"Special" Teams

by the usual suspects on Oct 12, 2007 8:56 PM CDT

While there has been a lot of talk on this site (and in the media in general) about our problems and where they are coming from, I have not seen mention of one that has been bothering me for awhile.

What is going on with our special teams? While our return teams have been okay, I'm not sure they're anything special given the kick-off spot change and the speed/ability of our return men (Quan's gonna break at least one, I know it).

Beyond that, our coverage teams seem to be horrible as witnessed in the K-State disaster and the on-side kick debacle. We can't seem to find any consistency in our punting game - unless you consider us to be consistently bad - to the point of changing punters mid-season. Also, haven't we been tops (or very near) in blocking kicks over the last 10 years? Have we blocked a kick or punt yet this year? Obviously we're missing some guys named Robison and Griffin in that regard, but still.

All these problems are there despite bringing in a coach with NFL level special teams experience. So what gives? Am I missing something or have our special teams meltdowns, combined with our apparent lack of development at LB made the hiring of MacDuff as one of the worst hiring decisions our CEO has made?

I was really wanting to like the guy and had high hopes after hearing about his attitude and the idea of re-kindling some of that desert swarm thing. But at this rate, I'm ready to see who our next Co-Def Co is going to be.

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This team...

...has had a sizeable void since Coach Robinson and Coach Tomey left for their respective HC'ing jobs. We lack physical toughness and there is no one on this staff capable of restoring what Robison and Tomey brought with them. There is no reason to believe Mack will make the necessary moves.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championships run through OU and the RRS. It's not just "another game." ---

by HornChamps on Oct 12, 2007 11:23 PM CDT reply actions

Watch Kelson and Marcus Griffin on Special Teams.

I guarantee that both of them will badly miss at least one tackle on kickoff coverage. We are playing starters here, the best players, they just aren't making plays.

by the1austin on Oct 13, 2007 12:53 AM CDT reply actions

IIRC

The Statesman said that Mac Duff isn't the sole man in charge of special teams, despite his experience. He's been fit into Mack's system: special teams are coached by individual assistant coaches.

According to that article, I think Mac Duff has been in charge of kickoff returns—the one bright spot. While I agree with you that a certain amount of the success with that has been due to the new kickoff spot, I've been impressed with the blocking and the yardage in general. I'm not going to criticize the new guy here. The linebackers, however? A totally different story.

I'm alright with the lack of blocked field goals and punts—I think we just don't have the athletes there for it this year. (Michael Griffin vs. Ryan Palmer—no contest.) The big letdown for me has been the punt coverage—just atrocious, in particular by Chykie and Curtis Brown.

by kiev482 on Oct 13, 2007 9:48 AM CDT reply actions