The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1340560
2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE 54 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2021 STATISTICS Year FG Long PAT Punt Avg. 2020 6-7 53 13-13 44.8 2019 9-15 43 49-51 40.3 2018 5-7 50 31-32 — HONORS • Selected for the All-American Bowl. • MaxPreps All-American pick in 2020. • Named a six-star punter by Chris Sailer Kicking, who listed him the No. 1 punter and No. 9 kicker in the land. • Kornblue Kicking tabbed him as a member of the Fab50 and a five-star prospect, and ranked him as the na- tion's No. 1 punter and No. 2 kicker. • Kohl's Kicking listed him as the No. 2 punter and No. 6 kicker nationally. • He was honored as All-State by The Detroit News during his sophomore and junior seasons, and was dubbed to The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press Dream Teams as a senior. RECRUITMENT • Committed on April 2, 2020. • Also had scholarship offers from Air Force, Army, Boston College, Colorado State and Washington State. • Recruited by Jim Harbaugh. DID YOU KNOW? • Averaged 44.8 yards on 17 punts with a long of 53 yards and placed 10 inside the 20-yard line as a senior. • Nineteen of his 24 kickoffs went for touchbacks in 2020, and 60 of 71 in 2019. • Set the school record with a 53- yard field goal as a senior. THEY SAID IT • Trainer and former Michigan kicker Brandon Kornblue: "He's a really good, talented combo guy. … He's been a Michigan kid, dreamed of Michigan for a long time. It's his dream school. He gave them a very quick 'yes.' He didn't hesitate." BY EJ HOLLAND Tommy Doman may not be Michi- gan's next star quarterback or defen- sive playmaker, but he could very well end up being one of the most impor- tant members of the 2021 recruiting class. Doman, who hails from Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary's, is arguably the best kicker/punter combo special- ist in America. With games on the line, Michigan will need to rely on Doman to come up big in clutch moments. "When you have one of the best kick- ers in the country, it means a lot," said St. Mary's head coach G e o r g e P o r r i t t . "He turns the field around. At the end of games, you know that if you give him a chance to win the game, he's about as good as we've ever had here. Well, he is [the best]." Doman converted 6 of 7 field goal at- tempts and all 13 point-after tries during his senior season. Nineteen of his 24 kickoffs went for touchbacks. He may even be better as a punter. As a senior, Doman, who was selected to the All-American Bowl, averaged 44.8 yards on 17 attempts with a long of 53 yards and registered 10 punts inside the 20-yard line. "Being a combo is hard to do," Por- ritt said. "If you ask me, yeah, he can [continue to do both in college]. But I know it's hard to do at the next level. They usually don't have too many guys going combo. "He can go either direction as far as I'm concerned. He works hard. He's so dedicated to what he does. I'm mar- veled by the effort that he puts in." Doman was set to enroll early, but numbers worked against him in terms of Michigan's scholarship limit. Still, he is as excited as ever to join the Wol- verines in the summer. "It's all good," Doman said. "We've got some guys com- ing back that we ex- pected to go to the NFL, and we've got some very impor- tant and talented guys coming in the 2021 class. I can't wait to get there with the coaches and get feedback. I want to keep im- proving and getting better." D o m a n a d d e d that he did a ton of homework dur- ing the fall while he watched every U-M game on television and is ready to com- pete for a starting job as a true fresh- man. " E v e r y s i n g l e time we had a kick, I watched it multi- ple times and charted it, so I could feel out the situation," Doman said. "Just the pressure, location and all of that. I think the special teams were solid at times and were challenged at times. "I'm just getting refreshed on ev- erything, so I can compete for all three jobs [placekicker, punter and kickoffs]." ❑ Tommy Doman Could Be A Special Addition For The Wolverines Doman was selected to participate in the All-American Bowl, which was canceled, and was rated as the nation's No. 1 punter and No. 2 kicker by Kornblue Kicking. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND 2021 Projection Doman has one of the best chances out of the incoming freshmen to play right away in Ann Arbor. Will Hart, who was a fifth-year punter senior in 2020, entered the transfer portal this offseason. Brad Robbins handled the majority of the punts last season and returns as a fifth-year senior, but Doman will battle him for the starting job. With Quinn Nordin off to NFL and Jake Moody going just 1 of 4 on field goals last year, Doman also has a chance to nab the placekicking duties. Since kicking off is one of his strong suits, he also may be able to take over that role right away. TOMMY DOMAN PUNTER/KICKER 6-4 • 184 ORCHARD LAKE ST. MARY'S H.S. ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ — 2* — ✪ ✪ ✪ — 2^ 65 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 3* 23 * Ranked at kicker; ^ ranked at punter