Special Teams

BigRedBuster said:
I guess I have a problem believing Frost doesn't take ST seriously.  He was on teams here where TO preached how important they are and he idolizes TO.  

These guys also have played special teams in MS and HS.  The concept isn't rocket science.  I keep thinking the problem with coverages is somehow either who we have on the units or how they are told to play it.  But, this has been a major problem since even before Frost.
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J-MAGIC said:
People who think our coaches don't care about special teams or aren't trying to improve them are clueless. These are a lot more difficult, complex and time-consuming problems to fix than just telling your punt returner to make sure he catches the ball, but for some reason fans think systemic and long-running problems get fixed by snapping your fingers. It's fair to criticize them for certain aspects of the ST's performance, but these are problems of organization/talent/depth, not our coaches being like "let's not practice any punts this week, who care about that lol".
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You guys can say those things all you want, but his actions on staffing and ST responsibilities speak to it being a lower priority than the other two teams.  Having an off field analyst during the week and then GA's trying to run things during games isn't going to cut it in the Big Ten.  Period.  The results we have seen show this.

Maybe he thinks he is taking it seriously, but if that is the case he needs to take it MORE seriously by dedicating a full time staffer to it and not be quoted saying that he doesn't want to burden a staffer with special teams and another position as he said here:

https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/football/special-teams-analyst-jonathan-rutledge-out-at-nebraska/article_8020c4d4-5687-11eb-ae51-fb3b58e5942d.html

As you say, these are difficult, complex and time consuming problems, so why would you expect an analyst and some GA's to be able to fix it on their own?  

 
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Posted this on the staff changes board, but it’s probably more relevant here:

If you're not going to make the guy an on field coach, then hire someone who is doing it from off the field with success. 

I see a lot of people looking at football outsiders stats on here. Their Special Teams stats are garbage. 

1. A touchback on a kickoff is not "efficient" for them.

2. A punt that nets 38 yards is.

3. Field position stats, while a function of  teams are more dependent on O/D. You can have great teams, a bad O and a poo D and still get crushed on field position.

4. Sample sizes this year were a nightmare so any "analytics" are skewed wildly this year.

Bill Connelly's S+ for ESPN stats much better, if you can get the full rankings.

App State, Florida, NC State, Iowa, Kentucky, Houston, & Army have been the best teams on SPT this year.
 
J-MAGIC said:
These are a lot more difficult, complex and time-consuming problems to fix than just telling your punt returner to make sure he catches the ball
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Supposedly Fleming was an electrifying punt returner... when he managed to catch the ball.

 
So you fire a guy, to have the new guy "pick up right where he left off"............Rutledge's history shows year 2 is when he makes the improvements.  That whole, no contact, no headset, speak to a coach game day in person surely hasn't worked out.  Still hoping that a coach gets assigned to work hand in hand with the analyst.

 


Hiring a ST's analyst is perfectly fine but if Frost has a ST's analyst running the show again I have to question where his priorities lie and it will make it hard to give much benefit of the doubt come next December. 

 
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lo country said:
So you fire a guy, to have the new guy "pick up right where he left off"............Rutledge's history shows year 2 is when he makes the improvements.  That whole, no contact, no headset, speak to a coach game day in person surely hasn't worked out.  Still hoping that a coach gets assigned to work hand in hand with the analyst.
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To be honest, we really don't know why he was fired or left....do we?

 
I'm sure I'm in the minority because I think we ought to return kickoffs that do not go beyond the 5 yard line.  I know there is risk.  But there is also rewards. Starting the drive around the 38 yard line from a nice kick return instead of the 25 "fair catch", makes a nice field position difference.  Wouldn't happen a lot but you never know unless you try and work on it.  There is so much speed on this team, the possibility for good kick returns should be a part of the special teams value IMO.

 
BigRedBuster said:
To be honest, we really don't know why he was fired or left....do we?
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Good point, we technically don't at all.

I think there's a lot of good evidence that the Year 2 departures of Walters & (especially) Dewitt were in fact firings. 

And I think there's probably a lot of other good evidence of how much pressure Frost is taking for having special teams costing him somewhere between 1-3 losses per season. So my gut absolutely says this was a firing, especially since we pay coaches about as well as anybody in the country - meaning, I doubt the guy was actively looking for a better paying gig.

 
Undone said:
Good point, we technically don't at all.

I think there's a lot of good evidence that the Year 2 departures of Walters & (especially) Dewitt were in fact firings. 

And I think there's probably a lot of other good evidence of how much pressure Frost is taking for having special teams costing him somewhere between 1-3 losses per season. So my gut absolutely says this was a firing, especially since we pay coaches about as well as anybody in the country - meaning, I doubt the guy was actively looking for a better paying gig.
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The interview with the Athletic implies a firing as well, and I don't know why he'd leave without the next job in hand. I think it's pretty safe to say Frost was moving on, and at best Rutledge agreed and wasn't bummed to have to look elsewhere.

 
Undone said:
Good point, we technically don't at all.

I think there's a lot of good evidence that the Year 2 departures of Walters & (especially) Dewitt were in fact firings. 

And I think there's probably a lot of other good evidence of how much pressure Frost is taking for having special teams costing him somewhere between 1-3 losses per season. So my gut absolutely says this was a firing, especially since we pay coaches about as well as anybody in the country - meaning, I doubt the guy was actively looking for a better paying gig.
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Husker in WI said:
The interview with the Athletic implies a firing as well, and I don't know why he'd leave without the next job in hand. I think it's pretty safe to say Frost was moving on, and at best Rutledge agreed and wasn't bummed to have to look elsewhere.
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But, we still don't know exactly why he was fired.  It very well could be as you say....or it could actually be something non-football related.  We just don't know.

 
Pretty much consensus that Frost wanted Snyder and didn’t get his guy, so he fell back for Rutledge - correct?

It wasn’t a fit after 1 year and now he goes looking for the “right guy” instead of someone who - as mentioned - has bounced around. See who we end up with and see where Rutledge winds up. 

 
Savage Husker said:
Pretty much consensus that Frost wanted Snyder and didn’t get his guy, so he fell back for Rutledge - correct?

It wasn’t a fit after 1 year and now he goes looking for the “right guy” instead of someone who - as mentioned - has bounced around. See who we end up with and see where Rutledge winds up. 
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I think that's fair yes but was he trying to hire Snyder as just an analyst like Rutledge? Could explain why he didn't get him if so.

 
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