Texas lands commitment from 2024 punter Michael Kern
Texas recently sent a scholarship offer to Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas punter Michael Kern. Just over a week later, Kern called Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, special teams coach Jeff Banks, and special teams analyst Jeff Cross to let them know he would be booting footballs in Austin.
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Kern committed to Texas on Tuesday, choosing the Longhorns over Eastern Kentucky and Army.
Kern is unranked in the On3 Industry Ranking and in the On300.
Kornblue Kicking, a specialist-focused service run by former Michigan kicker/punter Brandon Kornblue, ranks Kern as the No. 4 punter in his underclassmen fab 50. Kern is also rated as a five-star, which means he’s on a “D1/FBS level, can start as a freshman” according to the website. Kornblue lists Kern at 6-foot-3, 165 pounds.
Another well-known kicking ranking service, Kohl’s Kicking, ranked Kern as the No. 4 punter in the 2024 class. Kohl’s had the following comments about Kern.
“Kern competed at the Underclassman Challenge in January of 2023. His frame and “A” ball make him the most exciting prospect in the 2024 class. His short compact approach should allow him to continue to develop as a punter in the years to come. Kern scored 104.85 points on his punt charts and he also has the ability to kick off down the road as well. His first Kohl’s ranking event was the 2022 Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp. He scored 18 points during the field goal charting sessions, finished with an average score during kickoffs of 102.53 over the weekend and had an average hang time during the punt charting of 4.10 seconds over all three sessions. Kern has the ability to be one of the top combo prospects in his class and should be in for some exciting moments ahead in his career!”
While there isn’t currently a scholarship punter on the Texas roster, Stanford transfer Ryan Sanborn is set to arrive in May. After a strong career punting and kicking for the Cardinal, Sanborn elected to enter the transfer portal in the first window and committed to the Longhorns. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Kern will then be looked to as an option after Sanborn is gone. While Bert Auburn and Will Stone have punting in their history, neither have been asked to do it at the collegiate level. Kern has plenty of accolades from his high school career. In 2021, he was first-team Broward County by the Miami Herald, and part of St. Thomas Aquinas’ state championship team. He earned all-county honors again in 2022.
According to MaxPreps, Kern had 20 punts for 824 yards in 2022, averaging 41.2 yards per punt. He had a long of 64 yards and 10 land inside the 20. He also had 83 kickoffs with 57 ending in a touchback.
In addition to offers from Eastern Kentucky and Army, Kern took trips to South Florida, Kentucky, and Duke, among others.
