Catching Up with Penn State Target, K/P Quinn Nordin

Quinn Nordin (Rockford, MI) is the top ranked kicker/punter in the 2016 recruiting class, according to KornBlue Kicking). He also happens to be the guy that Penn State is targeting to fill the upcoming void left at kicker now that school legend, Sam Ficken, has moved on (hopefully) to the NFL. Nordin excels at every aspect of the kicking game. He has a huge leg and can hit any field goal asked of him. He is already one of the top punters in 2016 class, and has gotten better every year of his career. He also would be the answer Penn State desperately needs for kickoffs. At KornBlue's Ohio Fab 50 camp this past July, Nordin charted kickoffs of 81 (3.91 hangtime), 75 (3.97 hangtime), 75 (3.75 hangtime) and 77 (3.80 hangtimes). Simply put, he is a monster, and could be the four year solution for Penn State special teams. So without further adieu, here's Quinn.

Tell me about the Penn State visit this past weekend.

Me, my dad and my mom went down to Penn State. It was awesome. The schools I'm looking at right now, like I've said in the past, are Iowa and Penn State. There's been some other schools coming into the mix, but I kinda have it narrowed down pretty good to Iowa and Penn State. The visit went very well. Penn State had offered me a week or so ago, and so it went wonderful. My mom loved the coaching staff and Happy Valley was beautiful. They really laid out the red carpet at Penn State. I was very impressed with everything they had to offer there, it was nice. My mom got to sit down and talk with Coach Franklin and get to meet him not only as a coach but as a man. It was very good.

Do you like to bring your parents on every visit? Or was this special?

What happens is that me and my dad go on visits to every single school we can. The Michigan States, the Michigans, Duke, Georgia, those schools. Once we kinda think that this is a definite possibility, we talk to my mom and say "hey, I need you to come down" and we're really thinking that's a possibility of where I would go, she would go. She's only been to Iowa and Penn State.

What is it about both Penn State and Iowa that you like?

Some similarities they have is the layout of the school is very similar. Actually, when I was down at Iowa, they kept saying, "we like to compare ourselves to Penn State", and Penn State said the same exact thing. That was a unique thing to hear.

Some things I like about Iowa, are they're getting brand new facilities and they're going to be top of the line. The recruits are a big part of my decision, who's in the class above me and who's in my class. It's not only that they're four or five star football players, but it's if they're good guys, easy to talk to, no one's too cool to talk to the next guy. And at Iowa and Penn State, every single kid there was so personable and easy to talk to. It was awesome.

The weight rooms- amazing. The coaching staff at Penn State is amazing. Parents loved them, nothing but good things to say. And the same exact thing at Iowa. Making this decision is gonna be a tough one, that's for sure.

Is that decision coming soon? Do you want to make that sooner rather than later?

I don't really have a time thing, what I'm telling the coaches might be a little different, but I don't really plan on releasing a time frame.

Being a Michigan guy and having been to Michigan State and Michigan, what are your feelings going to be if they offer?

Michigan State told me they'll offer next time I go down to their campus, and I'm not interested at all. Michigan, I went down there going into my tenth grade year. They offered me for lacrosse going into my ninth grade year, and my tenth grade year for football I went down there again with the Hoke staff. We have a kid from our school that plays down there, so you know my coach really pushes Michigan. Michigan is a beautiful school and everything, but it's Michigan and we just haven't had any contact with those coaches or anything like that.

Did you always know you wanted to go to school for football? Or was lacrosse more of an option?

No, I didn't actually. My first offer was the summer going into my ninth grade year. That's a 14 year old kid, it's pretty surreal getting an offer that young. Then Ohio State, Notre Dame, Navy, Air Force and all these offers just came in. I'm in ninth grade and getting offered by all these schools, and I almost went to the Air Force Academy, and my dad said "hey, let's wait, let's play football". So I said alright, let's give football a shot. So I played some football, I guess I'm pretty good, so yeah. Football worked out, after my first season my varsity coach brought my down to Michigan and that's kinda when football took off for me.

I'm a three sport athlete, I play football, basketball, lacrosse. But the decision's pretty easy. Lacrosse, there's 1,000 people at a game. Football, you get 50-100,000. There's nothing like that. I'm a midwest guy, that's why I want to play in the Big Ten. That's why when these SEC schools call, I'm just not really interested. The Big Ten is where I'm going to end up.

What kind of effect does the current special teams depth chart have on you? Are you more attracted to schools with more of an open depth chart?

Yeah, very much so. What happens when you're being recruited as a kicker/punter, this is how I went about it. You look at the school, and you want to make sure that they don't have like a freshman or a sophomore kicker. Because you don't want to go there and have there be a young man who started for two years and is a phenomenal kicker, because then you're riding the pine as a kicker/punter. So yeah, that's a very big factor for both Iowa and Penn State. Penn State told me I'm going to get four years to kick, and Iowa told me I'm going to get four years to kick and punt.

How much did you follow Sam Ficken at Penn State?

When I was on my visit to Georgia, that was the first game of the season, they were playing Clemson. My dad and I were watching TV. And we were talking and saying "aw man, it would be cool to visit Penn State," and that was when they were playing Central Florida. And Sam hit the game-winning field goal in that game. And I periodically heard about him and heard his name. I saw him in the Pinstripe Bowl, he hit the field goal to put it into overtime and he hit the game-winning extra point. As a kicker, he's extremely poised and he's dead accurate. I have nothing but respect for him, he went to Penn State so he's obviously a pretty good man.

How often do you hear from the Iowa and Penn State coaches?

Every day. I've been DMing these guys over twitter constantly. I've been talking to Coach Franklin constantly over twitter. I've been talking to Coach Huff over twitter, talking to Coach White over twitter, talking to Coach Bell over twitter. It's just an ongoing thing. Don't get me wrong, it's a very fun thing, but you know, I'm ready to settle down and call a place home. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to say I'm a division one prospect. But I'm ready to call a place home and settle down.

I know you said you don't have a timetable, but do you have any plans on when you might revisit Penn State or Iowa?

There sort of is a timetable, but there's not. I have a point set in my mind, this is what I'm thinking, I've gathered all my thoughts about both the schools. Phenomenal schools, phenomenal coaching staffs, great facilities, academics are both Big Ten level and that's a huge part of my choice as well. You can't go wrong with choosing either school. But I have an idea set in my mind. I'm going to say a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so, and that's when I'll probably be ready to let one go. In that amount of time, talking with the coaching staff and getting to know the coaching staffs for both teams will really give me a chance to open this up and really decide.

Having my mom go down to both schools, I can't share what she thinks, but she already has her choice picked. I'm really fired up about this, and I can't wait to make a decision. I don't want to make a rushed decision, I want to make one that's right for me for the next for years of my life.

Thanks for taking the time to talk, Quinn. Be sure to follow him on twitter at @QuinnNordin.