Coaching Special Teams

Whiskey_Clear

Whiskey_Clear

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Due to how poor our STs have been in the past I think many fans would like to see a dedicated special teams coach / STs coordinator focused solely on that.

I think the most important aspect to STs are the specialists. Kickers and returners. How well a kid can put a foot into the ball is probably the biggest factor in how the play works, good or bad. Returner imo is ideally someone quick, fast, hard to tackle, with sure hands. Barring that, sure handed, tough, and fearless. Then you want some tough athletic guys to cover/block/etc.

Maybe I’m simplifying it too much but STs shouldn’t be all that complicated and imo shouldn’t require a full time ST coordinator. Kick ball, see ball, beat block, find ball, destroy the ball carrier. Or...block that dude trying to do the previously mentioned and give your returner a crease to do his thing.

I think more than on O, or D, it comes down mostly to personnel. I’d hope our coaches by committee would be more than knowledgeable enough to handle STs together.

Now do we spend enough time working on STs? Well CPJ claims they dedicate appropriate practice time to it. Results have been pretty disappointing too often though.

Man I miss Buttkicker. Really glad we landed PHIII.
 
4shotB

4shotB

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We have a quick fix that will solve a lot of our ST woes...find a guy who can kick the ball into the end zone for touchbacks most. if not all of the time. And hit FG's when they matter, in close scoring games, not when we are drilling Idaho A & M by 40 points. I am hopeful that guy is on the roster but was not 100% last season.
 
GTNavyNuke

GTNavyNuke

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Whiskey_Clear said:
Due to how poor our STs have been in the past I think many fans would like to see a dedicated special teams coach / STs coordinator focused solely on that.

I think the most important aspect to STs are the specialists. Kickers and returners. How well a kid can put a foot into the ball is probably the biggest factor in how the play works, good or bad. Returner imo is ideally someone quick, fast, hard to tackle, with sure hands. Barring that, sure handed, tough, and fearless. Then you want some tough athletic guys to cover/block/etc.

Maybe I’m simplifying it too much but STs shouldn’t be all that complicated and imo shouldn’t require a full time ST coordinator. Kick ball, see ball, beat block, find ball, destroy the ball carrier. Or...block that dude trying to do the previously mentioned and give your returner a crease to do his thing.

I think more than on O, or D, it comes down mostly to personnel. I’d hope our coaches by committee would be more than knowledgeable enough to handle STs together.

Now do we spend enough time working on STs? Well CPJ claims they dedicate appropriate practice time to it. Results have been pretty disappointing too often though.

Man I miss Buttkicker. Really glad we landed PHIII.
Click to expand...

I used to think that a dedicated ST coach would help. CPJ tried a dedicated ST coach a few years ago. Didn't make much difference. ST are very diverse (KO coverage very different than KO returns, etc).

Agree with @4shotB that TouchBacks and reliable FGs will make a much bigger ST difference than one person for all ST aspects.
 

FatPat

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Specialist (k,p,ls) are a different breed- it took many years of repetition to develop a whole body muscle memory for each individual skill. A football coach at any level should be hands off to these skills unless they have done it! The head game for these guys can be the difference maker, before a tying kick or winning kick everyone needs to be yards away from their earholes- but for whatever reason someone always wants to tell them the importance of the kick- like they don’t know. Before the Alabama kicker went in to kick what would be the winning fg in regulation tv showed a player (I think 28) over talking to him- when he walked from the side line his face looked like he was walking to a funeral, I knew he didn’t have a chance of making that kick.
Confidence is a specialist best friend! We don’t need to tell them they suck- we have to develop their confidence
 

Lavoisier

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Kicking aside, our coverage and return game was also bad last year. It hasn't always been bad so maybe it was just a down year. Additionally, we are probably never going to be elite at it because we simply don't have crazy depth with 4-5 star guys who can spend most of their practice time on coverage.
 
Supersizethatorder-mutt

Supersizethatorder-mutt

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Kickoff return coverage has been mostly bad over the past 50 years. There were a few years when it wasn't terrible, but still not overly good. I can remember way too many times in the past where the KO would have been returned for a TD had our kicker not tackled the return man. That means anywhere from 20 to 50 yards without being tackled. That's inexcusable.
 
TampaGT

TampaGT

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The one change I would like to see on ST, play more starters on ST. I know when Frank Beamer was still coaching VT, that starters were playing ST. I think BK did ok this year and will get stronger. HB didn’t have many touchback his freshman year, but as he got stronger the touchback increased. I don’t know if BK ceiling is as high as HB, but I think we will see a nice improvement next season. A full time ST coach will not make any difference. It is not like they just how to coach punting this past season. PH3 was the difference.
 

TheTechGuy

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4shotB said:
We have a quick fix that will solve a lot of our ST woes...find a guy who can kick the ball into the end zone for touchbacks most. if not all of the time. And hit FG's when they matter, in close scoring games, not when we are drilling Idaho A & M by 40 points. I am hopeful that guy is on the roster but was not 100% last season.
Click to expand...
This. We have one of the best punters in the nation...seriously, Harvin is a weapon. If we find a kicker that can consistently get touchbacks and kick field goals, most of our problems on ST are solved. Obviously, easier said than done.

I would really like our coaches to look for a grad-transfer kicker like UGA did with their punter this year. There has to be an early grad kicker on the lower levels that is good.
 
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