Michigan football lands first transfer portal commit in Pitt long snapper Nico Crawford

The Michigan Wolverines have landed their first commitment of the NCAA transfer portal cycle in former Pitt long snapper Nico Crawford, he tells The Wolverine. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

Crawford, who has played in 37 career games with over 200 snaps played, enrolled at Pitt in January 2024 after spending a season at Charlotte in 2023, where he played for former Michigan staffer Biff Poggi. The Dublin, Ohio native originally joined Illinois as a walk-on ahead of the 2022 year, but redshirted and did not appear in any games.

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Coming out of high school, Crawford was rated the nation’s No. 16 long snapper by Kohl’s Kicking.

Michigan has a need at long snapper after Greg Tarr’s eligibility lapsed at the end of the 2025 season. Crawford could compete for the job next year with Trent Middleton, who transferred in from UCLA prior to last year. U-M also signed long snapper Colton Dermer as part of its 2026 high school recruiting class.

The special teams will be coordinated by Kerry Coombs in 2026, who was hired on Dec. 6 by the previous coaching staff. Head coach Kyle Whittingham retained Coombs, who was a longtime assistant at Ohio State under both Urban Meyer and Luke Fickell.

The NCAA transfer portal opened on Jan. 2 and runs through Jan. 16.