Sherrone Moore has gone all out in his first full recruiting class as head coach. While flipping Bryce Underwood from LSU was a major coup, Moore has landed many other notable recruits such as offensive lineman Andrew Babalola and more five-star offensive tackle recently Ty Haywood. They have also been making moves in the transfer portal after they lost 21 players in December and Moore has been trying to fill those gaps ever since.

The mass exodus from Ann Arbor continued in the first week of January as three more Wolverines players jumped into the portal. However, Michigan isn’t sitting ideal and has added 14 transfers to its program ahead of the 2025 season. Their latest addition is turning heads partly because of his famous first name and his association with another popular US sport.

On Friday, the Wolverines landed their third kicker of the season, Texas State transfer Beckham Sunderland. The desperation has been real for Moore’s squad. After all, the Wolverines lost their punter Tommy Doman to the Florida Gators. The Kentucky native, Sunderland, finished up the 2024 season at Texas State, appearing in two games where he went one-for-one on extra points. He also recorded eight kickoffs for 530 yards (66.3-yard average) with six touchbacks.

He’s the nephew of former Michigan kicker and top trainer Brandon Kornblue. Is that the only reason making Sunderland a hot target? Definitely, not!

He was previously a goalkeeper for FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer. He played five games for the franchise from 2020-21 and also participated in 14 career matches with 12 starts in the MLS Next Pro, a league that features reserve players from MLS and independent clubs.

His brother, Lawson Sunderland, who is a professional soccer player for FC Dordrecht a Dutch association club, that his brother’s first name is an homage to soccer legend and current Inter Miami CF co-owner David Beckham.

With only a little experience to his name Beckham Sunderland is likely to be a kickoff specialist according to the Michigan Sports Talk podcast “Michigan does have Dominic Zvada one of the best field goal kickers in all of college football if not the best and he is returning next season which is huge for Michigan. But Sunderland will most likely be the kickoff man for Michigan,” the host stated. 

With former UCLA long-snapper Trent Middleton in the team, Sunderland might have to take the backseat for a while. Middleton was graded as a five-star prospect by Kohl’s Kicking and was ranked as the No. 7 long snapper nationally.

Moore and Michigan will be hoping Beckham Sunderland turns out the same way for them as former Arkansas State kicker Dominic Zvada did last season.  Zvada went 21-of-22 on field goals and set a Michigan record after making seven kicks from 50 or more yards. Zvada is Michigan’s career and single-season leader with a 95.5 field goal percentage. He will be returning to Michigan for his senior year, but the program is already looking to build for the future.

 After a transitional first season as HC, Sherrone Moore is going about stamping his authority on the team and his recruitment has suggested he is not settling for anything second best.

Sherrone Moore’s mission to secure a higher spot  

Looks like the year 2025 will usher in some good juju for the Wolverines HC. At least, the beginning of the year has started on a good note. On February 3, On3 analyst Ari Wasserman released his “Top 25 CFB Coaches.” Well, even though, Moore could not make it to the top 10, he found himself a spot among the top 20. The analyst ranked Moore at No.19. However, he is on his way to boosting his rank this time.

While his efforts to bolster the player roster continue, he did not neglect his coach’s setup. As per the reports, the Michigan HC has successfully secured the services of former wide receivers coach Erik “Soup” Campbell. Now Campell is a familiar face in Ann Arbor. He previously served as Michigan’s wide receiver coach from 1995 to 2007. The program owes him a lot when it comes to developing a long list of talented and record-breaking pass catchers.

This includes David Terrell and Braylon Edwards. Even though Erik Campbell had taken his talents to Bowling Green where he served as the pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach, it’s time for him to come back to Ann Arbor. With this return, Sherrone Moore is going to benefit the most. The coach will not only benefit the development of the team’s wide receivers but will also strengthen their recruiting efforts. Looks like the better days are ahead for the Wolverines.