Installing the Kicking Game

I allow our "special forces" 35 minutes a day in increments of 7 minutes each 5 days a week. Then, in addition, we have our "special" special forces, 1 each day for five days covering a team period i.e. monday- punt team verses punt return 10 minutes Tuesday - punt return vs. punt team 10 minutes,
Wednesday - PAT & Field Goal vs. Goal line Defense 10 minutes, etc.

I get personally involved in all 5 units, along with the special teams coach. Football games are won and lost by these special athletes, and I don't care if they are starters on offense or defense either. If they are one of the best 11 athletes on the team, they will be on the field, period! The notion that special teams are lesser players, thats always been a joke to me. If you want to win consistently, coach up the athletes that make those teams go, and turn 'em loose! JMO.

J.C.Easton

Wade Houchin  


Staff Assignments:

Special Teams Coordinator: Aligns practice schedule and roles for assistant coaches - scouts opponent film and leads film sessions with players

Assistant Coaches: Each coach, paid and volunteer, will have an individual group to either coach per special teams unit, or they will be running the scout team units and providing the appropriate looks for our upcoming opponents.

Practice: Time spent on working on the kicking game will be comparable to that spent on the offensive and defensive sides of the football. Special teams is not an afterthought. Emphasis will be placed more on shield punt and kick coverage and kick return, with less emphasis on punt return...as it is simply not worth the same attention for the punting looks that we get on our level. Myself, as the head coach, will be in charge of the punt game, and it will be communicated by my level of "seriousness" how important the kicking game is.



KICKOFF – WHAT, WHY, HOW

WHAT:

Multiple formation kickoff scheme to attack our desired ball placement kicking locations

WHY:

Being multiple from a formation standpoint allows our kickoff team to line up in the most advantageous positions to cover our pre-determined kickoff location. Our players will have the benefit of alignment as it pertains to the desired ball placement. Additionally, employing multiple formations also forces opponent’s return teams to have to spend practice time lining up their returns against our various looks.

HOW:

-Teach it daily in the film room

- Practice the “ins and outs” in stages that build into a final finished product

- Coaches will become experts in their positions and the system

- Annual training/professional growth for our staff (clinics, podcasts, videos, consultations)

- Coaches will be in charge of specific positions for each unit. Everyone will be involved under the leadership of our Special Teams Coordinator.

 
KICK RETURN – WHAT, WHY, HOW

WHAT:

Base right, left, and middle “wedge” returns.

WHY:

Simplicity wins in the return game. Having too many return responsibilities is not only hard to coach, it it difficult for our players to retain and execute well. We will be great at our base return schemes and put our offense in good field position to drive the field and score!

HOW:

-Teach it daily in the film room

- Practice the “ins and outs” in stages that build into a final finished product

- Coaches will become experts in their positions and the system

- Annual training/professional growth for our staff (clinics, podcasts, videos, consultations)

- Coaches will be in charge of specific positions for each unit. Everyone will be involved under the leadership of our Special Teams Coordinator.

 
PUNT – WHAT, WHY, HOW

WHAT:

Shield and Spread Shield formation punt

WHY:

The Shield punt is a great way to take advantage of a punt teams’ ability to cover the punt and minimize the returning teams’ ability to gain positive field position. Executed properly, the Shield punt is nearly impossible to block and the spread formation is excellent when considering fakes, as it forces the return team to play more of a base defense look…forcing them out of their preferred return scheme.

HOW:

-Teach it daily in the film room

- Practice the “ins and outs” in stages that build into a final finished product

- Coaches will become experts in their positions and the system

- Annual training/professional growth for our staff (clinics, podcasts, videos, consultations)

- Coaches will be in charge of specific positions for each unit. Everyone will be involved under the leadership of our Special Teams Coordinator.

 
PUNT RETURN – WHAT, WHY, HOW

WHAT:

Base return and base punt blocks

WHY:

At our level, opponent’s punting games are very inconsistent, thus our philosophy on punt returns will focus on securing positive field position. Emphasis will be placed on pressuring the kick, rather than setting up the return. We will rush/blitz every typical punting situation and only back off the rush when we have a large lead and/or when we know the opponent has a high quality punting game and a decent return option exists.

