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Special teams where are you? lets take a look

kicker77

Member
ncaa rankings:
punt avg- 64th in nation- 39.95yd

net punt avg- 91st in nation 33 yds, this stat matters more than punt avg

FG %- 1/3! trend continues.. I dont care if its beyond 50 there is still a reason one misses it, not just "well it was 50+ yards"

Kickoff return D- 78th nation

Kickoff Return O- 83rd

Punt Return D- 75th nation

Punt Return O- 82nd

Really, this is worse than last year!!! why is ST coach still here? its obvious players do not want to play for him or listen to him! Thank god his pay isn't performance based! Get rid of the bad apple just like the Miami Dolphins did 5 hours after the ST catastrophe monday night. We are 3-1 with lack luster opposition, ST has got to step it up the rest of the year. Or this will turn into the broncos of the last 4 years. Start out 6-0 end up 7-9..............

You all know who I am, I don't hide it.. I am just critical of this area in CU game because it is horrible and i know what I am talking about. its no hard to see it either...
 
Special teams have to be emphasized in order to be halfway decent. Hawkins doesn't give a damn about special teams. It's obvious. He figures all that "kicking stuff" will take care of itself, one way or another.
 
kicker77,

No one can argue with this. The stats don't lie.

Missouri's very good on special teams, too. That has me really worried for this week.

One change that should be made immediately: Kirkwood should kick off. Goodman is too inconsistent and his short kicks have really hurt us (opening kick against Cal after we deferred sticks out in my mind).
 
last night on Ringo's BuffZone chat, someone asked about special teams, and I thought Ringo said Hawk coaches about half of special teams with Riddle doing the other half? That true?

If so, even more reason to can the coach(es) associated with special teams THIS WEEK!!!
 
Our return and coverage units have been pitiful. We almost gave up about 3 to the house against Georgia. Think it was Clemons that had a pretty good return, have to see it again. Regardless, it has to improve across the board immediately. If it doesnt, no doubt, it will cost us more than one game.
 
Have you guys forgotten about our awesome two-point conversions? Special teams have been great!
 
Kicker77, good to see you posting.

Here's another ST puzzler.

The first CU punt of the game was a good 46 yard punt with a 4.7 hangtime.
Meanwhile, Drew Butler, last year's Ray Guy winner, had a first punt of 38 yards and a 4.16 hangtime.
Advantage CU in the punting stats... (Butler has been having an off season so far.)

(I didn't time these myself, but there were two guys in my row timing and comparing notes, so I'm going to accept them as they noted it.)

So, what did the coaching staff ask our punter to do on the next opportunity?
A rugby punt.

That's a coaching decision, not the punter's choice.
And what did Georgia do? Nearly ran it back for a TD, Grossnickle had to make the tackle himself after about 8 of our guys missed.

Just ticked me off. If the punter is doing well, why switch it up with the rugby punt? Especially with a young player still getting used to the speed of the game, let him do what he does best, then add variety if there's some reason to do it.

And yes I agree on kickoffs: Kirkwood. Kirkwood, Kirkwood. Give him a chance to blast a couple.
 
How in the world our we at the bottom in PUNTING? We have ALTITUDE. That's a disgrace.
 
Well looks like the daily camera stole my story.... I will tell all of you, kicking is one of the hardest positions in all of sports. We are expected to do one thing make FG and do the job with consistency. And if a kicker does not work hard in the offseason I wouldnt expect alot out of him during the season. Most kickers rely on natural talent, so they think they do not need to work for what they have, or get better. Aric Goodman and Zach Grossnickle could be a lot better than they are showing. My kickers train and kick with me 3-4 times a week. Kick for an hour and train for 1 1/2 hr. I wish I could show the amount of leg speed, leg strength, flexibility and consistency. The fact that Riddle admitted they spend 1/8th of the time on ST? Kidding me? Wow and he admits that the Dolphins ST coach was his mentor, HOLY .... All I have to say is ST keeps getting worse year by year and when you thought that wasnt possible. I would love to coach these guys, cause you gotta know how to coach ST. I know I would take great pride in having a top 20 ST rankings in all catagories.. Instead of bottom 1/4 of all schools.

Rugby Punt... what a crock of s... That kick is designed for bad cover teams. thats all there is to it. Do not see NFL teams doing that, because regular punting gets more distance and more hang.... Get rid of this Rugby punt and work on blocking and coverage and hang time. Need consistent hangtime.. I do not know what else to say here, other than get rid of the riddler.

