Michigan punter Will Hagerup could challenge for kicking duties, too

Brendan Gibbons, a big-legged but erratic redshirt freshman, enters fall No. 1 on the depth chart at place-kicker, but he’ll have competition from an unexpected source.

Earlier this month, Rodriguez told incoming recruit Will Hagerup, who signed in February as the replacement for punter Zoltan Mesko, he’ll be competing for the starting kicking job, too.

Jason Olesnavage, who unexpectedly beat out Gibbons for the starting job last year, graduated after a steady 11-for-15 season.

“Obviously, they recruited me as a punter, but he said that there’s always that chance and they’re going to let me try out for that job and the best guy will get the job,” Hagerup said Monday. “So certainly we’ll see how that goes and I’ve definitely been working at it, too.”

Gibbons showed a strong leg throughout spring practice, but struggled with accuracy. He made three of five field goals during kicking drills before Michigan’s spring game, missing from 35 and 47 yards, the latter after a bad snap. Michigan's other kicking options, all walk-ons, were equally inconsistent this spring.

Hagerup, rated the nation’s No. 3 kicker by Rivals.com, averaged 42.9 yards per punt and made all five of his field-goal attempts with a long of 49 yards as a senior at Whitefish Bay (Wis.) High. As taxing as it may be, he said he’s ready to pull double duty if needed this fall.

Northwestern’s Stefon Demos was the only specialist in the Big Ten to handle both kicking and punting duties last year. Demos ranked last in the league in punting and made 18 of 25 field goals (72 percent). He made just four of nine kicks over Northwestern's final three games.

“If I can compete and win the job then obviously I want to do that,” Hagerup said. “At the same time, if it turns out that punting’s the only thing I do than that’s fine, too.”

As a punter, Hagerup has big shoes to fill with the departure of four-year starter Zoltan Mesko, who was taken by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of last week’s NFL draft.

Hagerup sent Mesko a congratulations text message on Sunday, and Mesko responded with a text that said, “We both have to prove ourselves next year.”

That’s something Hagerup’s looking forward to. He’s working out and practicing his punting three or four days a week this spring, and hasn’t decided if he’s going to play summer baseball yet before heading to campus in June.

“I’m extremely excited, I’m extremely anxious,” Hagerup said. “It’s really nice to be able to enjoy my senior year and be with all my friends, but at the same time I can’t wait to get on campus and start working and prepare for hopefully a great year.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.