HOW:

-Teach it daily in the film room

- Practice the “ins and outs” in stages that build into a final finished product

- Coaches will become experts in their positions and the system

- Annual training/professional growth for our staff (clinics, podcasts, videos, consultations)

- Coaches will be in charge of specific positions for each unit. Everyone will be involved under the leadership of our Special Teams Coordinator.

 
FIELD GOAL / PAT – WHAT, WHY, HOW

WHAT:

Base formation, wings out scheme

WHY:

Consistency in this area of the kicking game is essential. Though we may experiment with alternative formations as the year progresses; we will not add to this unit until solid execution in our base formations has been proven. If we lack the ability to kick field goals and extra points, we will default to an automatic assumption of leaving our offense on the field and “going for it” on fourth down / 2-point-conversions.

HOW:

-Teach it daily in the film room

- Practice the “ins and outs” in stages that build into a final finished product

- Coaches will become experts in their positions and the system

- Annual training/professional growth for our staff (clinics, podcasts, videos, consultations)

- Coaches will be in charge of specific positions for each unit. Everyone will be involved under the leadership of our Special Teams Coordinator.

 

Jordan Gibo

For me personal I have played in both systems of special team’s coordinators (having a true special teams coordinator and having the coaches share the responsibility) so really like think it comes down to preference. In my opinion though I like splitting the special teams up with the position coaches (if numerically possible). The reason I like this is because it aligns with my view of special teams as a developmental platform for both players and coaches. I also think that what makes special teams so fun is that in many cases it comes down to effort, courage, and a willingness to do it. I also think that if you could implement this right it would help develop the younger coaches on staff because then it exposes them to develop their own ideas and put them into a concept how like for players it is their first experience of a game pace and play. I also like it because I feel like sometimes kids get bored seeing the same people run everything and changing it up brings a little of rest to them. So with this which ever coach is responsible for that unit is responsible for installing and the scout cards for them.



Going to how I split up the practice schedule I put aside 15 minutes for Monday and Tuesday to work on Kickoff, Kickoff Return and Punt, Punt Return/Block with each unit getting about 7 minutes to run through their scheme and go over the opponents. On Wednesday I set aside 20 minutes for all four of the units to get about 2 for both the first and second unit. The ending part of team is either PAT or PAT Block with Wednesday going over both.

EVERYDAY! It does not have to be every phase of special teams at each practice, but we must hit special teams every day to help stress the importance of special teams.


Also this is not a time to just get guys in so they can get some snaps. The best players will play and we will use everyone to be successful on special teams. If there is a non-starter that can do what we need them to do on special teams they can give that starter a break, but we will not just be throwing in kids.


All coaches will coach special teams for multiple reasons. First off it is not a one man job, it requires multiple coaches. We will have one coach leading the different special teams, but all coaches will help out so we stress the importance of phases of the game. For example, OC is in charge of punt team, but we may need a defensive coach to help coach up the gunners because there may be a receiver at that position who never plays defense. He will need to know how to break down, track, and make a tackle.

Break down for special teams:

Kickoff - Secondary coach

Punt - OC

Punt return/block - DC

Kick off return - WR

Field goal/PAT - OLine



Dividing up our special team this way are for simplicity reasons. For example, offensive coordinator is in charge of changing from offensive personnel to punt personnel. He already knows who is on the field and knows what we need to change to have a successful punt. Same with DC, knows what needs to change to have a successful punt return from our starting defense. Kickoff will probably use some starting defensive skill guys so our DB coach will likely be familiar with them. Likewise, the return team is likely to have offensive skill players that our WR coach will know.


Each coach will be required to come into each week with a special teams scouting report. Letting our players know the plan for the week and what we are and aren't going to do. Are we attacking a punt or setting up for a return, pooch kicking or kicking it deep on kick off, or middle or right return for kick off return.