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Special Teams Concerns

They shouldn't, we should have some of the best kicking in the nation every year. It used to be something I never worried about with CU.
 
There's got to be a better option than retaining Neinas. Can't we just switch him over to the empty hydration engineer position?
 
Why we do our kickoffs teh way we do... I have no idea. nothing makes sense there.

Crossing my fingers that they wanted to practice returns & coverage so the short kickoffs were on purpose. Hell, you could kick the ball to the 5 yard line and we saw Diego nail a 55 yard fg that had a lot of distance to spare. Maybe this is just a case of forgetting we were watching a practice instead of an actual game scrimmage and that they were practicing something other than "Diego, kick it out of the end zone." Otherwise, it does't make sense to me that the kickoffs were so short and returnable.
 
Well it doesn't make much sense to me, especially in Boulder, to not just put that bitch through the zone. Depending where you are on the road and the situation, I can see like a short angling kick or something. Why have your coverage teams cover when it's not necessary?
 
So, if special teams end up being better than expected, will you guys be jumping on the Neinas bandwagon?
 
Everyone being not worried about kinney bc he was the #2 punter in the country... just remember aric goodman was the #1 kicker. :eek:
 
Everyone being not worried about kinney bc he was the #2 punter in the country... just remember aric goodman was the #1 kicker. :eek:
NO, he wasn't. Wasn't even the No 1 kicker in Colorado. That's why he ended up in WYO, remember? He transferred back to CU.
 
Neinas had two years with a couple of the most consistent kickers/punters in program history and his special teams STILL sucked. God knows what it's going to be like this year. I'm very, very concerned, particularly after reading about what happened in the scrimmage. This is pathetic.
 
Neinas had two years with a couple of the most consistent kickers/punters in program history and his special teams STILL sucked. God knows what it's going to be like this year. I'm very, very concerned, particularly after reading about what happened in the scrimmage. This is pathetic.

Explain. I never saw them give up points on a procedure penalty or allow blocked kicks or punts. How are breakdowns in player execution the coach's responsibility? In practice, a kid runs in his lane perfectly and finishes hard a hundred times, yet in a game he slows up or cheats out of his lane. That's on the player, not the coach.

SR kicker misses three at Cal, says he misjudged the wind. SR punter hits a line drive punt vs. UW when a pooch punt is called for. Those are execution mistakes, not coaching errors.
 
kick coverage was weak, the rugby punting never worked and as for penalties...they were offside like 10 times on kickoffs last year
 
Explain. I never saw them give up points on a procedure penalty or allow blocked kicks. How are breakdowns in player execution the coach's responsibility? In practice, a kid runs in his lane perfectly and finishes hard a hundred times, yet in a game he slows up or cheats out of his lane. That's on the player, not the coach.

SR kicker misses three at Cal, says he misjudged the wind. SR punter hits a line drive punt vs. UW when a pooch punt is called for. Those are execution mistakes, not coaching errors.
You don't see a significant relationship between coaching and game day execution?
 
You don't see a significant relationship between coaching and game day execution?


Tells me that the players aren't afraid of losing their position. I suppose that also means they have little fear or respect for the position coach.

The good news is that this issue can be rectified.
 
Playing the Devil's advocate, one reason we had issues on offense and, especially defense was because, I think most agree, of our youth and inexperience. And those were our starters. Special teams had as much or more inexperience. Why do we write off the offensive and defensive issues on inexperience but not give special teams the same consideration?
 
Tells me that the players aren't afraid of losing their position. I suppose that also means they have little fear or respect for the position coach.

The good news is that this issue can be rectified.
From an accountability perspective, I'd argue that coaches are there to achieve on field results, and that's the standard by which they're judged. Schemes are only part of that process.

That is mostly aimed at Buffenuf, by the way.

DBT, in response to your advocacy of the Devil, do you think it's fair to say that we've seen less progress in special teams than we have in other units? Also, I think many might argue that experience matters less in special teams that it does on offense and defense.
 
You don't see a significant relationship between coaching and game day execution?

Of course there is a direct correlation, but eventually, players have to make plays when they're in the right position. From a defensive standpoint, JL can call the perfect blitz or coverage, but if Crawley doesn't turn and look for the ball, or Gillam doesn't make the tackle, is that on Leavitt as a coach?
 
Of course there is a direct correlation, but eventually, players have to make plays when they're in the right position. From a defensive standpoint, JL can call the perfect blitz or coverage, but if Crawley doesn't turn and look for the ball, or Gillam doesn't make the tackle, is that on Leavitt as a coach?
Yes to Crawley, no to Gillam.
 
Answer to your last question. Yes.

Serious question (no troll): Are you familiar with the relationship between responsibility, authority and accountability?
 
Answer to your last question. Yes.

Serious question (no troll): Are you familiar with the relationship between responsibility, authority and accountability?

More or less and I'm open to hearing what you mean, as it relates to this discussion (serious, no snark).
 
That is how to have a civil conversation right there. In case anyone here might need pointers on how to disagree and talk about it nicely.
 
Explain. I never saw them give up points on a procedure penalty or allow blocked kicks or punts. How are breakdowns in player execution the coach's responsibility? In practice, a kid runs in his lane perfectly and finishes hard a hundred times, yet in a game he slows up or cheats out of his lane. That's on the player, not the coach.

SR kicker misses three at Cal, says he misjudged the wind. SR punter hits a line drive punt vs. UW when a pooch punt is called for. Those are execution mistakes, not coaching errors.
Kick and punt coverage was horrible, pretty much all year long. Yes, it did improve slightly as the year went on, but moving from abysmal to dreadful isn't exactly cause for celebration. Our return game was equally inept. This has nothing to do with the kickers themselves, but on making sure the right players are in the right position to make a play on special teams. That just didn't happen the way it should last year.

Special teams is important. Really important. Neither Hawkins nor Embree seemed to give a sh*t about it, and I'm afraid MM doesn't, either. It's a problem.
 
More or less and I'm open to hearing what you mean, as it relates to this discussion (serious, no snark).
Responsibility is the task, or the job itself. For the case of Coach Leavitt, the entire defense is his responsibility.
Authority refers to the resources and oversight to do the job.
Accountability is the stand tall and face the music aspect of the job. No excuses.

Responsibility and accountability can never be transferred. Not ever.

However, new responsibilities and accountabilities can be created.

So Coach Leavitt creates a new responsibility and accountability for Crawley to know the playbook, his role in the playbook. Coach gives him the authorities to do his job and holds him accountable. Just because Coach Leavitt holds Crawley accountable, does not mean he himself is NOT accountable. He is. He can't give that accountability away. Ever.

So if Crawley fails to look back, you bet that he's accountable for his failure. And he must be held accountable. But it's still on Coach Leavitt, because he's accountable for the defense. So he doesn't get a pass. Not one. Either does the Head Coach.

And here's how it works in its proper execution.

Example one. DBs play a great game and the press tries to give credit to Coach Leavitt. Coach Leavitt responds and says, "those guys played lights out tonight. KC was really doing a great job of looking back in stride and fighting the ball to make make a play."

Example two. Crawley looks like **** and, even though he's in position, he repeatedly fails to make a play. The press (or HCMM) ask Coach Leavitt what happened, Coach Leavitt says, "That's on me. Period."

Accountability can never be transferred. But new accountability can be created.
 
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