Wolverine Digest

Michigan bolsters its special teams with second transfer portal commitment

The Wolverines should be in a much better place here.
Trent Knoop|
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Michigan Wolverines

Under Jim Harbaugh's watch -- along with Jay Harbaugh -- Michigan had a very strong special teams unit. From kickoffs to punting and game-winning kicks, you could trust the Wolverines to come through when needed. But following the Harbaugh's leaving Ann Arbor, the Wolverines' special teams had gone downhill.

RELATED: Michigan transfer portal tracker: Every player coming in and out of the program in 2026

Michigan's special teams were as bad as recent memory serves in 2025, and Sherrone Moore chose to fire JB Brown -- prior to his own firing. One final move Moore was able to make before he was out of Ann Arbor was to hire former Ohio State coach Kerry Coombs -- who had an excellent Citrus Bowl coaching the special teams.

Coombs and Michigan likely just landed their new starting punter on Wednesday night. Michigan landed a commitment from UNLV punter Cameron Brown, who will come to the Wolverines with three years of eligibility remaining.

Brown is now the second commitment Michigan has received out the portal, and both have been for the special teams unit. The first was Pitt's long snapper Nico Crawford, who committed on Tuesday.

In 2025, his first season of college football, Brown punted the ball 47 times for UNLV for a total of 2,032 yards. He averaged 43.2 yards per punt with a long of 71 yards. He punted the ball inside the 20 yard line 19 times this season.

For comparison, Michigan's punter, Hudson Hollenbeck punted the ball 41 times for 1,761 yards for an average of 43 yards per punt. Hollenbeck had a long punt of 52 yards and kicked the ball inside the 20 yard line 11 times.

Brown was a scholarship punter from the Gold Coast in Australia who became UNLV's second booter to hail from down under, following in the footsteps of former Rebel Charlton Butt, who played at UNLV from 2020-21.

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Trent Knoop
TRENT KNOOP

Trent began writing and covering Michigan athletics back in 2020. He became a credentialed member of the media in 2021. Trent began writing with Sports Illustrated in 2023 and became the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI during the 2025 football season. Trent also serves as the Publisher of Baylor Bears on SI. His other bylines have appeared on Maryland on SI, Wisconsin on SI, and across the USA TODAY Sports network. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.

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