Matt Wile
Matthew Blake Dickinson Wile is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 2011 to 2014. In four years at Michigan, he had 91 punts for 3,658 yards, an average of 40.2 yards per punt. He converted 20 of 29 field goal attempts and was successful on 33 of 33 extra point attempts.
Early life
Wile began kicking at the age of 8. He attended the Francis Parker School in San Diego, California, where he played high school football as a punter, placekicker, linebacker, and defensive end. As a senior in 2010, he made 10 of his 13 field goal attempts, and 91 of his 101 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. After his senior year, Wile played as a punter in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.College career
Recruiting and commitment
After the team's placekickers converted only 4 of 14 field goal attempts in 2010, signing a placekicker was one of the top priorities for the Michigan Wolverines football team. When Brady Hoke was named the team's new head coach in January 2011, Wile became Hoke's top kicking target. Wile had multiple connections to Hoke and Michigan. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather all attended the University of Michigan Medical School. Additionally, Wile's father, Dr. Peter Wile, was the team doctor for the San Diego State Aztecs football team, the team Hoke coached during the 2010 season. After Wile announced his commitment to Michigan in late January 2011, his high school coach John Morrison joked about Wile's five generation legacy at Michigan: "Talk about a Michigan man. He's as close as possible." Wile had a career-long 63-yard field goal in high school and was Michigan's highest rated kicking prospect since Garrett Rivas in 2003. He majored in Industrial and Operations Engineering.2011 season
Recruited principally as a placekicker, Wile was slated to handle kickoffs for the football team">American football">football team. However, the team's regular punter, Will Hagerup, was given a four-game suspension for violation of team rules before the season started. As a result, Wile was given dual responsibility for kickoffs and punting as a true freshman. On picking up the additional duty, Wile said, "I hadn't really been practicing punting. When I got here, they asked me to start practicing."When Michigan faced San Diego State in September 2011, Wile's father told reporters that "blood is thicker than water," and he would therefore be rooting for his son and the Wolverines in the game. Wile averaged 49 yards on four punts against San Diego State.
During the 2011 season, Wile has handled all 79 kickoffs for the Wolverines, totaling 5,054 yards and an average of 64.0 yards per kickoff. He also handled 17 punts for 707 yards with an average of 41.6 yards and a long punt of 58 yards. He also made four solo tackles in the 2011 season. For the season, he earned 2011 Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team recognition from both ESPN.com and BTN.com.