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Oh, Hello: Michigan K Quinn Nordin Commits to Penn State

James Franklin is tired of special teams problems.

By Nick Polak

Not only does adding Quinn Nordin give Penn State a scholarship punter and kicker, but it will allow Penn State fans everywhere to refer to their special teams duo as "Quake".

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Stats:

Hometown/High School: Rockford (MI)/Rockford

Height/Weight: 6'1"/200

Recruited By: Charles Huff

Starz n' Sheetz:

Starz: 5* according to KornBlue Kicking (#2 K in the country), 3* according to the 247Composite

Sheetz: Penn State, Arizona State, Iowa, Michigan, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Louisville, Miami (OH), Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Western Michigan

Cinema:

The Tale:

Quinn Nordin has been on Penn State's radar for a while now, offering him way back at the end of January. Back then, his recruitment looked far different from how it looks today. When I first spoke with him about his recruitment in early February, he was dead set on making his decision between the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes of Iowa (who offered a day after Penn State). He had minimal interest in both of his home-state schools at the time, but he didn't see them as much of a factor in his recruitment.

When the Wolverines actually got around to offering Nordin though, things got interesting. Along with the offer to play D1 football at Michigan, Nordin was also given the opportunity to play lacrosse in Ann Arbor. Before his football career really took off and he established himself as one of the top kickers in the 2016 class, Nordin was all set to pursue a lacrosse career in college, and lacrosse alone. Thankfully, he decided to give football a bit more of a look, but the chance to play both of his favorite sports in college was an enticing one for Quinn. Michigan shot up his list quickly, and Iowa began to fall to the wayside.

Time went on, and more offers rolled in. Arizona State and Michigan State being the other big ones. He took plenty of visits to State College, East Lansing and Ann Arbor over the past few months. A big shift in his 247 Crystal Ball took place, as most of his predictions read in favor of Michigan. Something that was always working against Jim Harbaugh's squad though, was the fact that Michigan picked up a kicker in the 2015 recruiting class.

One of the first things Quinn told me when we started talking, was that he was looking for a school with an open depth chart. That was what initially drew him to Penn State and Iowa (that and the fact that they were both in the area of the country he wanted to go to school). As things moved forward with his interest in Michigan, it appears that those original depth chart concerns were always in his mind, helping to give Penn State the advantage.

When I spoke with him at the end of June, he told me that he was very excited about his good friend Blake Gillikin's commitment to Penn State, and that the two had spoken before about playing together in college. It's a match made in heaven. Quinn + Blake = Quake.

Outlook:

In Nordin, Penn State is bringing in a big time power leg. According to KornBlue Kicking, "he is one of the strongest placekickers in the nation and continues to make gains with his consistency and accuracy." He made a 65 yard field goal at a KornBlue camp in Florida last year, and can be seen below hitting from 45, 50 and 55 on the narrow arena goal posts.

Simply put, Nordin deserves every bit of his #1 overall ranking on the 247Composite rankings. His leg strength screams NFL potential, and his accuracy is improving at an extremely steady rate. He is also a force to be reckoned with as a kickoff specialist. Along with the multiple touchbacks shown in the video above, he also put up some extremely impressive numbers in a July 2014 Kornblue camp. For the day, his worst kickoff traveled 64 yards, and he had kicks of 75, 77, 77 and 81 yards.

Penn State is bringing in someone who will challenge for the starting kicking job right away. Depending on how Penn State kickers fare this season, it could be his job to lose right away. Nordin will also likely have the kickoff job in hand before even stepping onto campus. He is also Kornblue's #19 punter (4.5 stars), so he could help out with the field position game in that regard as well, if need be. With Nordin and Gillikin together, Penn State now holds commitments from the #1 kicker and punter in the 2016 class (according to the 247Composite).

Quinn's commitment brings Penn State's class to 16. You can follow Quinn on Twitter at @QuinnNordin.

Congratulations, Quinn!

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