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Kicking Situation

kicker77

Member
Seriously, CU has not had a kicker over 67% since Kent Riddle has been special teams coach. Yes Even golden boy crosby was the highest at 67%. Granted a lot of long fg, but even his numbers in the NFL are sub par.

Aric Goodman has a great leg, he is a kickoff specialist. Especially if Coach Riddle keeps "coaching him". He has the worst FG% in NCAA last 2 years and no one else gets a shot? Really? look at the stats, if CU had a good special teams, including a coach, more W's are on the board. There are plenty of kickers that will get the job done, on the roster!!! I sent them there I know what they can do.

CU PLEASE DO YOUR JOB AND COACH, AND COACH WHAT YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW. OH, AND IF THE STARTER, AT ANY POSITION, DOES NOT GET THE JOB DONE, SOMEONE ELSE IS DESERVING OF PROVING THEMSELF.

For fans, so far this spring Marcus Kirkwood is just below 90% of all attempts, Goodman below 50%. You tell me whats going on
 
For fans, so far this spring Marcus Kirkwood is just below 90% of all attempts, Goodman below 50%. You tell me whats going on

Meh, 90% means nothing if you don't bring your lunch pale to practice. :smile2:
 
I thought Riddle didnt coach kickers? that they had their own personal coaches?
 
Command of the caps lock is very underrated. This guy's enthusiasm is way above a 3. I like it.
 
Hard to disagree with him.

No doubt that Goodman's had his shot and hasn't produced.

Goodman's good at kickoffs. He can specialize in that as a senior this year. I wouldn't even have him in the mix for field goals at this point. It's got to be either Grossnickle or Kirkwood (and Castor in the fall).
 
what is about posters named matt thompson????

uh, matt #2... opinions are awesome, but we do like folks to identify when they have an agenda... also, a "representative" of one player launching a scud against another player is a bit unseemly, don't ya think? we all agree our special teams have sucked big since the riddler rolled into town.
 
what is about posters named matt thompson????

uh, matt #2... opinions are awesome, but we do like folks to identify when they have an agenda... also, a "representative" of one player launching a scud against another player is a bit unseemly, don't ya think? we all agree our special teams have sucked big since the riddler rolled into town.

He did say "I sent them there I know what they can do." Could have been more clear, but he did divulge that he wasn't just a random fan on a rant. It's not ideal, but it wasn't a complete mis-representation, imo.

@kicker77 - Did anything happen today to make you post for the first time? (PM me if you don't feel comfortable posting. I'm very curious.)
 
This guy lost me with his "golden boy" take on Mason Crosby. Any suggestion that Mason was anything other than a total stud at CU is ridiculous.
 
For fans, so far this spring Marcus Kirkwood is just below 90% of all attempts, Goodman below 50%. You tell me whats going on

Well, you know your kickers, 77. It's a strange affinity that other people don't understand -- I get it. In my case (according to at least one other poster), it may be incurable.

When you say Kirkwood is below 90% of all attempts, do you mean he's only made 10%?
The one day I was able to watch practice, he didn't attempt any FGs. He watched the other kickers, standing along with two walk-ons, yet to be named.

And has the third unmentioned kicker done better than expected? Because all three are competing for FG duties. On my one visit, #3 was the clear leader, although since they each only attempted about 5 while I watched, it doesn't tell you much.

If you are still around the board, just know you can go back and edit your original post, if you choose to ... at any rate, I'd be happy to have a kicking conversation with you, but not sure you want your first post to have all that in it, especially if you've been identified. These guys are better than CSI at digging for clues.
 
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This guy lost me with his "golden boy" take on Mason Crosby. Any suggestion that Mason was anything other than a total stud at CU is ridiculous.

I honestly thought he meant that as a compliment. But kicker77 is correct: Crosby's stats went down (inexplicably) under the new coaching. There is some thought it was because he was allowed to attempted longer, and more unlikely, FGs, which brought down his percentage.
 
I thought Riddle didnt coach kickers? that they had their own personal coaches?

Clarification: almost all college kickers work with a personal coach or coaches, but sometimes that may only be a couple sessions a year, often in the summer, maybe in the spring. They must pay for this themselves, the college can't pay their kicking or punting coach. One reason Kip Smith jumped at the chance to go to UCLA was that HIS primary coach, Chris Sailer, lives in the LA neighborhood and runs weekend clinics almost year round. Kip will have his own "swing coach" on call when he needs to brush up. Sailer is a UCLA grad so he'll want Kip to succeed for many reasons.

But very few college kickers have a local coach they can use whenever. There are only a few local coaches in Colorado, the Matt Thompson referenced is one of them. He has worked with some of the CU kickers, past and present, and quite a few of the high school kickers in Colorado. There was an article that said Thompson worked with Goodman prior to the 2009 season to improve his steps and timing, which seemed to work for awhile. Also believe he worked with Grossnickle as part of the kicking combine series when that competition was held in Colorado. Not sure about Castor.

The kicking coach most associated with CU's program might be Paul Assad (aka the Kick Doctor), as he works with Riddle to run CU's annual kicking camp. Assad primarily works with pros in the NFL and arena league, and with college kickers looking to get drafted. Grossnickle and Castor are both students (off again, on again, as I understand it, when he's available) of Paul Assad. Mason Crosby is a student of Paul Assad's, too. But, from what I was told, Goodman is not. Regardless, Assad is only in Colorado a few times a year, so although he may be considered their primary kicking coach, they might not physically work with him during the season. They may fly to where he is when they need a refresher, but it's not like having a math tutor who lives on the next block.

So does Riddle coach the kickers? Dunno. But as much as I like kickers and punters, and follow that aspect of the game, I don't consider myself qualified to screw around with a kicker's style, timing, steps, etc. It takes some special experience and training to do so effectively, otherwise, those guys get too much information chattering in their heads and their technique falls apart. JMO.
 
