Dominic Zvada has ‘aura and swagger,’ looking to add kickoff specialist duties in 2025
Michigan Wolverines football kicker Dominic Zvada announced he was returning to Ann Arbor for his senior season by posting a quote graphic from former NBA player Vince Carter that read: “I got one more in me.”
An Arkansas State transfer, Zvada oozes confidence, and for good reason. He made 21 of his 22 field goals last season and set Michigan’s career program record with 7 makes on kicks of 50-plus yards in just one season.
“He brings an aura and a swagger to the room that we’re all very confident when we walk in there,” special teams coordinator J.B. Brown said. “I love him, love the energy he brings and looking forward to keeping that going.”
Brown said he hasn’t been around a kicker with this much “swagger.”
“They’re all very unique individuals,” the coach said. “But no, I can say Dom has a different swagger to him. But all of them have had the confidence in themselves, though. That’s one thing that’s apparent. They all believe in what they do, from [former Michigan kickers] James Turner to Jake Moody to Dom. They all believe in themselves, and when they got out there, they were going to make the kick.”
Despite having an outstanding 2024 season, which included making the 21-yard game-winning field goal to beat Ohio State in Columbus, Zvada wasn’t named one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award for the nation’s top place kicker.
“I think that is part of the fuel to his fire,” Brown noted. “He wants to be the best version of himself that he can be. We’ll take any motivator that we can get with him, though.
“Excited to see him kick this year. He had a really good year last year, being 21-of-22, but we’re excited to see him continue to progress and try to be perfect.”
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore has said in the past that Zvada will badger him on the sideline to let him kick long field goals. He drilled multiple 56-yarders last season, showing he has one of the biggest legs in the country, and he’s looking to expand his range this year.
“If the wind’s behind his back, I’ll let him go from 70 if he wants,” Brown said with a smile. “But he’s hit a 60-yarder already this spring.
“Definitely excited to see where he keeps going. He’s added 10 pounds of muscle on; our nutrition staff has done a great job. I’m excited to see where his range is this fall, especially after the summer cycle.”
That muscle could help on kickoffs, too, since Michigan is exploring allowing Zvada to add those responsibilities to his plate. He kicked off 6 times in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama, booting 4 touchbacks.
“He’s in the rotation,” Brown noted. “He’s been working, and he’s done a great job. I’m super excited to see what he does this fall.”
There’s a risk with having such a valuable weapon potentially getting hit, though.
“We got other guys to cover,” Brown said. “Hopefully, he can hang out in the back, or we got the 10 other that can go down.
“Obviously, there’s always risk for injury. Jake Moody has made tackles here. We do try to train them to be as safe as possible. That is definitely a concern, but with his placement and what he can do as a kickoff guy, just want to let him go play football at that point.”
The post Dominic Zvada has ‘aura and swagger,’ looking to add kickoff specialist duties in 2025 appeared first on On3.
