Quinn Nordin, Wolverine

Quinn Nordin, Wolverine


February 3, 2016
Quinn Nordin 608x

Quinn Nordin

Rockford (MI) Rockford kicker/punter Quinn Nordin committed to Michigan on National Signing Day. The former Penn State commit chose the Wolverines over offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan State, Pitt, and USC, among others.

Nordin is 6’2″, 200 lbs. As a senior in 2015, he averaged 52.9 yards/punt. Rivals says he went 14/19 on field goals as a sophomore, but just 19/29 during his career. He also had 19 touchbacks in 23 kickoffs (82.6%) this past season.

RATINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 76 grade, #9 K
Kornblue Kicking: 5-star, #1 K (tie)
Rivals: 3-star, #1 K
Scout: 4-star, #1 K
247 Sports: 3-star, 83 grade, #1 K, #1436 overall

Hit the jump for more on Nordin’s commitment.

Nordin was offered by Michigan last April, but he committed to Penn State in July. He reportedly would have committed to Michigan at some point, but the Wolverines were unsure if they wanted to spend another scholarship on a kicker after taking Andrew David in the 2015 class. While Nordin remained committed to Penn State until recently, he visited Michigan numerous times and was a part of making some waves when Jim Harbaugh spent the night at his house on an in-home visit. However, Nordin was no stranger to making waves at that point, after initially committing to PSU in an odd fashion:

Despite really committing to making that video, his commitment to the school wasn’t quite that strong. Leading up to National Signing Day, Nordin visited USC – the new home of former Michigan special teams coach John Baxter – but it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would sign with the Wolverines.

I am not a kicking specialist, so I tend to defer to the recruiting sites (including Kornblue Kicking, which concentrates on specialists). From what I have gathered, Nordin’s biggest asset is a strong leg. He has numerous highlights of himself kicking the ball out of the back of the endzone, and he hit a 51-yarder in a game last season. His accuracy has been more in question, but that’s something that can be greatly altered by poor snaps, poor holds, poor playing surfaces, etc. With no scouting reports on his snapper and holder, deference to the experts is necessary.

There have been reports that Nordin may grayshirt at Michigan. Since his family found the financial means to have him record a video on a private jet to commit to Penn State, he can probably afford to pay his own way for in-state tuition to Michigan for a bit. The Wolverines are expected to have at least two scholarship kickers on the roster in 2016 in the form of former walk-on Kenny Allen and then redshirt freshman Andrew David. Having a third scholarship kicker on the roster would seem like overkill, so allowing Allen to finish out his career on scholarship this year would make some sense. However, if the roster has enough spots open, then Nordin might just join the team this fall.

As for playing time, there have been rumblings that the coaching staff is not convinced that Andrew David will be their future kicker. Kenny Allen was the kickoff guy and placekicker last season, and he will presumably hold onto those jobs again this season. Punter Blake O’Neill graduated, so there is room for someone to come in and punt, although Allen also has punting experience. If Nordin does indeed come in on scholarship immediately, he may be able to punt or do kickoffs, taking some pressure off of Allen. Kicking duties are always difficult to suss out, so we’ll just see how things play out this fall. However, I would expect that Nordin will be a heavy contributor by 2017 at the latest.

TTB Rating: 89 (ratings explanation)

2 comments

  1. Comments: 26
    Joined: 10/14/2015
    Tanisr4
    Feb 03, 2016 at 7:25 PM

    4 star from scout that’s impressive have any other kicker ever received a 4 star from any of the service before and what’s your take on him and david coming out of high school

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Feb 03, 2016 at 7:47 PM

      I’m not sure if any other kickers have been 4-stars or not. My guess is yes.

      I’m not really qualified to compare the kickers here. It’s not really a position that can be evaluated by highlights, in my opinion. My impression is that Nordin has a bigger leg, whereas David might have been viewed as being the more accurate of the two. But the coaching staff must really like Nordin, because he’s the only kicker they offered and they were willing to commit a second (or third) scholarship to a kicker just for him.

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