On Friday, Louisville transfer kicker James Turner made his pledge to Michigan after entering the transfer portal on Tuesday. The 6-foot, 205-pound kicker from Saline, Michigan made his return back to Big Ten country after spending four seasons at Louisville.
He took to his social media accounts to make the news official.
In Turner's four years with the Cardinals, he connected on 47-of-59 field goals (79.6 percent) and 124-127 PATs (97.6 percent). He didn't attempt any kicks as a freshman in 2019, but he was thrust into the starting role as a sophomore in 2020.
Turner is a very reliable option at kicker for Michigan, but he does have range concerns. The soon-to-be fifth-year senior is 1-6 on field goal attempts of 50 or more yards in his career.
On all kicks inside of 50 yards, Turner is a solid 46-of-53 (86.7 percent). Turner has missed just one kick inside of 40 yards in his career, which is the kind of reliability Michigan was missing heading into the 2023 season.
Replacing Jake Moody — arguably the best kicker in Michigan football history — was never going to be an easy task for Jim Harbaugh and Co., but the task was made easier with Turner's commitment.
Moody finished his five-year career in the maize and blue with a field goal percentage of 82.1 percent (69-84). Unfortunately for Michigan, all great things must come to an end, and Moody departed for the NFL after the 2022 season.
Michigan was left with junior-to-be Tommy Doman, incoming freshman Adam Samaha and junior-to-be Charlie Mentzer, who saw action in the Maize vs. Blue spring game on April 1.
However, none of the three potential replacements have ever made — or attempted — a field goal in a college game, and so Michigan turned to the transfer portal, where it found Turner, fourth-year kicker.
The Saline, Michigan native fills one of the only holes on a Michigan team that has national championship aspirations in 2023. Good kicking can win teams games (see Illinois in 2022), and the addition of Turner will give Michigan a better chance of achieving its goals in 2023.
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