Texas Transfer Punter/Kicker Michael Kern Commits to Cal

Texas transfer kicker and punter Michael Kern announced on his twitter page that he has committed to Cal.

Kern becomes the third transfer kicker to join the Golden Bears in the past two weeks, joining Chase Meyer and Abram Murphy.

However, Cal probably recruited Kern to handle the punting chores, which is what he did for Texas in 2024 as a freshman. He did not do the place-kicking for Texas.

Kern averaged 41.6 yards per punt for the Longhorns this past season, with four punts longer than 50 yards, 10 punts stopping inside the 20-yard line, and opposing returners fair catching 22 of his 41 punts. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

Kern is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and he was rated as the No. 4 punting prospect in the nation by 247 Sports coming out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He was listed only as a punting prospect, not as a kicker, by 247 Sports and Rivals.

Cal is looking for a new punter after Lachlan Wilson, who did the punting for Cal the past two seasons, has run out of eligibility.

Kern might be capable of competing for the place-kicking job as well.

Given Cal's place-kicking woes in 2024, it's understandable that Justin Wilcox wants choices when it comes to field goals this season. In 2024, kickers Ryan Coe and Derek Morris went 25-for-37 on field-goal attempts, and that included six misses of less than 40 yards.

Neither Morris nor Coe is still on the Cal roster and Kyle Cunanan, who did the Cal place-kicking in the recent spring workouts, transferred to Nebraska earlier this month.