Special Teams Philosophy

[JJ Husker]

The only ST philosophy I’ve noticed is that there isn’t one. It receives lip service and the right things are said every time they bite us in the a$$ but nothing ever changes. The fact they've been as atrocious as they have been yet Frost says Dawson is doing a good job tells us about all we need to know.

Frost may say otherwise but he really has no concern or respect for the importance of special teams play. If he did he’d make sure to fix it. It requires more effort than simply finding really good kickers and punters and leaving them alone. I imagine he is too distraught over his faultering offense to have anything left for special teams. They are an afterthought that never make it to the top of the list.

[NoLongerN]

20 hours ago, JJ Husker said:

The only ST philosophy I’ve noticed is that there isn’t one. It receives lip service and the right things are said every time they bite us in the a$$ but nothing ever changes. The fact they've been as atrocious as they have been yet Frost says Dawson is doing a good job tells us about all we need to know.

Frost may say otherwise but he really has no concern or respect for the importance of special teams play. If he did he’d make sure to fix it. It requires more effort than simply finding really good kickers and punters and leaving them alone. I imagine he is too distraught over his faultering offense to have anything left for special teams. They are an afterthought that never make it to the top of the list.

 

Agree with JJ.  It's fascinating to listen to Frost in the Whisky press conference and pat their backs for being a great team in all "three" phases of the game ... and yet, not being able to fully conceed how much our lack in that 3rd phase puts us behind the 8-ball. 

[Undone]

*Insert cliched "anything can happen" disclaimer here*

 

But if Frost can't get special teams fixed by the end of year four, he probably won't ever get them fixed.

 

I thought we had things fixed around midseason, but the kick return team clearly doesn't have a handle on execution.

[JJ Husker]

7 minutes ago, Undone said:

*Insert cliched "anything can happen" disclaimer here*

 

But if Frost can't get special teams fixed by the end of year four, he probably won't ever get them fixed.

 

I thought we had things fixed around midseason, but the kick return team clearly doesn't have a handle on execution.

I agree. For me, it’s maybe the most frustrating ongoing issue we have, along with recurring OL penalties. OL play is a big one but at least we know that can require quite a bit of time to remedy. But the crap and ways we screw up on special teams is just mind numbing. It goes way beyond just not having acceptable specialists. We have athletes that can function on special teams but all too often it looks like a circus. That is 100% coaching and preparation imo.

[Undone]

1 minute ago, JJ Husker said:

We have athletes that can function on special teams but all too often it looks like a circus. That is 100% coaching and preparation imo.

 

Yeah.

Don't save your best players from injury, or from fatigue, or from practice time that's sacrificed from their main role's duties or whatever reason this staff is coming up with from not having some of the more core defensive players out there on special teams.

 

Remember Dejon Gomes' Twitter comment that somebody posted here after the Michigan State game? It was something to the effect of "If I'm a Blackshirt, I'm out there on the very first special teams play of this next game."