5 Coaches Give the Details For a Game Changing Punt Return
Mar 07, 2024 2:38 pm
Coach -
If you subscribe to the Kevin Kelley analytical approach to special teams, you don’t attempt a return. It’s just something he believes in, has the analytical data to prove it, and decides not to invest time in.
Time is always the key to success. What you invest it in is important. How you invest it once you make those decisions on what you are investing in is even more important.
Today, Coach Kauffman takes us into the realm of punt returns, and draws from the success of five coaches to give us perspective on how to win this play.
Please note we always have detailed presentations in the Lauren’s First and Goal Clinic. Replays from the 4th Annual Clinic are available here.
-Coach Grabowski
Return Reign: Mastering Punt Returns
The often-overlooked yet immensely crucial skill of Punt Return embodies a fusion of inventive genius and tactical excellence. A true maestro in the art of Punt Return is not merely a coach aligning players to catching a spiraling ball amidst opposition. To master this aspect of the game is to navigate the chaos with precision.
For returners it requires a mind capable of reading the ever-shifting landscape in front of him, paired with an innate understanding of the tactical nuances of this play.
Let’s delve into the intricacies of Punt Return, and the detailss behind the seemingly spontaneous brilliance and unveil strategies and techniques that can be applied to your return.
The 4 Phases - Scott Fountain
To kick things off the overview for the entirety of a Punt Return Rep Coach Scott Fountain Delivers us a phase to phase strategic approach for teaching.
Video: 4 Phases of Punt Return
The teaching progression of "Stance, Start, Battle, and Finish" serves as a strategic framework for coaches aiming to methodically develop athletes' skills. Each phase represents a crucial step in the player's journey toward mastering this specialized aspect of the game.
As he guides his players through the teaching progression, they leverage these distinct segments to break down the complexity of Punt Return into manageable components. This approach facilitates a more digestible learning experience, allowing athletes to absorb and apply the knowledge incrementally.
The progression not only addresses the physical aspects of Punt Return but also integrates mental and strategic dimensions. He uses this systematic breakdown to emphasize the interconnectedness of these phases, fostering a holistic understanding of the skill set required for success.
By recognizing the importance of each segment in the overall sequence, your athletes are better equipped to grasp the nuances, refine their techniques, and ultimately elevate their performance in the dynamic and unpredictable context of Punt Returns.
Breaking down the entire process and talking about the techniques can equip you for developing your teaching progression.
Hold Up to Create Space - Thomas Sheffield
Coach Thomas Sheffield dives into the Hold Up technique they teach at Hawaii
Video: Hold Up Technique
Looking into the hold up phase of the progression, you can engage from a variety of stances depending on what you believe in. 2 point stances or 3 points with a hand in the dirt. It depends on the aggression of your philosophy and what you choose to believe in.
The biggest piece of this is realizing from the different positions and personnel that you use how you can relate it to something they understand. For certain positions you may have a lengthy corner you want to put on inside the box on this unit. I would encourage him to view this as a mix of blocking, and an “inch” technique or what is referred to as “motor” by some.
I think anytime you can create relationships from elements of the athletes' “everyday job” to their work on the special teams and those elements you are preparing for success.
Continuing to that next phase you're in the battle and you are trying to adjust on the fly. It's a must win position and you have to put yourself in position to throw a block and allow the returner to find a seam.
Retrace - Trent Mangin
You have to be able to Re-Trace and get into those proper positions, Coach Mangin of the 49ers walks through this here.
Video: Re-Trace
Retracing is one of the elements that I think you need to study more than anything else. If you are a return team, this is the hardest element of the play. Accounting for both the returner and his positioning as well as having in regard the man that you are assigned to can be difficult.
You really have to work a variety of techniques and enable your athletes to have a bevy of tools available to be utilized based on their positioning and the action of the man covering. High Screens and penalty beaters are great additions in these situations and those items can be viewed in Coach Sheffield's previously mentioned course.
As we work back from the LOS you would be mistaken to not mention the returner.
The Eyes of the Returner - Jared Keyte
Coach Jared Keyte of Rutgers walks through the teaching of a returner in his eyes.
Video: Returners
I don’t believe personally in over teaching the returner. But, I do believe in adequate preparation. If you have special teams time in your practice returners should be catching kicks the entirety of the time and not messing around. This should be as serious as any time of the practice. This one play can be one of the biggest momentum shifters either direction based on how it goes.
Your percentages after a 10+ yard return skyrockets your odds of putting 7 up on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive.
Teach your athletes what to look for, how kicks look, how to handle a kick, what to field and what not to. Put them in bad situations in practice so they are prepared for everything in the game. Work the skills you are able to work. With this I will say I do not believe you can teach and judge vision. As someone who has returned before there are skills that are not taught and you need to trust the decision making of the returner. Remember the view of the box and film is very different from what the returner is seeing coming at him on the field.
Put it All Together - Pete Lembo
Piecing the elements together into one clip and speaking on it here is newly appointed Head Coach at Buffalo Pete Lembo who led his team to a 16.57 yard return average in 2022.
Video: Punt Return
Having studied these elements you have given your athletes the tools and you piece these skills together with your scouting report and scheme that you designate for that week. I am a big believer in these units changing week to week but using the basics in the same ways.
Just like on offense and defense if we do the same thing every week they are going to adapt and this is the same case here. Understand the situation and put your athletes in a position that you can be replicated and trained throughout your practice time during the week!
As Always,
Compete!
Coach Kauffman