Getting to Know — Matt Wile

Tag: Matt Wile

22Aug 2011
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Getting to Know — Matt Wile


Interestingly, Matt Wile is the lowest rated member of the 2011 class, yet he is the most likely of the 19 freshman to make an immediate impact this season. This paradox centers around Wile’s position as a kicker: recruiting services tend to view the position as having less value.
But don’t tell that to Michigan fans, who have recently been reminded–the hard way–of the value provided by a competent kicker. Now, after two years of woeful performance at the position, all of Wolverine nation crosses its collective fingers, holds its collective breath and prays to the heavens that Matt Wile can come in as a true freshman and produce points*.
That’s a lot of pressure.
But by all indications, Matt is a confident young man with an even temperament. He is also doing everything in his power to prepare for his pressure packed moments at the Big House.

“I’m trying to get myself in some sorts of pressure situations. It’s really hard to do when it’s just myself, but one of the things I’ll do is I’ll set up balls in a certain location and I’ll give myself 10 seconds to run from the sideline to kick a field goal.”

To further prepare, Matt utilized the assistance of a kicking coach, Lance Ortega of the San Diego School of Football, to get himself in optimal form for the 2011 season. The duo worked exceptionally hard just prior to Wile’s move to Ann Arbor, spending hours addressing kicking mechanics, drills and habits. Matt is kind enough to spare us the intricate details of his kicking procedures, but he gives us a short overview of his game time routine.

“I go out on the field and get set-up; I take three steps back, two steps over. And before I give my head-nod to the holder to let him know that I’m ready, I always take one really deep breath [to] calm my nerves. And when the ball’s snapped, it usually ends up happening where I don’t hear anything anymore and all I focus on is the ball. And it usually goes through.”

My favorite part of the quote is where Matt says that the ball usually goes through the uprights–yeah, that part was awesome. And it’s also true. In fact, Matt’s field goal average over his junior and senior seasons was a cool 76%. So Matt is accustomed to success and sees no reason why things should change once he starts kicking at Michigan Stadium. Actually, Wile’s ahead of the game since he’s already made a field goal at the Big House.

“From [the ages of] 6 -12, I used to travel with my dad and go to football games. And I was 10 or 12 and San Diego State was playing Michigan. It was a couple hours before the game; there weren’t too many people on the field, so I asked my dad if I could go kick a field goal, and he said ‘sure’…and I ended up kicking a 30 yard field goal in my tennis shoes…right down the middle.”

Despite relocating to a school over two thousand miles away, Matt should feel right at home at Michigan. Not only is he a 5th generation Michigan student, but his father–who attended medical school at Michigan and works as an M.D. for the San Diego State University football team–plans to fly in to see all of his games(!). If that weren’t enough, Wile’s relationship with Coach Hoke dates back several years.

“They [the Hoke coaching staff] knew about me at San Diego State, and they offered me. The first year that Hoke was with San Diego State, they offered me. So over two or three years, I was actually able to develop a relationship with the coaches, and that played a major factor in me choosing Michigan.”

Academics were another primary reason that Matt chose Michigan, and although many recruits say that, it appears to be especially true for Matt, who is a 4.0 student with plans to enroll in the College of Engineering. It sure doesn’t sound like Wile is adverse to pressure, whether it’s on the football field or in the classroom.
*…and effectively step in as punter during the first four games
3Aug 2011
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2011 Countdown: #28 Matt Wile

Matt Wile

Name: Matt Wile
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Francis Parker High School in San Diego, CA
Position: Kicker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #45
Last year: Wile was a high school senior (commitment profile)

Wile was an Army All-American Bowl participant in January, which might be good (Will Hagerup) or bad (Brendan Gibbons).  He hit 10/13 field goals as a senior with a long of 49 and sent 91/101 kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks.  He hit 9/12 field goals as a junior with a long of 48, so he’s been pretty consistent the past two seasons.

As we all know, Michigan’s combination of Seth Broekhuizen and Gibbons was atrocious in 2010.  Those two combined for 4/14 on field goals.  Since college kickers can’t use blocks, Wile has been practicing kicking off the ground ever since his senior season ended.  If he can make the adjustment well, Wile might be a huge upgrade on special teams and give the team a better chance to win close games.  He might be the starting placekicker right off the bat, but he’ll have to battle Will Hagerup for kickoff duties.  I admittedly know very little about kicking, but Wile sits this high on the list (and might be underrated) because of how much of a train wreck this team will be if its offense takes a step back and the kicker still can’t get the ball through the uprights.  Cross your fingers.

Prediction: Starting placekicker; backup kickoff specialist

25Jun 2011
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Freshman Numbers Revealed

A poster over at Rivals posted the following jersey numbers for the incoming freshmen.  I’m not sure how accurate they are, but here’s what he gave:

3 Russell Bellomy
5 Justice Hayes
18 Blake Countess
20 Tamani Carter
21 Raymon Taylor
24 Delonte Holowell
35 Greg Brown
38 Thomas Rawls
40 Antonio Poole
44 Desmond Morgan
45 Matt Wile
52 Kellen Jones
57 Frank Clark
58 Chris Bryant
79 Tony Posada
82 Chris Barnett
92 Keith Heitzman
95 Chris Rock
97 Brennen Beyer

Sorry, I did not get Russell Bellomy (EDIT: Bellomy is #3.  Thanks, readers!) or Jack Miller.

7Feb 2011
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2011 Recruiting Awards

Offensive guard Chris Bryant

This is something I do every year, and it’s a fun exercise for me:
2009 Recruiting Awards
2010 Recruiting Awards

Best overall recruit:  OG Chris Bryant
Bryant has the size, strength, footwork, and athleticism to be a great offensive lineman at Michigan.  As long as he can get rid of some of his bad weight and stay well conditioned throughout his career, I think he’ll be an All-Big Ten player by the end of his career.

