Ga Tech Placekicking Problems

[Ash]

I was a placekicker from 3rd grade through high school,

Have you considered coaching place kickers? I know of a school that could use someone that knows what they are doing...

 

[yeti92]

Have you considered coaching place kickers? I know of a school that could use someone that knows what they are doing...

No no not me, Bwelbo's got you covered though.

 

[UgaBlows]

The bottom line here is that, apparently, nobody on the coaching staff knows how to coach place kickers. If they did, we wouldn't have the continuing problems we've been having. The legs have been ok, both this year and last. This needs to be fixed.

we need to get a kicking coach, or a different kicking coach in here stat

 

[4shotB]

we need to get a kicking coach, or a different kicking coach in here stat

Don't assume that is the answer. Seems like we have been though a multitude of DC's over the last decade+ without different results.

 

[Pointer]

Don't assume that is the answer. Seems like we have been though a multitude of DC's over the last decade+ without different results.

You just need a kicker. It's really simple. There's not a whole lot coaching can do for a kicker at this age. You can either kick or you can't. It's like expecting to have made tobias Oliver a pocket passer, it's too late at this age. You can either kick or you can't. The results so far show we have problems.

 

[CPJacket]

1. It's not at all speculation. It's based on comments CGC made himself.
2. A kicker that went 48 for 48 doesn't just magically lose the ability to kick and cease "having it".
3. No, I didn't state anything of Wells' confidence. I'm telling you that Wells was the superior talent and got benched based on performance in practice, which was based on artificial, manufactured scenarios to force competition. And it's my opinion that performance in those artificial scenarios shouldn't override demonstrated performance on gameday. Kicking is a mental game and some kickers are "gamers". Wells was benched in favor of King, who proceeded to go 3 of 7 on FGAs while Wells rode the bench. I think it was obviously a poor decision, given that performance by King and where we are now based on those decisions. You can disagree on this part, which is speculative, but I find it hard to believe that Wells would have done any worse than 3 of 7.



1. There's no conspiracy theory. My statements about manufacturing competition and creating artificial scenarios to do so are from statements CGC made himself. The rest of my statements are facts about measured performance.
2. You're missing the point. I don't care what they did in practice. I care how they perform on gameday. It should have been Wells' job to lose based on gameday performance. I know that's not how most other positions are managed, but kicking is a unique animal. More like golfing, as you point out, but our coaches managed our kickers the same way they managed our DTs. Based on the end results, both in 2019 and now, during which our kicking game is abysmal, I think it's quite clear that we've managed our kickers poorly.

So a Kicker can stink it up in practice and be trusted in a game? Really? Is that how it works at all positions? You earn the coaches and player's trust by how you perform in practice!!!!

 

[Oakland]

That field goal attempt against Notre Dame reminded me of some random student being pulled out of the crowd for a chance to win a Papa Johns Pizza contest.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

No no not me, Bwelbo's got you covered though.

See that’s what happens when you claim to be an expert without ever providing any evidence of it.

Here’s a question - what’s the longest field goal on Grant Field you’ve ever made? Mine is 35 yards.

 

[Jmonty71]

I played soccer in high school and had a pretty darn good leg... Wonder if they will take in a near 50 year old Freshman, to play??? hmmmmm...... LOL Joking aside... I really hope they find someone, for next season....

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

From the AJC today:

5. Make field goals

With a new set of kickers, Tech might finish last in the FBS in field-goal accuracy for the second year in a row. The Jackets have made one of six field-goal tries, with four of the five misses having been blocked.

It’s not as though Jude Kelley can’t make field goals – he won a national high-school kicker-of-the-year award last year at Allatoona High. For that matter, Gavin Stewart was 9-for-9 last year on field-goal attempts (with a long of 47) and 55-for-55 on point-after tries at Benedictine Military School in Savannah.

Whatever the issue, the Tech coaching staff has to figure it out before it costs the Jackets a game.

6 things to watch for in Georgia Tech’s final stretch

The season that began two months ago with a bang – although beating Florida State has depreciated as an accomplishment – has now reached a point where Georgia Tech isn’t quite so percussive. A rigorous set of games – losses to No. 1 Clemson, Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame – sent the Yellow...

www.ajc.com

I really don't like to lay kicking woes on the coaching staff, but we seem to have had several kickers with proven historical success die on the vine the last two years. Right now these field goals aren't really hurting us as we aren't losing close games, but we need to get this ironed out ASAP.

 

[Pointer]

From the AJC today:

5. Make field goals

With a new set of kickers, Tech might finish last in the FBS in field-goal accuracy for the second year in a row. The Jackets have made one of six field-goal tries, with four of the five misses having been blocked.

It’s not as though Jude Kelley can’t make field goals – he won a national high-school kicker-of-the-year award last year at Allatoona High. For that matter, Gavin Stewart was 9-for-9 last year on field-goal attempts (with a long of 47) and 55-for-55 on point-after tries at Benedictine Military School in Savannah.

Whatever the issue, the Tech coaching staff has to figure it out before it costs the Jackets a game.

6 things to watch for in Georgia Tech’s final stretch

The season that began two months ago with a bang – although beating Florida State has depreciated as an accomplishment – has now reached a point where Georgia Tech isn’t quite so percussive. A rigorous set of games – losses to No. 1 Clemson, Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame – sent the Yellow...

www.ajc.com

I really don't like to lay kicking woes on the coaching staff, but we seem to have had several kickers with proven historical success die on the vine the last two years. Right now these field goals aren't really hurting us as we aren't losing close games, but we need to get this ironed out ASAP.

