Week 1 Special Teams - Coach the Little Things for the win
Aug 24, 2022 5:24 pm
Coach ,
Little things make the difference. Everyone is well prepared for the big things, but only winners perfect the little things. -Bear Bryant
As we round out this week’s adjustments, we put the focus on special teams. In the early season, it’s easy to tell who has focused on the little things in camp.
Whether it’s being sure you have walked your team through all of the rare situations and found a way to raise your team’s football IQ in that regard, or doing the work to make certain that if something happens to one of your specialists, you have someone you trust to do the job, the details matter.
That’s the focus this week in our Special Teams adjustments.
#1) Be sure you have someone you trust to be the next guy.
Things are great until you have an emergency, like losing your long snapper! This is something that former Iowa State and Oklahoma State special teams coach Steve Hauser and I discussed on Coach and Coordinator this week.
I brought up a situation I saw at a high school game this past weekend where the starter went down, and the next guy warming up on the sideline was rolling the ball back, not able to get the snap needed. Fortunately for that team, the starter recovered.
But what if he didn’t? Do you trust that next guy? Can he do it under the lights? Coach Hauser related a story of how Oklahoma State TE Coach Jason McEndoo decided he wouldn’t leave any of that to chance, so he taught his entire position group to long snap including starting TE Blake Jarwin who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys. Coach Hause emphasized, “It just shows you that the right type of people is in the right moments are where they need to be, so take the time ahead of time to figure it out.”
My next, emergency guy was always a quarterback, but of course not my starter. Why? Because long snapping is throwing a pas between your legs, and the QBs were quick to pick it up. A former player of mine when I started coaching junior high ball got his first varsity opportunity in high school because he could snap. He went on to be a high school All-American QB and played at Boston College, but his first time under the lights was as a long snapper. Interestingly enough, an emergency situation when he was a freshman at BC allowed him to get in as a long snapper for a game as well though he eventually did become the starting QB.
The lesson: put the game in the hands of guys you trust under the lights!
Here’s former NFL Long Snapper Ryan Senser with some coaching points on the snap and the biggest mistake long snappers make (click on image for video):
https://coachtube.com/course_lesson/coaching-the-long-snapper-placeholder-technique-and-mechanics/the-snap/146240?ambassador=0d90ee66aac64614b00ca7657
#2) The Pop-Up Kick - Know the Rules
The Pop-up kick has different rules surrounding it depending on the level/rules used. In Federation rules (NFHS), the Pop-up kick is illegal. Here is the definition and rule:
Section 24 Kicks
Art. 10…A pop-up kick is a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately into the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kick directly off the tee.
Rule 6 Kicking and Ball Fair Catch
Art. 11…A pop-up kick is illegal.
That rule applies to all states that play by Federation rules which is every state except Texas and Massachusetts which play by NCAA rules, so if you are in those 48 states, make sure you are not teaching the Pop-up and if someone does it, have the rule book ready!
Now, by NCAA rules, a Pop-up is legal, allowing for a fair catch. This provides a huge strategic advantage for the receiving team. Penn assistant Dan Swanstrom points out how the rule works, and how he thinks about personnel placement on his hands team as explained in this video (click on image for video):
#3) Penalty Beaters
You can throw your hat, jump the kid who draws the penalty, or even curse the official, but are you arming your players with the knowledge and the tools to help them avoid the penalties that are costly in field position or can even take away a score?
If you are not incorporating “penalty beaters” into your drills and techniques taught to your players, then you are not maximizing their opportunity for success. And if you haven’t heard of them or how to teach them, that’s ok, Hawaii Special Teams Coordinator Thomas Sheffield teaches them here (click on image for video):
The devil is in the details, and so are the wins. Keep coaching up the little things throughout the season!
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
P.S. Any resources we share in this series have a temporary discount if you want to dig deeper into the concepts. Find these courses here.