I went to one practice and reported that the bad news is that Goodman looks better than the others in terms of how explosive the ball is off his foot and how quickly the ball gets high. I didn't keep track of "makes" as they were generally kicking 2-3 guys at a time (yes 3 balls in the air at once). Kirkwood looked like he took all day to kick it (timing wasn't there).

I am confident that Goodman can't win the job unless it's handed to him by the other kickers. High Confidence. Brimming with confidence.
 
. You tell me whats going on

Dan Hawkins is the coach... Don't think you need any more explanation than that..


Welcome to the board..



MattThompson coached our kickers? Is this the same guy that had email fight with valdezj and advocated CU fans to brawl the CSU students who rushed the field in the middle of Folsom Field after the loss?
 
Dan Hawkins is the coach... Don't think you need any more explanation than that..


Welcome to the board..



MattThompson coached our kickers? Is this the same guy that had email fight with valdezj and advocated CU fans to brawl the CSU students who rushed the field in the middle of Folsom Field after the loss?

Matt Thompson the kicking coach has got to be a different guy, unless the one in the pic we found was posing behind a collection of George Blanda and Tom Dempsey figurines.
 
Matt Thompson the kicking coach has got to be a different guy, ...

Yep, different guys.


There was a story about Thompson working with Goodman last year in the Camera, titled "Colorado-kicker-goodman-doing-the-two-step"
The title still shows up in searches, but all I get is the home page for the camera when I click the link. Maybe these will work.

Buffs kicker Goodman doing the two-step

Kyle Ringo
Posted: 03/17/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT

http://www.dailycamera.com/archives...ycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com#axzz0iLLjqhHu
 
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I really don't think the coaches care about the kicking game. I tried to help, I offered my services. I called and e-mailed. I dont want to get paid, I just want to help the kickers. All I ask is that they call and confirm they would like me to help. Never got a call! Oh well. I guess they get what they get.
 
I really don't think the coaches care about the kicking game. I tried to help, I offered my services. I called and e-mailed. I dont want to get paid, I just want to help the kickers. All I ask is that they call and confirm they would like me to help. Never got a call! Oh well. I guess they get what they get.

Its probably because you haven't been a coach before or you have never taken chances.
 
Buffs14 hit it on the head, they do not want help. FYI diff. Matt Thompson.

There has to be a competition this year for the spot, they said if anything went wrong last year they would pull the string. So maybe it happens this year. I can say this Grossnickle and Kirkwood are more consistent FG kickers, Aric has a stronger and faster leg. Castor will compete.
I have not seen him kick, only heard. Hope he is college ready.
By college ready, I mean kicking off the ground, which alot of kickers have trouble. Even last years all colorado kickers had a lot of trouble with the transition. like Hawk said today:
"You know, the great thing about kicking and punting by and large is you don`t have a lot of game plan to follow," Hawkins said. "It`s kind of who puts it through the most. So you can be a little bit more objective. There is not as much subjectivity to it. But, yeah, we figure Justin will get in the mix and he`ll compete." Who puts it through the most? thats happened the last few seasons.

I will say one thing in defense of CU coaches, scouting of kickers from high school to pro is piss poor. They do not know what to look for in a high school kicker or college kicker going to the pros. Most high school kickers going into college have not kicked off the ground a lot, there is a learning curve in going from a block to the ground. But college coaches do not look at that, they see a kid kick 65 yards off a block and love him. My clients are ready to kick in college right away, they start kicking off the ground during their soph. season, so by the time college comes they are ready to start.

Case in point 2 clients CU would not look at last year coming out of high school. Univ. of Wyoming kicker Ian Watts, freshman all american, 90% in reg season with 3 game winners. Took the pokes to a bowl game on his leg. Second, freshman David Van Voris of Adams St. All region kicker, 18-21 on the season. Also NFCA colorado chapter special teams player of the year, includes D1 kickers.

If Cu turns the special teams game around their season will improve dramatically!!
 
Kicker 77, I just want to make it clear that I was not intending to have you called out but it was obvious from your first post that you had some sort of relationship with kickers and punters. Not too many (read pretty much nobody) come here and their first post is a knowledgeable post about kickers.

I agree completely agree that if we see a drastic improvement in ST, the team will be a lot better. FG kicking was terrible again last year, PR was awful, KOR coverage was average. KR was the only slightly above average area.
 
this thread is yet another illustration that this staff can't ****ing coach. i hate to be a negative doom-sayer and all that, but for chrissakes... is there anything that these boise boys and friends do well? it ain't special teams. it ain't qbs. it ain't receivers. it ain't o-line. it ain't rbs. it aint d-line. maybe lbs... but that's because we've got cabral as a holdover. and maybe dbs (but that's because we had brownie who has now abandoned the sinking ship).

it is so depressing. we've got a bunch of guys who EVERYONE wanted on the o-line and at least 2 and maybe 3 guys who have a shot to get a look at the next level and does anyone honestly think they will be dominant this year? anyone?

****!
 
this thread is yet another illustration that this staff can't ****ing coach. i hate to be a negative doom-sayer and all that, but for chrissakes... is there anything that these boise boys and friends do well? it ain't special teams. it ain't qbs. it ain't receivers. it ain't o-line. it ain't rbs. it aint d-line. maybe lbs... but that's because we've got cabral as a holdover. and maybe dbs (but that's because we had brownie who has now abandoned the sinking ship).

it is so depressing. we've got a bunch of guys who EVERYONE wanted on the o-line and at least 2 and maybe 3 guys who have a shot to get a look at the next level and does anyone honestly think they will be dominant this year? anyone?

****!

GPAs??
 
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