It's possible that CPJ didn't force kickers to compete. I doubt it. There was no safety being #1 the year Wells came in as option #3. It's the default nature of D1 athletics.
If Wells could not stand the pressure of competition (practice), I doubt he could stand the pressure of competition (game). Kickers are sometimes fickle. Self-created head games happen as much as anything. I agree with you to an extent, maybe Wells kicked well year 1 based on the ability to kick freely/no expectations. Then, there became expectations.
Now, I'm not saying definitively that Wells was fickle nor that the coaches are entirely absolved. No one knows; probably not even those directly involved. I am projecting a bit like others. My opinion starts with direct observation of Wells struggling in warm-ups to consistently get the ball above the uprights and shanking kicks 10-20 yards wide left. Regardless of how bad a coach mishandles a kicker, I don't blame that entire lack of performance primarily on coaching. And watching that was so discouraging that there is no way, despite the prior year's performance, that one could logically assume he'll turn it around in game action.
It's one thing to become a head case and miss barely (relatively) wide left or wide right a la FSU kickers of old. It's entirely another to struggle to make solid contact. Of course, that's what our current crop is doing which lends credence the other direction, but our coaches have been around long enough and have a track record at Temple wherein they had a decent kicker and the back-ups could at least convert XPs. And if the coaches are at fault and they somehow forgot how to coach kickers, it will be their undoing because it's that critically important to W/L, O and D aside.
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Transitioning to this year, I don't think CGC, Saban, nor Lombardi, etc. can coach their way out of our current kicking situation. The kickers are what they are, and barring an unexpected light switch moment, we and the coaches are in a finger-crossing situation this offseason that something works out. Hopefully they have an Ace up the sleeve. Maybe a grad transfer. Maybe Verdisco is the answer. We've had a couple walk-on kickers injured over the last several years that might be the root of the issue, and potentially it's just bad luck. We cannot afford to assume the current crop will contribute.
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