Special Teams: Fundamental keys of play

Braxton

Special teams play can make or break a game regardless of how well our offense or defense is playing. Our Special teams gives us a chance to set the tone of the game and create momentum changes at crucial points in a game. Special teams are always an emphasis in scouting an opponent, practice preparation for an opponent and game time adjustments against an opponent. Special teams are promoted as key roles on a successful football team and are treated as an honor for athletes to play on. All special teams will be filled with the best athletes to fill these important roles. These players must be students of the game, aggressive, extremely coachable, and most importantly disciplined to follow through on their assignment without self-glorification. As special teams can be a game changing opportunity, we will take advantage of every sound opportunity to be aggressive and strategic in this part of the game. With the proper planning and timing, we will take advantage of the opportunities to attack an opponent with fakes and special plays to succeed. We will also be sound on special teams against fakes and special plays by playing our assignments and being disciplined to not be caught off guard. We will pride ourselves on our special teams with realizing the importance that they play in our program and will benefit from this readiness throughout the season. Special team’s players will be disciplined players and will be the best athletes that we can play in those spots to put our team in the best position to succeed. As on offense and defense, special team’s players will represent our team with equal responsibility and NOBLE pride.





We are going to be aggressive in our philosophy on special teams, just as we are on both defense and offense. Attacking kickers and punters with disciplined and relentless block schemes, striking the kick and punt returners with violence, and aggressively defending our kicks will lead to positive changes in yardage, as well as big plays that will swing the momentum of the game in our favor. Our special team’s approach is based upon controlling the football and governing field position. Simply put, when we have the football, we want to keep it until we score, and when we don’t have the football, we want to get it back. Special teams play is no different; error free execution will yield terrific results. As such, we must have sound SPECIAL TEAMS that create positive sudden changes. We define sudden changes, whether positive or negative as loss of possession (turnovers) or scores, whether by touchdown, field goal or safety. The following is a breakdown of my special teams and our associated philosophy and team goals:





Kick-Off:



• Kickoff Team Goals

1. Do Not Allow a Return TD

2. Opponent Starts Inside the 25

3. Recover All Onside Kicks

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•As part of the kickoff team, we emphasize staying in our lanes. Discipline is needed more on this team than any other. We utilize our speed on this team, mostly comprised of db’s and wr’s. Once we have stayed in our lanes and understood attacking angles and open field tackles, we must swarm to the returner.

Kick-Off Return:

• Kickoff Return Team Goals

1. Return a Kick for a Touchdown

2. Start Outside the 35

3. Recover All Onside Kicks

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•Our return team is a mixed bag of positions. We have a variety of returns that utilize picket’s and rub blocks that open seams for our returners. We must be willing to adjust on the fly and pick-up blocks that need to be made in order to spring our returner. We have a lay out mentality, sell out and leave nothing behind so we can get the extra yardage and create an opportunity to score.

Punt:

• Punt Team Goals

1. Do Not Allow a Blocked Kick

2. Do Not Allow a Return TD

3. No Return Yards Allowed

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•Our punt team is comprised of under classmen and “specialists” that we deem suitable to cover our kicks. We never want to out kick our coverage as our punters are surgical with their ball placement. We want to trap our opponents within field position that works in our favor. We need to get off our blocks and swarm and cover. Know your responsibilities and technique, EXECUTE!

Punt Return/ Punt Block:

•Punt Return Team Goals

1. Block a Kick

2. Return a Kick for a Touchdown

3. No Conversions on Fakes

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•Our punt return team is usually our first team defense. We use our defense to alleviate time from swapping out personnel from the sideline. Our return team must be fast and physical. As we not only have to ensure the snap and that the ball is off, but we must also block and pop a seam so that our returner can slide through. Know our assignment and execute.

PAT/Field Goal:

• PAT/FG Team Goals

1. Do Not Allow a Blocked Kick

2. Make 100% of Extra Points

3. Make >75% Field Goals

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•The success of our FG team is dependent on the protection up front. We will line up our personnel based on OL and TE’s that are solid in their engagement. We must secure the snap, hold, and blocks to get the ball off. In case of a muffed snap, we will have automatic “go” routes for our wings. Good snap, great hold, great kick.

PAT Block:

• Field Goal Block Team Goals

1. Block a Kick

2. No Offside/Roughing Penalties

3. No Conversions on Fakes

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•Our PAT block team is comprised of our defense much like our punt return team. We will make appropriate substitutions to players we feel fit the scheme. We must be disciplined and ensure that there are no fakes and that we get good get offs. We must put ourselves in the best position possible pre-snap so that we dominate the game up front and seek out alleys to fit our block. There is always a weak link, we will find that link and expose it.


Onside Kick/Hammer Team:

We will have a team of 11 athletes that do not share primary time offensively or defensively. This team will be made up of mostly underclassmen that are looking to earn a spot. This is done so that it keeps our offensive and defensive depth chart fresh. These athletes will know the ricochet points, angles of attack, and timing of all our kicks. We will be fast, violent, technically sound and get the ball back. Our Hammer team motto is, “SELL OUT!”









Onside Return/Hands Team:



•Our hands team is comprised of all “skill” position players; wr’s and rb’s. We want the best hands on the field in order to recover the kick. We practice and go over trickery on the special team’s side of the ball as we incorporate drills into our everyday practice plan. We never want to return a recovered onside kick. Once the ball is netted, we will drop to the ground and secure. Netting and ball security are our two main concerns.

