What does our kicking game look like for 2015?

Submitted by Auerbach on

It just now occured to me that Wile won't be here next year. Kenny Allen from Fenton, MI was our only other placekicker on the roster last year. He will be a RS junior next year. We also have Andrew David from Masillon, OH coming in next year. What's the general feeling on these guys? Are they any good? Is Allen expected to win the job based on his seniority? 

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Sports

December 30th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^

Via a mutual friend, I've heard that Allen was extremely close to taking over the punter position from Hagerup, with the coaches ultimately settling on Hagerup due to his experience and past accomplishments. Apparently Allen was outkicking him with some frequency though. 

Obviously this is anecdotal, so feel free to question it, but this is what I was told. 

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Big Mike

December 30th, 2014 at 3:45 PM ^

i don't think there is winning a job by default i don't think it will work like that anymore. Strong competition between david and allen is my guess

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julesh

December 30th, 2014 at 3:47 PM ^

With the way Wile was kicking FGs for much of the season, I would think Allen would have at least been tried if he had any accuracy. But who knows.

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tlo2485

December 30th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^

it's been mentioned, but if we do indeed land durkin, he has a strong reputation for special teams... in charge at bowling green, stanford, and most recently Florida

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umchicago

December 30th, 2014 at 5:28 PM ^

i hope you are right.  special teams were always "special" under Bo.  it has been very mediocre to poor since he retired.  we used to block so many kicks and returned many others for TDs.  it almost never happens anymore; especially this millenium.

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Ike613

December 30th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^

Allen assumes punt duties from Hagerup... in warmups he usually looks impressive and has a strong leg.  From what little I've read about the preferred walkon Kyle Seychel, wouldn't shock me to maybe see him on kickoff duties.

As for FGs... maybe some combination of guys depending on distance, kinda like what we saw with Gibbons and Wile... just don't know enough about how good Seychel, Allen and David are in the kicking game.. accuracy and range.

I just wouldn't dismiss someone like Seychel being in the mix because he's not a full blown scholarship kicker... we've had plenty of walk-on kickers win the job before.

Additionally, if it's an area of concern, I wonder if Harbaugh might look at transfer opportunities to land a proven kicker... either a grad transfer, or even from the non D-I ranks.  Seems every team Michigan plays has a stronger kicking game so shouldn't be that hard to identify someone and go after them.

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