Some Guy Named Gingell

...is your kicker:

“As of right now, Jason Gingell will be doing field goals and I will be doing kickoffs,” kicker Bryan Wright said Saturday at U-M’s fan day at Michigan Stadium.

Gingell, Wright and K.C. Lopata were competing for the open position and, according to Gingell and Wright, they were informed by the coaches on Thursday of the decisions.

“I always kept my hopes up and knew with Garrett leaving, it would be open,” said Gingell, a 5-foot-9, 191-pound senior from Northville who played with U-M long snapper Sean Griffin at Detroit Catholic Central. “What the coaches look for is consistency … It’s better at the end of camp to finish better and it was more important to be consistent at the end of camp instead of at the beginning and I was at the end.”

I would prefer to see Wright, a redshirt freshman on scholarship, take the job, but I'll let him miss a couple 27-yarders against Appalachian State before I bust out the tinfoil hat.

Also:

-- Among the other position battles, freshman cornerback Troy Woolfolk said Morgan Trent and Johnny Sears are the starting corners.

“I’m at second string at cornerback, trying to work my way up there,” Woolfolk said.
He said the mental part of the game, especially learning to read his keys, is the biggest challenge.

-- Right guard Alex Mitchell said his right knee, which he “tweaked in a practice” last week, is improving during rehab and he hopes to return for the Oregon game on Sept. 8.

Don't think the Woolfolk thing is particularly meaningful except as an indication that Doug Dutch is never going to see the field ever, but it would be nice to have Mitchell available for a potentially scary game against Oregon.

Update: Also, Carson Butler says he's not buried in the doghouse:

A six-game starter in 2006, Butler led all Michigan tight ends with 19 catches. Despite his extended absence this off-season, the redshirt sophomore said he should be able to contribute to the Wolverines in short order.

"I feel like I'm back in the mix," he said. "Not too far away."

Anyone out there get something useful from Fan Day? Like, say "Johnny Sears will be an All-American?" Bueller?