While the Nebraska football team's 2026 recruiting class isn't going to impress many people, the Huskers did manage to add one more commit just ahead of the beginning of the early signing period on Wednesday. In the process, the Cornhuskers went out and got another special teams addition from Australia in the form of Michael Sarikizis.
Michael Sarikizis is expected to officially sign with NU either tomorrow or later this week, according to the Omaha World-Herald. He'll add some depth to the kicker position as special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler has said he likes it when there's real competition in his units, as he believes it makes everyone better.
Sarikizis will join a fairly full room of kickers at Nebraska, and starting kicker Kyle Cunanan is expected to return after going 16 of 19 on field goal attempts and hitting every one of his 43 extra point attempts. Over the last two years, he's hit 21 of 24 field goals after having a rough true freshman season where he missed 6 kicks in 15 attempts.
Nebraska strengthens its special teams pipeline with Michael Sarikizis
Cunanan also hit a new career-long 52-yard field goal, besting his previous high of 49 in that true freshman campaign.
Sarikizis comes from the same Australian outfit that Nebraska pulled starting punter Archie Wilson from this past summer. Pro Kick Australia is becoming quite the down-under pipeline for Ekeler and the Huskers.
By adding Michael Sarikizis, Ekeler is continuing to reshape the Nebraska special teams unit that was one of the worst in the country in Matt Rhule's first two seasons under former coordinator Ed Foley. This season, the Huskers improved by leaps and bounds and will look to build on that in 2026.