Dominic Zvada proving to be elite, but Michigan needs more from Tommy Doman

Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada has been perfect this year on field goals and extra points, having hit all five of his three-pointers, three over 50 yards. Punter Tommy Doman, however, has struggled in his first two games. He hasn’t reached his potential after earning third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023, averaging 37.8 yards on six punts. That included a 28-yarder and short field position for Texas Saturday that set up a scoring drive. 

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Doman was expected to be a huge part of Michigan’s complementary football efforts this year, and they’ll need him to be better going forward. He booms the ball in warm-ups, but he hasn’t hit it as well in games.

“He’s been doing a great job in practice,” Michigan special teams coach J.B. Brown said. “And he’s had a really good practice week. We’ve done a couple of different things in practice to help him get into a better rhythm, and we’ll continue to make his pregame routine a little bit different just to try to get him started a little bit earlier.

“I think he’s on the right track. I’m looking forward to what he does this week.”

The 6-4 senior has been outstanding on kickoffs, 8 of his 10 going through the end zone for touchbacks. Brown is confident he’ll come around in the punting game, too. 

“Punting, we’ve got to get better. At the end of the day, that’s on me,” Brown said. “I’ve got to get them in better rhythm. We’ll work on that right here.

“But … he did it last year, and he’s been here for four years and had great practice habits. Just getting him back into the rhythm … I think that’s just my job of making sure he’s ready to go on Saturday.”

Dominic Zvada following in the footsteps of Michigan greats

Zvada, meanwhile, has been a huge addition, right there with Jake Moody and James Turner in terms of reliability. He’s closer to Moody than Turner given his leg strength, and Brown said he knew right away they had a good one. 

“When he comes in, you hear a different sound off his foot,” Brown said. “It’s not to say [sophomore] Adam [Samaha] isn’t a great kicker, either. Adam’s a really good kicker, and the competition in the room is awesome just to have everybody in there.

“But definitely, 35-yard line most times is pretty comfortable range for us. You could even move it back every now and then depending on the wind, but definitely anything plus 50. We tried some sixties in practices. We’ll see how that goes in the game if we get a chance to do it … he did pretty good.”

They kick live every Tuesday and Thursday, and he’s “dialed in” each day, Brown praised. He’s as consistent in practice as he’s been in games, a huge boost to an offense that’s been struggling to get in the end zone. 

“He’s ready to kick, and he works his business stuff throughout the week. He does a phenomenal job,” Brown said. “He’s a true pro in our eyes, and he prepares the way he should prepare.

“… The greatest thing is when we were recruiting him, you just got the personality feel from him where he was able to be cool, calm, and collected just as we were talking. There weren’t a lot of highs and lows it seemed like in his life … just was very steady, and he’s done a good job of doing that for us [too].”

Kick returners could continue to rotate

The Michigan kick returners have gotten more opportunities than expected, and they’ve made the most of them. Senior running back Kalel Mullings averaged 25 per return in the first game. Freshman Jordan Marshall returned three for 51 against Texas.

The plan going forward is still to be determined, Brown said.

“Jordan, he’s an awesome player. He’s a freshman that’s young, and he delivers a lot of potential for game breaking ability, just like Kalel,” Brown said. “I think you could probably see both of them back at some point.

“But we have a lot of explosive players, so we are just trying to use all of our personnel to the best of our ability. I don’t think we went in a different direction. I think we just wanted to get some other carries and kind of separate the load a little bit. But we’re definitely excited about Jordan. He did a great job against Texas, but has to continue to do that as we work through the week.”