The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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36 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2026 U -M special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs is focused on im- provement in the early stages of the 2026 season. The longtime Ohio State and Cincin- nati assistant was tasked with overhauling the group by Sherrone Moore at the end of last season before his dismissal, and Kyle Whittingham chose to retain him. There is a lot more gravitas and experi- ence leading the charge now, but it re- mains an area where U-M wants more. "We've got a lot of things we've got to get better at," Coombs told Jon Jansen on "Inside Michigan Football" on Sept. 14. "I love our kids. Our kids play really hard. But we've had some errors that we have to fix and correct. I like our demeanor and our intention. We play hard, and some- times that aggressive nature can lend it- self to some penalties. "We've had some flaws there. But we're going to fix those things, and at the same time I'm really excited about our kids and how they're taking to it." Penalties were an issue for Michigan with 20 combined in the first two games, but the Wolverines only committed 4 for 44 yards in the UTEP contest. In the win against Oklahoma, the Wolverines were flagged for a running-into-the-kicker penalty that extended a drive and nar- rowly missed another when officials de- termined Zeke Berry was blocked into the Oklahoma punter. "I'm responsible for that," Coombs said. "My first reaction is frustration with myself before anything else. When something like that happens, they're trying to do exactly what we want them to do. We don't want to leave our feet blocking a punt — when you leave your feet, bad things happen, and that's the mistake that was made. "If we don't do that and we're on the same side as the punter's foot, we should only stick our hand out, not cross in front. "Those kinds of mistakes you've got to coach. Thankfully, our defense was playing so well it didn't cost us much. At the end of the day, the kid had punted that ball into the end zone, and it was a ridiculous punt. But we ended up turn- ing around and getting the ball after the defense stopped them again, and then we almost roughed them again on the 11-yard line. "Our kids are playing hard. They're doing what I'm asking them to do. If a technique is poor, that's our job to coach it. That's all on me." Head coach Kyle Whittingham sits in on Coombs' special teams meetings and heavily emphasizes the value it adds to playing winning football. For the program to get where it wants to go, there's no other choice but to lean on it. "Where our offense starts and where our defense starts every drive is signifi- cant," Coombs said. "The teams that end up with the best starting position differ- ential are going to end up in the playoffs. They're going to end up in championship games. They're going to end up at the end of the season with a bunch of victories." U-M's overhauled kicking game has been a positive early. Sophomore punter Cam Brown placed 6 punts inside the 20-yard line against Oklahoma with 2 downed at the 1-yard line. "Cam is going to be one of the better punters in the country, if not the best," Coombs said. Classmate Trey Butkowski was 10-for- 10 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals in nonconference play, both from 40-plus yards out. He hit a career-high 49-yarder against UTEP in Week 3. – Anthony Broome Special Teams Still A Work In Progress Kicker Trey Butkowski went a perfect 10-for-10 on extra-point tries and 2-for-2 on field goals through three games. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL