(12-09-2016 10:55 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: (12-09-2016 10:43 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: (12-06-2016 10:29 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: I still think we need to hire the Texas State ST coach.
I'd rather hire Georgia Southern's. They were better when all aspects are considered. plus he has a recruiting background. The Texas State guy is too new. In both cases, the priorities set by the head coach probably had more to do with it than anything.
If we need improvement in special teams, hire somebody with a proven ability to coach ST. I don't care where he's from.
(12-10-2016 12:42 AM)mrbig Wrote: I wish there was a proven special teams guru in Houston that Rice could go after;-)
It certainly doesn't hurt to have a special teams guru, but what is really necessary is a commitment from the head coach. There are no magic schemes or techniques, there is no way to teach a punter or place kicker to kick the ball 20 yards further (and in the case of the punter, you probably don't want to). It's about details and repetition, and they're not difficult to master, but that mastery that takes time. With limited practice time, most coaches would rather spend time on a new offensive play or formation than on the repetitions needed to get the kicking game nailed down. And working full sped in the kicking game increases the risk of injuries. So most coaches do walkthroughs and simulations, hoping they do enough to get it right on game day. To get it truly right, you can't just practice it until you can do it right. You have to practice it until you cannot possibly get it wrong. And even then you have the occasional bad play, just a lot fewer of them than other teams.
The kicking game isn't hard to master, but it's about mistakes, and almost every mistake gives the other team a big play. Getting better isn't about mastering some difficult assignment, it's about not making mistakes. And that's more about having a head coach who gives you enough practice time and lets you work hard enough at it, than it is about having a special teams guru. Actually, the definition of a special teams guru is probably somebody who can convince the head coach to put the emphasis on the kicking game, or maybe when the head coach hires a special teams guru he is recognizing the need for that emphasis.
It's pretty much a question of priorities. Because of the incidence of big plays when mistakes are made, it seems to me like it should be a high priority. But often it is not. It is usually a bigger priority for defensively oriented coaches, because it seems a better philosophical fit there. That has always been one of the many paradoxes about David Bailiff to me. He seems to want to play a conservative strategy, but he seems to be willing to live with having godawful defenses and special teams. That is very difficult to reconcile.
One thing that seems a little strange is that a number of Air Raid teams tend to be good at special teams. I think that is maybe because their offense has few enough plays, and their practice time is so well scheduled, that they have time left over to give special teams the work they need. Then again, maybe the philosophical fit is that the Air Raid is about big plays and the kicking game tends to be about big plays. Actually, one of the most appealing things about the Air Raid to me is how well scheduled and organized practice time becomes, as an inherent part of the system. Leach and Mumme and Franklin probably did their best work in how they organized their practice time.