Leaving A Legacy: What's At Stake For Michigan's Seniors (Special Teams)

Michigan's 2020 roster will feature three special teams players and we look at what their senior seasons could mean for their legacies.

Quinn Nordin: With Jake Moody faltering a bit - he missed 3 of 4 field-goal tries over a five-game stretch - Nordin rescued his career from the trash heap in 2019, going 9 for 9 on field goals in Michigan's final three regular-season contests and its bowl game against Alabama. And these weren't your garden-variety attempts, splitting the uprights on field goals of 45, 49 and 57 yards as Nordin continued to show off one of the biggest legs in school history (his four career field goals of 50+ yards ties the program record). 

Regarded as a bit of a hothead that can get rattled, Nordin showed poise and steadiness during the stretch run of his junior season, and he has a chance to rewrite the perceptions of his demeanor with a senior year in which he improves upon his career efficiency of 75.0 percent 

Brad Robbins: The recruited punter on the team, back in 2017, Robbins - through injury and then performance - was upstaged by walk-on Will Hart for the 2018-19 seasons, attempting just four punts compared to Hart's 94 over that two-year span. 

Robbins earned all four of those punts against Ohio State in the 2019 regular-season finale, offering the element of rugby-style punter to the Michigan team, however, he didn't see the field in the bowl game, Hart had five punts, and Hart is expected back for a fifth year. 

Robbins likely gets one more crack at overtaking Hart and proving his value (at this time Robbins has not entered the transfer portal), and at the very least, he should be used sporadically, when the conditions demand low line drives that roll.  

Will Hart: Walk-on to 2.5-year starter, ranking first all time at Michigan in career average, at 45.5 yards per punt, while also holding the single-season record with 46.98 yards per punt in 2018? Hart has been a huge success story for the Maize and Blue, and even if he loses opportunities to Robbins in 2020, he will go down as one of the best walk-ons-turned-scholarship special teamers in program history. 

Honestly, he ought to just pull a Constanza and retire on top, but for Michigan, another year in which its starting punter averages 44.0+ yards per boot should bring comfort to the coaches, knowing the Maize and Blue are in good hands (feet?). 

Check out our breakdowns of senior legacies for Michigan's offensive and defensive players.