Michigan heads to 2023 with the best roster head coach Jim Harbaugh says he's ever had. With the 5th most returning production in all of college football according to ESPN, the Wolverines are expected to be a preseason top 3 team and a favorite to return to the College Football Playoff.

Where that returning production is lacking is on special teams. Michigan's long-time kicker and punter Jake Moody and Brad Robbins are off to the NFL, drafted in the 3rd and 6th rounds respectively.

While these specialists do not get a lot of attention, their value is a massive, especially for a team like Michigan with National Championship aspirations. Michigan went into the spring with only two kickers on the roster. The Wolverines added two in the transfer portal, and a freshman phenom will join the team in the fall.

Let's start by taking a look at the players now competing for roles this summer and into the fall. Then I'll finish up with where I think things stand, and who I think will lead for which roles heading into the 2023 season.

James Turner has transferred to Michigan after 4 seasons at Louisville. Turner played his high school football at Saline in Ann Arbor, so joining Michigan is a return home.

Turner was only used on kickoffs during his freshman season. Of his 29 kickoffs only 4 were touchbacks and 3 went out of bounds.

Turner was Louisville's field goal kicker for the last three seasons making him by far the most experienced kicker on the Michigan roster. He has missed 3 extra points in those 3 seasons. Turner is automatic on kicks under 40 yards, going 32/33. He made 70% of his kicks of 40/49 and only 1 of his 6 attempts of over 50 yards.
Complete field goal stats are below.

After a difficult 2021 season, Turner bounced back in 2022. His 20 field goals tied a school record, and he was named to All-ACC Honorable Mention.

Turner was not a ranked kicking recruit and walked on at Louisville. He was put on scholarship before the start of last season.

• Adidas and Under Armour All-American punter
• Selected to participate in the All-American Bowl
• Five-star prospect according to Kohl’s Kicking: No. 2 punter nationally and No. 6 kicker
• Six-star punter according to Chris Sailer Kicking and named No. 1 in the the Top 12 list; No. 1 punter and No. 8 kicker nationally

Tommy Doman was one of the top specialists in the 2021 class. He did not play as a freshman. Last season he saw limited action with punts and kickoffs in four games.

Doman's stats, albeit with a small sample size, were phenomenal. Of his 8 kickoffs, 6 went for a touchback for an average kick of 64.6 yards. For perspective, Jake Moody's average was 63.6 yards and his TB/KO ratio was 66/102.

Doman only punted once, but it was a fair catch inside the 20. Punter Brad Robbins had an incredible season with 21 fair catches, 16 of which were inside the 20, and 0 touchbacks.

• Ranked by Kornblue Kicking as the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2023; a five-star prospect and the youngest player to earn a five-star ranking in the service’s history
• Listed by Kohl’s Professional Camps as a five-star prospect
• U.S. Army Bowl participant; converted a 49-yard field goal in the game
• Detroit Free Press Dream Team (2022)
• Finished his career ranked in six categories of the MHSAA record book

Adam Samaha is a freshman in the 2023 class for Michigan. Samaha is one of the more heralded kicking recruits you will see. With Michigan adding two transfers, he likely won't be a factor this season. His future is bright, and it would not be surprising to see Samaha kicking field goals for the Wolverines for four straight years starting next season.

Hudson Hollenbeck has transferred to Michigan after 1 season at Mississippi State where he did not see game action. Hollenbeck was a walk-on at MSU.

As a recruit Kohl’s Kicking rated Hollenbeck a 4.5-star kicker and a 5-star punter and the 7th overall punter in the 2022 class.

• Converted on 100 percent of his PAT tries in high school
• Long field goal of 47 yards
• Earned a ranking of four and a half stars by Kornblue Kicking (Class of 2021)

Charlie Mentzer is a walk-on, entering his junior season. He has not seen action in his first two seasons at Michigan.

Heading into the spring I had Tommy Doman pegged with handling all duties for Michigan, field goals, kickoffs, and punting. That is a big ask of any player, let alone one who hasn't done any of those in a starting role yet in his career.

Bringing in James Turner is about having experience and reliability from your field goal kicker. On shorter range, Turner matches Moody, but does not have his range. Could we see someone else kicking longer field goals, similar to when Michigan had Moody and Quinn Nordin splitting duties? Maybe, but Turner being the primary kicker seems obvious today.

With Turner's lack of experience on kickoffs, I do think that role will still go to someone else. Again, a small sample size, but Doman flashed a boot on kickoffs last season. 75% going for touchbacks is a great number, and a chance to spread out the workload is something to take advantage of.

The interesting question for me is on punts. Doman is my favorite there as well, given his length strength and how he was rated as a recruit. You have to think Michigan added Hudson Hollenbeck for a reason though. Maybe it was just for depth, but I wouldn't be shocked if Hollenbeck handles kick off duties while Doman is the punter.

As I said above, Adam Samaha is the future, but I'm not sure there is a role for him this season. But that can change starting with fall camp. Michigan likely has an idea similar to what I have laid out, but whoever looks best in fall camp is going to get first cracks once the season begins. And if someone doesn't win the job going away, don't be shocked if Michigan gives multiple guys opporuntities during the non-conference part of the schedule.

The biggest takeaway here is Michigan has options and flexibility, and filling the shoes of Moody and Robbins will not be easy.

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