Best offensive recruit: Bryant
See above.

Best defensive recruit: CB Blake Countess
Countess isn’t the biggest or fastest kid out there, but he’s got a good quality for a cornerback – sticky.  Receivers just don’t seem to get away from him.  He probably needs to bulk up before playing (we all saw what happened to Courtney Avery and Terrence Talbott last year), but he could be a slot corner early in his career before taking over on the outside after a year or two.

Recruit most likely to make an early impact: K Matt Wile
If former walk-on Seth Broekhuizen or redshirt sophomore Brendan Gibbons steps up his game, then Wile might not be needed as a freshman.  But those first two combined for 4-for-14 on field goals last season.  It’s also entirely possible that Wile will redshirt as a freshman, but Michigan returns the vast majority of its two-deep from last season, so a lot of these 2011 recruits will probably be redshirted.  Wile seems like the best candidate.

Fastest recruit: CB/S Raymon Taylor
Taylor reminds me of departing cornerback James Rogers in many ways.  While Taylor is probably more physical, he has good straight-line speed and a smooth stride. 

Strongest recruit: Bryant
Bryant reports a bench press of 395 pounds and a squat of 420.  Even if he couldn’t bench press Charlie Weis, all Bryant had to do with most high schoolers was get a hand on them and they fell to the ground, begging for mercy.

Best under-the-radar recruit: LB Desmond Morgan
Michigan has a good history with linebackers from western Michigan, and I like the fact that Morgan was a bulldozing quarterback in high school.  Quarterbacks just seem to understand the game better.  I think there will be a good battle for the middle linebacker job between Morgan and classmate Kellen Jones once redshirt junior Kenny Demens graduates.

Most overrated recruit: LB Frank Clark
The problem with this “award” is that nobody’s rated very highly.  And while my choice if Rich Rodriguez were here would be Justice Hayes, I actually think Hayes will fit better in Hoke’s system than that of Rodriguez.  I don’t think Hayes is a threat to start anytime soon, but he could be a very good change-of-pace back.  So I’m going to go with Clark, who is only a 3-star.  But I haven’t seen anything from Clark that shows me he’s going to be a successful college football player, especially as a linebacker.  If he were rated as a 2-star recruit, I probably wouldn’t bat an eyelash.  He has some potential with his size and speed, but he needs a lot of coaching.

Personal favorite recruit: LB Antonio Poole
This kid looks like the future at weakside linebacker.  He can run, he can hit, and best of all, he plays downhill.  He might have to bide his time for a couple years, but he might be the second coming of Larry Foote.

24Jan 2011
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Matt Wile, Wolverine

San Diego kicker Matt Wile

Matt Wile, a 6’2″, 210 lb. kicker from San Diego, CA, committed to Michigan on Saturday.  Wile is a 2-star recruit to Rivals and ESPN but unranked to Scout.  He also holds offers from Air Force, Nebraska, San Diego State, and Washington.

Originally recruited by Brady Hoke’s staff when they were at San Diego State, Hoke honored the scholarship offer when he got the job at Michigan.  Wile is the fifth kicker in the history of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl to choose Michigan, making Michigan the most frequent destination for USAAB kickers.  The other four have been Garrett Rivas, Zoltan Mesko, Brendan Gibbons, and Will Hagerup.  And when Wile enrolls later this year, he will be a fifth-generation Michigan Wolverine.

As a junior, Wile went 9-for-12 on field goals with a long of 48.  He also kicked the ball into the endzone 89% of the time.  In his senior season, he finished 10-for-13 with a long of 49 and a touchback percentage of 91%.  He also played linebacker for his high school team, and you can see some of his tackling/blocking talents in the video below.

Michigan kickers (the aforementioned Brendan Gibbons, who is on scholarship; and walk-on Seth Broekhuizen) combined for a 4-for-14 season in 2010.  Rich Rodriguez successfully recruited a kicker in the 2011 class, convincing Matt Goudis to flip from Boise State; however, Goudis obviously makes a habit of indecision, since he changed his commitment to Miami a couple weeks later.  New coach Brady Hoke obviously still saw a need for another kicker, which is why he’s also committing a third scholarship to a specialist.  All three scholarship kickers on Michigan’s roster are USAAB alumni, but it’s somewhat rare that a school has to commit three free rides to specialists.

I know very little about kicking, so I won’t pretend to have much criticism here.  What I do know is that Michigan’s field goal accuracy in 2010 (29%) paled in comparison to Wile’s over the past couple seasons (76%).  If giving out a third scholarship to a kicker means that Michigan can attempt more field goals – and make a higher percentage of them – then I’m okay with it.  You can’t just throw a crappy kicker out there, cross your fingers, close your eyes, and hope.  Wile’s presence will either spur Brendan Gibbons (whose work ethic has been questioned) to fight for his job or give Wile a shot to kick as a true freshman.

Punter Will Hagerup took over the kickoff duties late in the season, and he did a better job than either Gibbons or Broekhuizen.  Even though Wile averaged over 41 yards per punt as a high schooler, Hagerup’s job as punter probably won’t be challenged. 

What should Michigan fans expect?  Wile has been practicing kicking off the ground for a couple seasons, so the transition to college shouldn’t be extremely difficult for him.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wile kicking field goals in 2011.  Gibbons couldn’t beat out some mediocre kickers as a true freshman in 2009 and redshirted.  In 2010 he sat most of the time and watched another walk-on beat him out.  It’s not a stretch to imagine that Gibbons will once again be watching from the sideline this coming season.