In conclusion, we will script in (2) to (3) special teams every practice. Generally, our special teams are broken up within our practice plans to limit a team before, in the middle, and towards the end of practice. We incorporate drills for our specialists before we conduct our walk throughs. Our punter's and place kickers have all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to work with our kicking coach who doubles as a soccer assistant. Our long snappers and holder's usually conduct their individual period time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and their individual times are scripted in between "lag" periods, when they are not needed. Our assistant OL coach and QB coach are assigned to our holders and long snappers, they have duties to schedule additional indo time after or before practice. Our assistant skill position coaches are assigned to our "skill" position specialists. The DB's and WR's coach are assigned to the speedsters, our gunners and wings. During PAT our OL coach is assigned to work the upfront blocking schemes with our DL coaches. Our defensive coordinator, which is myself is in charge of our PAT and Punt Block teams. My staff is dedicated to each team. Punt, PAT, Kick-Off and Kick-Off Return are generally handled by our offensive staff. All in all, during our "two-a-day" practices we have the fortunate ability to schedule a special teams ONLY practice each day. This allows us as a staff the opportunity to break down and designate coaching responsibilities. All in all, our program divulges a massive amount of time to our specialists and our special teams. We as a staff understand the importance of field position and the importance of attention to detail. Without shoring up our specialists we have no other option to control the game as we see fit on Friday nights.



Rogelio

I genuinely feel that the kicking game is the part of football that can change a game's momentum in a flash of an eye. I have been a part of programs that didn't put much time and effort in implementing special teams, and it was usually those teams that would put any player on the special teams to conserve the "starters" energy. This style was a horrible approach to special teams because this would leave our special teams vulnerable on Friday nights, affecting our team negatively. During this time, I was not too fond of special teams; during games, my stomach would be in knots every time a special team unit would run out onto the field. It wasn't until I began coaching for my current program that I realized that you should have special teams' positions filled by the best players for that position. Our program's Head Coach is our special team's coordinator and does an excellent job finding a balance in putting starting players with a sprinkle of back-up players in certain spots. It is at this point when I realized how important special teams are to the game of football.


If I were the head coach and the special team's coordinator, I would have a philosophy in place that all coaches would be able to follow. The head coach introduced the implementation of each special team with the assistance of position coaches. Each position coach will be responsible for assisting in the practice of special teams. The Offensive coaches will help with kickoff return, punt return, PAT/FG, and the defensive coaches will help with the kickoff, punt, and PAT block. This structure will allow each coach to focus on their coaching strengths, offensive lineman coach teaching special teams blocking or defensive line coach teaching proper angles and tacking for special teams. When the offensive side is coaching up a special team, the defensive side will assist with a scout team and vice versa. I believe that this is an efficient way of teaching and practicing special teams during practice. Each practice will start with a special team and after our first water break. This will allow us to practice six special teams in the first three days of the week, leaving Thursdays a review day before game day.





Nicholas

Special Teams is truly one aspect of the game that can make or break a win. Whether that be a made field goal or a muffed punt, anything that happens during a Special Teams play can swing the momentum for either team. It is also a great place to see athletes perform under pressure that you would not normally see on offense or defense. It gives us a chance to put athletes on the field that normally would not be starters on offense or defense. Make no exceptions. We do not put athletes who can not perform on the Special Teams; we put whom we feel is best and earned the right to be there. We like to set the tone early, and special teams gives us that advantage. Thanks to my cousin and his expertise in special teams, I was given a lot more insight and experience for our program and was able to take that and apply it to the schools that I have been luckily a part of. I have been around teams that do not acknowledge having a sound special teams unit on the field. It has hurt those programs greatly, especially having sound kickers and punters on the team. Luckily I am a part of a program with a successful special teams coordinator and athletes who take special teams seriously.





The philosophy that I have is the same one that we are using currently. Every coach has an equal part in developing our special teams. We follow what our head coach and special teams coordinator want to accomplish, and then assignments are distributed out to all of the coaches. Our offensive coaches will coach the field goal/PAT, Punt, and Kickoff Return aspect. This helps keep consistency and does not take away from our practice time and can be done during individual position time. We can also maintain and build those relationships, and coaches know whom they have in their roster to use. Our defensive coaches will coach the Field Goal/PAT Block, Punt Return, Kickoff aspects of the game. Again this helps keep consistency with our athletes and does not take away from our practice time, and we can keep the flow of the practice going. We practice special teams every day during practice. We may not practice all of the aspects of special teams, but we will go over both sides of one of the aspects. We believe iron sharpens iron and is a great way to fine tune both at the same time.

Jerell

Special teams are often an after thought due to the amount of emphasis that coaches place on offense and defense. My high school told me that he always scheduled special teams right in the middle of the practice to reinforce the importance of it. It is indeed a 1/3 of the game. Now as a coach, I have continued that same approach, and schedule special teams in the middle of practice.





The way we break it down within our staff is we each have positions as we would offense or defense. We also divide the special teams amongst that staff so that every coach is in charge of a unit. This assures that every coach is involved in the kicking game, each coach has a position of interest within each unit and each coach takes on a leadership role as the head of a unit.



Here is the breakdown of kicking game responsibilities:





Head Coach: Punt Team / Returners

OLine Coach: Extra Point / Oline

WR/DB Coach: Punt Return / Gunners

Dline Coach: FG Block / DLine

Special Teams Coach: Kickoff / Kickoff Return / Onside Kick / Hands Team / Punters / Kickers / Holders / Snappers