The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
2016 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY BRANDON BROWN Kickers don't always get a ton of attention on the recruiting trail, but Rockford (Mich.) High's Quinn Nordin sure did. It all started when he committed to Penn State from a private jet during a video produced by Bleacher Re- port back in July. Since then, the na- tion's top kicker was well known in recruiting cir- cles. T h e 6 - 0 , 200-pound kicker remained a Nit- tany Lion until just a week before N a t i o n a l S i g n - ing Day, when he reopened his recruitment. Dur- ing his months as a member of the Penn State recruit- ing class, he vis- ited Michigan several times and ulti- mately ended up choosing the Maize and Blue on National Signing Day with a much more modest announce- ment inside his home in Rockford. "Coach [Jim] Harbaugh is an awe- some, awesome man," Nordin's mother emotionally said when her son put on the Block M cap. "I know he gets a bad rap sometimes, but he's an awesome man and he's got Quinn's back." The polarizing head coach had been in the news throughout recruit- ing season and Nordin is one of the main reasons why. Harbaugh, in what now has become a famous tactic, arrived at Nordin's house as soon as the dead period ended for a " s l e e p o v e r. " S e v e r a l m e d i a o u t l e t s h a d a problem with this, but Nordin and his family did not. "He slept over a t m y h o u s e , which was awe- s o m e , " N o rd i n said with a laugh. "He showed up 12:01 a.m. on the dot. He had a hat on, and a big coat, and I was like 'No way.' "So he showed up, we talked prob- ably until two in the morning, went to bed, woke up, mom and dad made him pancakes and waffles, and then we went to school." Harbaugh spent time with Nordin inside his high school and then drove The Nation's No. 1 Kicker, Quinn Nordin, Stays Home Nordin and his family hosted U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh for a "sleepover" in January, which led to him switching his pledge from Penn State to the Wolverines. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM