TomVH: Matt Wile the Punter
Rather than continue tweeting about Matt Wile and his accomplishments as a punter, I'll just post this email his coach sent me. Here are Wile's stats from his senior, junior, and sophomore years as a punter:
| Year | Punts | Yards | Average | Long | Inside 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 40 | 1447 | 36.18 | 54 | 13 |
| 2009 | 31 | 1247 | 40.23 | 61 | 6 |
| 2008 | 16 | 586 | 36.63 | 54 | 6 |
Here is a video of him in 2010 at a kicking camp. He kicks five balls and averages 51.2 yards. Probably the most recent data of his abilities. He was also the punter during the Army All American game.
You can make your own assumptions or come to your own conclusions about this information.
If he makes 80 percent of his field goals and averages 40 yards per punt, he will quickly become one of my favorite Wolverines.
Hell, I'd be happy if he made 65% of his FG after what we all witnessed last year!
A good punter can change a game from a loss to a win. I wonder if he can kick field goals?
this is just wrong...
a field goal kicker can do this, but the most a punter can do is influence field position in a positive manner.. he can pin them inside the 20, but he cannot put points on the board.
Dont get me wrong, punting is extremely important, but having the best punter in the country won't win you any games... field goal kicking on the other hand..
August 7th, 2011 at 11:19 PM ^
field position is worth points. just because they're unrecorded by scorer doesn't mean they aren't worth anything.
August 7th, 2011 at 11:49 PM ^
Having good field position doesn't help a team score points? Tell that to our offense last year...
Breathing again. I hope that these student athletes learn their lesson. Go Blue!
needs to get his stuff together, he has pro potential. Btw we are not in Devin Fuller's top 11, I dont know how kansas beat us :| lol. Have to assume the coaches are no longer recruiting him. Does not look like we'll take a QB in this class.
Mike Farell tweet: #Alabama, #ucla, #Kansas, #PennState, #Nebraska, #TCU, #BC, #UConn, #Miami, #Rutgers, #georgiatech -- final 11 for ATH Devin Fuller
If he cites "academics" as his most important criterion, I will not be pleased. It seems like we always get pushed out of a recruit's top schools, then they turn around and cite academics when Alabama is beating us out. All of my rage
This might have been my favorite part of the post:
"You can make your own assumptions or come to your own conclusions about this information."
Nicely delivered, as usual ... free of value judgments.
The contrast between this sentence and the final sentence on the front page story about Stonum is pretty funny.
is for the offense to convert nearly all of its 3rd downs. Imagine the damage we could do.
Maybe an alternative can be that we just "go for it" on fourth down every time. Oh, wait that has been tried before.
Space Emperor of Space and.....
Darth Wile?
Did I not read that his dad, grandfather, and great grandfather all attended Michigan and are doctors? I would think that someone with that kind of pedigree can handle pressure.
<br>
<br>I'd like to welcome, potentially, the all time leading scorer in Michigan football history, Matt Wile (sorry Garrett Rivas)
Great grandfather too
August 7th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
So Dr. Wile attended Michigan? Mega Man will not be happy with us.
Edit: It's spelled Dr. Wily. Never mind...
August 7th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
Someone mistyped in a thread in the past day or two (SHOCKING!) and it read something like '...worth a while...'.
One of us replied asking just what a while might worth.
In this case, a Wile might be worth more than we ever expected.
Go Blue!
August 7th, 2011 at 10:31 PM ^
if I were in this young man's shoes, I'd probably soil myself. If he comes in and goes 2-4, hell, even 2-5 in FGs in the nonconference schedule, he'd be making us all happy. We would be expecting those several missed field goals to be irrelevant in at least (fingers crossed and hoping) 2 of those games. Maybe 3. But now, he's pretty much assured of having a very meaningful snap in not only the opener, but the ND game at night.
I know kicking is usually seen as "not really being a football player." But this dude is totally going to earn his varsity letter in the preconference schedule.
August 7th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
I wouldnt know what to do with myself if we were able to kick that well.
August 7th, 2011 at 11:20 PM ^
Are those "net yards"? If so, great! If not, I guess it's a better option than Seth B..
August 7th, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^
August 8th, 2011 at 12:39 AM ^
Wherefore art thou weekly update?
give him #25 and call him hayden.
August 8th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
for at least the first 4 games. Unless Seth B. has made a miraculous turnaround in his ability to kick or punt in games, Matt will need to be our punter. It's certainly a great opportunity for him. Nothing like being thrown into the lake to learn how to swim!