Last thing, Aric Goodman can be one of the best kickers in the nation, and I hope he gets a shot in the NFL, but like I said earlier, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARDER THAN ANY OTHER KICKER OUT THERE TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. I tell all my kickers that, and thats why they get the job done.
 
You can learn a lot about Aric Goodman by looking at his official profile. Does he list himself from Denver or Englewood? Nope, it's Cherry Hills Village.

Because he worked hard so he could grow up there, you know...:rolling_eyes:
 
By the way, "we spend an 1/8 of practice on special teams." What? whats that 2 kicks 2 punts and 2 kickoffs? That deserves a "Come on man!" No wonder our special teams suck. However I am glad that I finally shed some light on this and its public with Ringo taking my story and running with it.. Now lets fix the damn problem!
 
By the way, "we spend an 1/8 of practice on special teams." What? whats that 2 kicks 2 punts and 2 kickoffs? That deserves a "Come on man!" No wonder our special teams suck. However I am glad that I finally shed some light on this and its public with Ringo taking my story and running with it.. Now lets fix the damn problem!

What's common? Kickers and punters are working separately, of course. But for the dedicated team time spent on special teams, how much practice is used?

If I'm reading Riddle's comments correctly (and my math is right), then they are spending 15 minutes out of each 2 hour practice on dedicated special teams work. That seems low to me.
 
If I'm reading Riddle's comments correctly (and my math is right), then they are spending 15 minutes out of each 2 hour practice on dedicated special teams work. That seems low to me.

That's how I read it, too. Something tells me Frank Beamer spends a bit more than 15 minutes on special teams...
 
How in the world our we at the bottom in PUNTING? We have ALTITUDE. That's a disgrace.


Microscopic difference, it's a myth perpetuated by people who play golf, but it doesn't translate with punting and kicking. If it did, every college and NFL record would have been set in Denver or Boulder, right? Either by us or by our visitors, but it's not true. Inches, maybe, but not yards of improvement due to altitude.

What's common? Kickers and punters are working separately, of course. But for the dedicated team time spent on special teams, how much practice is used?

If I'm reading Riddle's comments correctly (and my math is right), then they are spending 15 minutes out of each 2 hour practice on dedicated special teams work. That seems low to me.


Kicker77 can speak to this, I believe, but Riddle has a history of overkicking his kickers and punters for a period of time, and then fiddling with their steps, dropping motion, swing, etc. at random. The guys develop one style they believe works for them (and good enough to get recruited), then the ST coach decides to "improve" on it -- changing what has been working for the player up to that point.

And like other competitions for other positions (fill in your own blanks), apparently Goodman will retain his position as FG kicker, kickoff specialist and PAT guy despite the 5 or 6 other guys on the field. The only guy NOT competing for kicking duties is the one who has the best career statistics for accuracy and distance. Go figure.
 
By the way, "we spend an 1/8 of practice on special teams." What? whats that 2 kicks 2 punts and 2 kickoffs? That deserves a "Come on man!" No wonder our special teams suck. However I am glad that I finally shed some light on this and its public with Ringo taking my story and running with it.. Now lets fix the damn problem!

What they mean when they say this is they have the kickers and punters do their thing so the returners can practice, not that they have any interest in what the kickers and punters are doing well, or not. That's what "special teams" practice is. Oh, and Will Jeff regularly blocking everything.

blocked punt.jpg
 
Special teams is so much more than what the kickers and punters are doing, unfortunately. It's also about kick/punt coverage. It's about kick/punt returns.

This staff, and Riddle and Hawkins in particular, just don't get it. They seem to be of the opinion that special teams is a minor part of the game. That it doesn't matter. This may be the most damning thing about this staff. It's infuriating to me when I see kickoffs come back to the 30 yard line or farther after fielding the ball on the 10 yard line. It's equally enfuriating to see other teams routinely kick the ball deep into the end zone, allowing us no chance at a return.

They. just. don't. get. it. Never have, never will.
 
Special teams is so much more than what the kickers and punters are doing, unfortunately. It's also about kick/punt coverage. It's about kick/punt returns.

This staff, and Riddle and Hawkins in particular, just don't get it. They seem to be of the opinion that special teams is a minor part of the game. That it doesn't matter. This may be the most damning thing about this staff. It's infuriating to me when I see kickoffs come back to the 30 yard line or farther after fielding the ball on the 10 yard line. It's equally enfuriating to see other teams routinely kick the ball deep into the end zone, allowing us no chance at a return.

They. just. don't. get. it. Never have, never will.

Yes, special teams practice should be about EVERYTHING. I do not know what they are practicing, but surely CU can do better overall than we have seen.
 
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