I guess he got the "yips" too.

 

[TheTechGuy]

What we know:
1. Wells finished 46 of 47 on PATs and 9 of 10 on FGs.
2. Wells is no longer on the team.
3. Since Wells was replaced, Tech kickers are 32 of 35 on PATs and 4 of 13 on FGs

Everything else, including discussion of yips, is just speculation.

*These numbers are from ESPN. Sports reference has stats that are different and attribute more misses to King in 2019.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

From the AJC today:

5. Make field goals

With a new set of kickers, Tech might finish last in the FBS in field-goal accuracy for the second year in a row. The Jackets have made one of six field-goal tries, with four of the five misses having been blocked.

It’s not as though Jude Kelley can’t make field goals – he won a national high-school kicker-of-the-year award last year at Allatoona High. For that matter, Gavin Stewart was 9-for-9 last year on field-goal attempts (with a long of 47) and 55-for-55 on point-after tries at Benedictine Military School in Savannah.

Whatever the issue, the Tech coaching staff has to figure it out before it costs the Jackets a game.

6 things to watch for in Georgia Tech’s final stretch

The season that began two months ago with a bang – although beating Florida State has depreciated as an accomplishment – has now reached a point where Georgia Tech isn’t quite so percussive. A rigorous set of games – losses to No. 1 Clemson, Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame – sent the Yellow...

www.ajc.com

I really don't like to lay kicking woes on the coaching staff, but we seem to have had several kickers with proven historical success die on the vine the last two years. Right now these field goals aren't really hurting us as we aren't losing close games, but we need to get this ironed out ASAP.

“Whatever the issue, the Tech coaching staff has to figure it out before it costs the Jackets a game.”

I mean, you could say it’s already costing us wins, because we have to do stupid things like a fake punt from the opponents 29. We’ve completely changed our offense on that side of the field, because we know we’re highly unlikely to try FG. We missed an XP and a 26 yard FG at Syracuse that would have had us in the lead going into the 4th quarter. We missed a 27 yard FG against UCF that would have had us down only 4 points in the 4th quarter. You just never know how the dynamic of the game would have been had we been ahead or run a different set of plays once inside the opponents 30.

 

[MWBATL]

The bottom line here is that, apparently, nobody on the coaching staff knows how to coach place kickers. If they did, we wouldn't have the continuing problems we've been having. The legs have been ok, both this year and last. This needs to be fixed.

Sounds like we got two guys on this forum who coii you led coach ‘em up!

 

[Oakland]

3. Since Wells was replaced, Tech kickers are 32 of 35 on PATs and 4 of 13 on FGs

I didn't realize we scored that many touchdowns. Hope we can hang on to Dave Patenaude. But on a serious note, I've noticed the crowd cheers louder for us making an extra point versus getting a touchdown. Or maybe that's the sound of relief.

 

[Lee]

From the AJC today:

5. Make field goals

With a new set of kickers, Tech might finish last in the FBS in field-goal accuracy for the second year in a row. The Jackets have made one of six field-goal tries, with four of the five misses having been blocked.

It’s not as though Jude Kelley can’t make field goals – he won a national high-school kicker-of-the-year award last year at Allatoona High. For that matter, Gavin Stewart was 9-for-9 last year on field-goal attempts (with a long of 47) and 55-for-55 on point-after tries at Benedictine Military School in Savannah.

Whatever the issue, the Tech coaching staff has to figure it out before it costs the Jackets a game.

6 things to watch for in Georgia Tech’s final stretch

The season that began two months ago with a bang – although beating Florida State has depreciated as an accomplishment – has now reached a point where Georgia Tech isn’t quite so percussive. A rigorous set of games – losses to No. 1 Clemson, Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame – sent the Yellow...

www.ajc.com

I really don't like to lay kicking woes on the coaching staff, but we seem to have had several kickers with proven historical success die on the vine the last two years. Right now these field goals aren't really hurting us as we aren't losing close games, but we need to get this ironed out ASAP.

I agree we have some guys that have been very successful in high school.

I have more of a question than an assertion, but do HS kickers still kick off a tee? If so, that could be the issue. A lot easier to get kicks up when it’s sitting an inch or so off the ground.

That seems to be our biggest problem. Low kicks coming out. Maybe these guys are struggling to adjusting to kicking off the ground in game scenarios.

Collins mentioned earlier in the season that we practiced special teams a lot different because of Covid. My guess is these guys didn’t get the reps with any pressure in their face preseason, then they got a bunch blocked and now have put so much pressure on themselves that they’re messed up in the head a bit.

 

[FlatsLander]

Does anyone know if there's a rule of thumb for how far back the holder is behind the line? With so many blocked kicks, it seems like we are putting the holder like 2 yards closer to the line than we should. I don't really know much about kicking, but I do know that any high school kicker should be able to kick extra points. Are we doing something drastically different scheme-wise?

 

[takethepoints]

Sounds like we got two guys on this forum who coii you led coach ‘em up!

Huh?

 

[awbuzz]

Does anyone know if there's a rule of thumb for how far back the holder is behind the line? With so many blocked kicks, it seems like we are putting the holder like 2 yards closer to the line than we should. I don't really know much about kicking, but I do know that any high school kicker should be able to kick extra points. Are we doing something drastically different scheme-wise?

7 yards is the standard. It's not a rule, just the standard that most use. I.e. if the ball is snapped from the 25 yard line, it will be a 42 yard attempt.

 

[stech81]

Do we have a kicking problem, I really need to stop drinking so much before and during the games.