Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh decided he needed a punter in the 2021 class, and he didn’t waste time finding one. Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary Tommy Doman was right in his backyard, and he just happened to be one of the best punters in the country.

Former Michigan kicker Brandon Kornblue, who runs the well-respected Kornblue Kicking School, has him ranked No. 2 nationally after having worked with him for many years.

"I’ve known him for a long time, seen him at everything from the bigger camps to coming down for the Showcase camps,” Kornblue said. “He camped at Michigan, did private training with me. I’ve seen him develop over the years, and he’s definitely on the right track.”

He started from a place of potential and has grown into it, Kornblue said.

“He’s worked really hard," he continued. "His dad is a bigger guy, so he’s got a good punter’s frame right now. He’s a really good, talented combo guy, but I think he will most likely fit into the punting role, similar to [Michigan redshirt junior] Brad Robbins in that kind of mold.

“He’s been a Michigan kid, dreamed of Michigan a long time. It’s his dream school. He gave them a very quick ‘yes.’ He didn’t hesitate. It caught him by surprise. He wasn’t expecting it.”

But U-M is in a position in which this year has cycled around for a punter. It’s not every year a program will spend a scholarship on a kicker, but Doman was fortunate.

“That’s the tricky part of recruiting specialists that I have to help kids and parents understand. They’re not going to recruit one in every class, because they’re so selective they can’t always put scholarships on kickers and punters, snappers every year. They have to be picky about it. It’s more about finding the right fit, right guy, potential and the right timing. When you find the right one, that’s typically when a bigger school like Michigan will offer.

“I think he’s a really good fit. It was a smart move, and obviously having a number of other schools that liked him and were throwing offers his way … that’s kind of how recruiting works with specialists. I think they understood if we want to get him, we don’t want to lose him, and once the offer came it was a no brainer.”

Consistency and directional punting will come in time, Kornblue said, and it will likely be two years before Michigan needs him given Robbin’s status. That’s two more years to develop, at which point he could be elite.

"He’s such a talented kid, and it’s hard to find good punters. That’s the other consideration why they jumped oh him now," Kornblue said. "It’s not easy to find a really talented kid like him, especially in state.

“Right now he’s my No. 2 ranked punter nationally. I really haven’t seen him on the field in probably six months or so, four or six months, and he didn’t have his best day when I did, but I’ve seen film on him since then. He’s continued to improve and get better … plenty of time to work on operation time, fine tune, perfect, get stronger and all those things.”

If he does, Kornblue said, he’ll have a great shot to contribute in his second year at U-M, if not sooner, and become the latest in a long line of great Michigan kickers.

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