Matt Goudis, Wolverine

Kicker Matt Goudis with ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews.  If you were wondering, Goudis is on the right.

Kicker Matt Goudis flipped his commitment from Boise State to Michigan yesterday.  Goudis is 6'0" and 165 lbs., and he hails from Chaminade High School in West Hills, CA.  He is the #5 kicker in the country according to Scout, #12 to Rivals, and #16 to ESPN.

I'm not going to pretend to know much about kicking, so this post will be fairly brief.  But I have to say that I found the following quote from Goudis to be a tad bit strange:

I’ve also ran three fake punts this year, which is a good reason why Boise State likes me – my athletic ability. I had some trouble with my field goals this year because I’ve been coping with a new snapper and holder, but that just happens sometimes.

Goudis, who at one point this season was 6/10 on field goal attempts, should probably avoid trying to pass the buck like that.  If I were his coach or his teammate, I would be perturbed by that statement.  I've had experiences during my coaching career where the placekicker asked us to find a different holder because, in his mind, the holder was the reason he was shanking chip-shot field goals.  Never mind the fact that the holder didn't botch a single snap all year, had to dig a few snaps out of the grass, and made a spectacular play to grab one that was way over his head and still get it down on the tee.

We didn't replace the holder.  But we did replace the kicker by season's end.

Goudis ought to take responsibility for those misses, whether they're legitimately his fault or not.

Here are some quotes from kicking "expert" Chris Sailer on Goudis:

Matt is an oustanding kicker. He has a good leg and makes kicks consistently with great height. He is the top field goal kicker in the nation in the Class of 2011. Hard working young man with a great attitude. Big time D1 scholarship prospect.

The addition of Goudis would give Michigan three scholarship specialists on the roster (kicker Brendan Gibbons, punter Will Hagerup, and Goudis) - four if you include Drew Dileo, who seems like a return specialist.  But if that's what it takes to get the special teams going, then that's what it takes.  I have no problem with Michigan adding a second scholarship placekicker to the roster.

There is a plethora of Goudis highlight videos on Youtube, but here are a couple of the better vids: