P Cam Brown’s path to Michigan Football, outlook for 2026
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The Michigan special teams have been an utter disaster the last two years under former coordinator J.B. Brown, but things are trending in a much better direction under Kerry Coombs.
The kicking was not up to par, but the punt game was especially dreadful last year with Hudson Hollenbeck. The former starter averaged 43.2 yards on 40 punts in 2025, and the unit as a whole ranked 69th in the country in average punting yards and 96th in net punting yards.
But Kyle Whittingham and the Wolverines acted swiftly and brought in former UNLV punter Cam Brown — a right-footed Australian — via the transfer portal this offseason to help get things right.
The story so far
Brown was a true freshman in 2025, and he was a starter right away for the Runnin’ Rebels. He played in all 14 of their games last year and punted 22 times for 943 total yards (42.9-yard average). His longest punt went 71 yards and he also had four punts of 50 yards or more.
Furthermore, eight of Brown’s punts were downed inside the 20, and he also forced eight fair catches and two touchbacks. His season net punting average of 40.6 yards per punt was No. 43 in the nation. He was also one of 14 true freshmen punters to attempt 40 or more punts in the FBS last season. All in all, a solid first year of college football for Brown, and his success last season was parlayed to his opportunity at the University of Michigan.
Following the season, the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder decided to test the waters of the transfer portal. Brown hardly wasted any time and signed with the Wolverines in December, becoming the second portal player last winter to do so; Brown signed very shortly after another special teams addition in Pitt long snapper Nico Crawford.
Outlook for 2026
The starting punting job is Brown’s to lose heading into the season opener against Western Michigan next week. Coombs spoke during a media availability a couple weeks back and gave some remarks on him.
“Cam Brown had a good year at UNLV,” Coombs said. “I’m very familiar with the Australian kickers. I’ve done it for a long time with those kids, and he’s off to a great start.”
Whittingham also followed up last week by saying Brown would be the Wolverines’ starting punter heading into the season.
With Coombs at the helm, and a new kicker and punter in town, Michigan’s special teams playing like it did under former coordinator Jay Harbaugh isn’t entirely out of the question. Things are trending way up in this department.
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