rated kicking prospect in the country.
Hagerup has been almost as scary. His average of 38.3 yards per punt doesn't look bad on paper, but two of those were line drive that rolled forever and managed to go for 51 yards and 53 yards. The majority of his punts were shanks that travelled 21 yards and went out of bounds. I'd almost consider taking my chances and running another play than getting 21 yards out of a punt.
Michigan is set at quarter back for the next few years. In my amatuer opinion, recruiting should focused on the team's needs: a top tier field goal kicker, a punter, a top tier running back and as many top tier safeties and corners as they can find. I would certainly be supportive of using a scholorship if it was for one of the top five kicking and/or prospects in the country - Zolton was one of my favourite players on the team. If they could find a Zolton that could kick field goals as well, this team would be set. (I don't really know how often you run into hybrid punter/field goal kickers, but they seem like fairly similar skills to me)
September 14th, 2010 at 8:52 AM ^
Freshmen. They are freshmen. Be patient.
It's legit to be a bit concerned about Gibbons because the word on him has been the same since he arrived (strong leg, but inaccurate) but it's just ridiculous to be advocating a scholarship on a punter when we have a true freshman scholarship punter who was highly rated and has basically punted in one game.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
At this point I'm with the Bo line of thinking: don't give scholarships to any kickers.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:40 PM ^
In all seriousness, holding off on giving out any scholarships to kickers doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Kickers play such and important role in wins and losses. I think people like Zolton or Rivas earned more of their scholarship than other kids on the teams (if we are basing it only on on-field performance). I'm not sure that you can get good kickers like Zolton et al. unless you are willing to offer scholarships.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:17 AM ^
The Space Emperor of Space may forgive you for misspelling his name.
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...or he may not...
September 13th, 2010 at 9:37 PM ^
That college teams can not find great placekickers at open tryouts. At Michigan there are loads of students from all over the world who have kicked a ball a long distance accurately since they were in middle school. I've got to believe there is one, just one, student in Ann Arbor who can reliably kick from 45 yards.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:40 PM ^
That's a remarkably un-Dutch name for a kid from Unity Christian.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:43 PM ^
Gibbons will likely be fine. Most acclaimed kicking recruits start slow and don't emerge until their second or third year. Garrett Rivas kind of sucked until later on in his career.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
but his suck was due more to ball height and distance than accuracy. I wasn't worried about Rivas shanking 32 yard field goals into the corners.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:57 PM ^
I'm surprised there hasn't been any Necessary Roughness, Kathy Ireland references yet.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^
No one wants a kick to the balls. That Ireland chick can sneeak up on ya;
September 14th, 2010 at 12:25 AM ^
yeah i wouldnt waste a schollie on a position that clearly doesnt count for anything...
September 14th, 2010 at 12:34 AM ^
We have already spent one scholarship on a kicker we can't give another one out, until this one is gone.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:47 AM ^
well if a walkon starts at kicker next week, based on a recent trend you guys may or may not have noticed, theres a pretty good chance that the scholarship will quickly become available
September 14th, 2010 at 12:43 AM ^
We already have a kicker on schollie so adding another one is taking away from depth at positions of need. The special teams unit will get better.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^
Remy Hamilton should have some kids coming of age soon.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:55 AM ^
Did anyone else read the headline as if it was the end of comic when they are advertising for the next issue and have to make it REALLY EXCITING?
September 14th, 2010 at 2:30 AM ^
are there any gender restrictions? Have any other Div 1A schools done this? It would be interesting to be a trendsetter, esp. if it hasn't been done before.
September 14th, 2010 at 8:51 AM ^
Katie Hnida at Colorado. But then that led to the whole Colorado rape scandal.
September 14th, 2010 at 8:48 PM ^
Some guy named pawloski was 8 for 8 with long of 50 yards in the spring game. why i'snt he kicking?