(11-20-2017 11:23 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 11:21 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 11:11 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 09:35 AM)djtothemoney Wrote:  They had an interesting quote in the Enquirer this morning where Fickell somewhat called out his Seniors. I'm thinking this is a lot like the 2010 season, look for a big improvement next year.

Who would have thought our ST would have gotten worse when we actually added a coach?

Very few special teams coaches in the country have the necessary knowledge to make the visible parts of ST (kicking/punting) better, and the ones that do are not pretty obvious. The coverage schemes have been much better though, that much can be on DR being a good add who knows how to instill gap integrity and contain dynamics in KOC/PC.

I had a college coach recently ask me how I turned a backup midfielder into a D2 kicker and an offensive tackle into a D1 caliber punter at my high school...when I responded with "I actually know how to do what they're doing" he straight up told me that I'm the first he's ever met in 30 years of coaching. There just are not a lot of knowledgeable coaches when it comes to kicking dynamics who are employed on staffs, because a majority of the people with that knowledge are either former players with enough money to not want to deal with the crap OR people who aren't given respect because they never played the game. Luckily my HC understood that my ability to kick a 60-yarder on a warm day coupled with 4 years of college soccer and a willingness to work my ass off to understand the aspects of the game I hadn't picked up previously was worth it, and gave me a shot 5 years ago. Now things are definitely looking up in multiple areas on the coaching side, but unfortunately many coaches DON'T see the potential positive there.

Moral of the story, most ST Coaches don't know a lick about kicking so they can't really improve their people...but they do know schemes and we've been much better there. Just look at our net punt and net KO yardages this year versus the last few.

Always appreciate having our resident special teams expert on Bearcat Banter. Thanks for the insight.

Agreed... maybe Fick needs to give the guy a call. #Just sayin

Agreed on all accounts. Or maybe he can contact Fickell? I’m not really kidding. Seems like a lot of the useful teaching that kickers get comes from camps or special instruction. Am I right Bearcatman?