Once committed to Michigan, this top-tier kicker now bolsters Notre Dame's struggling special teams unit, ready to compete for crucial roles.
Notre Dame has received a commitment from 2026 kicker Micah Drescher from Hinsdale Central, Illinois. Drescher was originally committed to the University of Michigan and signed with them on early signing day but was released from his National Letter of Intent last week given everything that has gone down in the last month in Ann Arbor.
The 6-3, 198-pound kicker is considered to be both a place kicker and a punter and has the opportunity to compete for both when he comes to South Bend. Similar to current kicker Erik Schmidt, who is headed into his sophomore season with the Irish, Drescher has the ability to do both on Marty Biagi's special teams unit.
The Illinois native is considered to be a Top 20 kicker in the 2026 class and will join Schmidt and Purdue transfer Spencer Porath at Notre Dame for the 2026 season. All three will battle it out throughout the offseason to decide who will be the starting place kicker, kick off specialist and punter for the Irish this upcoming year.
After the kicking struggles of last season, it was expected that Notre Dame makes some moves to improve their kicking game this season. Despite finishing the year ranked No. 2 in the country in scoring offense, the Irish finished No. 118 in the country in red zone scoring. A large part of that was due to the fact that they finished the season ranked 130th in the country in field goal percentage.
Notre Dame ended the regular season having not made a field goal from their October matchup with USC to the end of the regular season in their road matchup against Stanford. 2025 transfer portal kicker Noah Burnette, who the Irish picked up from North Carolina, suffered a leg injury which sidelined him for most of the season. Their kicking struggles hit an all-time low against Boston College after missing a field goal to end the half and multiple extra points.
Head coach Marcus Freeman and Biagi, the special teams coordinator, have clearly shifted their focus into improving the place kicking game. Porath, the Purdue transfer, finished the 2025 season making 88.2 percent of his field goals attempted. That would have been the highest at Notre Dame since Justin Yoon in 2015. Schmidt is heading into his second year in the program, but he projects more as a punter and kick off specialist.
The Irish also added Australian punter Jasper Scaife to the 2026 recruiting class due to former punter James Rendell exhausting his eligibility. All hands are on deck to improve the Notre Dame kicking game in 2026. Ideally, games throughout next season won't come down to a game winning field goal, but if they do, Freeman and Biagi are stockpiling talented kickers to make sure they execute at the highest level.
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!