Special teams

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Hawks86
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Special teams

Post by Hawks86 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:07 am

Anybody have a subscription that can give a recap of the article?



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Re: Special teams

Post by Bozcat003 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:10 am

“ Other Bobcats assistants will take on some of the special teams duties. Wide receivers coach Justin Udy will work with punt and kickoff return teams, while Risinger will coach punt return and kickoff. The field goal unit will be led through a collective effort by offensive line coach Brian Armstrong, tight ends coach Nate Potter and Vigen. Meanwhile, Vigen will teach punters and kickers.”

“ “Honestly, the percentage of standalone special teams coordinators is pretty low where you don’t overlap with a coaching position,” Vigen told the Chronicle. “I think BJ, what he brought was a unique combination of Montana knowledge, recruiting and then I think the continuation of what they had done special teams-wise, so I was willing to pivot a little bit.”



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Re: Special teams

Post by Team10 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:15 am

I sense a poor showing in the special teams area this season, specifically punt and kick returns.



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Re: Special teams

Post by Hawks86 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:18 am

Thanks 003.


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Re: Special teams

Post by mslacatfan » Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:55 am

Hmmmmm... that makes me a little nervous. Special teams will win or lose you games. Hope this doesn’t cause any issues.


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Re: Special teams

Post by coloradocat » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:02 am

So we went from having a ST Coordinator and a HC with FBS ST experience to no ST Coordinator and a HC with the philosophy "how hard can it be"?


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Re: Special teams

Post by Montanabob » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:15 am

Team10 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:15 am
I sense a poor showing in the special teams area this season, specifically punt and kick returns.
I sense a different punting style, no rolling kicks and a lot of hang time/fair catches. Kicking off will be deep and high in the corners.


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Re: Special teams

Post by VimSince03 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:20 am

Special Teams Ranks from 2016-2019:

Kick Return Average:

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 2nd
2019 - 4th

Punt Return Average:

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 2nd
2019 - 3rd

Kickoff Coverage (Net/Kick):

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 11th
2019 - 2nd

Punt Coverage (Net/Punt):

2016 - 4th
2017 - 2nd
2018 - 5th
2019 - 4th

Field Goal %:

2016 - 6th
2017 - 9th
2018 - 5th
2019 - 9th


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Re: Special teams

Post by AFCAT » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:26 am

Vim entering the forum with facts.

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Re: Special teams

Post by Hawks86 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am

Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.


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Re: Special teams

Post by AFCAT » Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:36 am

Hawks86 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am
Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.
Elijah Elliott could be dangerous on kick and punt return, Charles Brown too.


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Re: Special teams

Post by VimSince03 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:24 am

Hawks86 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am
Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.
I mean for what its worth, special teams looked fine during the spring game. Fine meaning it didn't look like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Again everyone, Vigen is a coach who has a mindset of "run the ball, stingy defense, and win the field position battle". If his current arrangement fails, he'll adjust just like Choate did for four years.


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Re: Special teams

Post by wbtfg » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:59 am

Special teams under Choate was fine, I didn’t think it was anything…..uh….special. Had some good days and some bad days. Kick coverage was probably our best aspect.



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Re: Special teams

Post by catatac » Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:09 am

AFCAT wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:36 am
Hawks86 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am
Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.
Elijah Elliott could be dangerous on kick and punt return, Charles Brown too.
I still think TA should return punts, and kicks..... :lol:

Mainly joking, I understand the risks there - but talk about electric.


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Re: Special teams

Post by TomCat88 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:49 am

VimSince03 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:20 am
Special Teams Ranks from 2016-2019:

Kick Return Average:

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 2nd
2019 - 4th (Wyoming was 1st)

Punt Return Average:

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 2nd
2019 - 3rd (Wyoming was 4th)

Kickoff Coverage (Net/Kick):

2016 - 2nd
2017 - 10th
2018 - 11th
2019 - 2nd (Wyoming was 1st)

Punt Coverage (Net/Punt):

2016 - 4th
2017 - 2nd
2018 - 5th (Wyoming was 5th)
2019 - 4th

Field Goal %:

2016 - 6th
2017 - 9th
2018 - 5th
2019 - 9th (Wyoming was 9th)
See Wyoming's rank for 2019 in parenthesis.


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Re: Special teams

Post by Team10 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:04 pm

Montanabob wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:15 am
Team10 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:15 am
I sense a poor showing in the special teams area this season, specifically punt and kick returns.
I sense a different punting style, no rolling kicks and a lot of hang time/fair catches. Kicking off will be deep and high in the corners.
I'm not worried about the Bobcats kicking the ball, I'm worried about what the Cats return teams are going to look like.



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Re: Special teams

Post by kennethnoisewater » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:51 pm

If you look around the country, there are a lot of places that don't have dedicated ST coaches. It's usually a position coach/ST Coordinator role. At NDSU, which I'm sure is Vigen's model for most things, they don't even list special teams at all on their coaching staff. Wyoming has co-defensive coordinators. One coaches TE's and Fullbacks, the other coaches cornerbacks.

I realize I'm over-simplifying, but ultimately everything besides the actual kicking and punting in ST is just offense or defense, just a different formation. I don't mind it. Most of--if not all--the ST players are getting coached by these position coaches anyway. As long as it's not an offensive/defensive coordinator trying to take on that role, I don't mind it. I definitely don't think it's a "how hard can it be" attitude by Vigen as was mentioned.


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Re: Special teams

Post by TomCat88 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:41 pm

How many different plays, coverages, formations do special teams have? Obviously you have to work on anything if you want to become proficient at it, but what percentage of time in practice is dedicated to special teams? Does each unit (kick cover, punt cover, kick return, punt return, FGs/XPs) have a lot of different players or is there one core group? Seems like FGs/XPs would be primarily OL/TEs. Not sure about the rest. Just seems like teams are deemed good at STs (aside from the K and P) after the fact, while most offenses and defenses are known commodities going into the season.


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Re: Special teams

Post by Cataholic » Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:51 pm

catatac wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:09 am
AFCAT wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:36 am
Hawks86 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am
Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.
Elijah Elliott could be dangerous on kick and punt return, Charles Brown too.
I still think TA should return punts, and kicks..... :lol:

Mainly joking, I understand the risks there - but talk about electric.
Haha!! Would be entertaining to say the least!

Not seriously thinking that he should return kicks or punts, but curious if he did that in high school? Does anybody know?



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Re: Special teams

Post by Montanabob » Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:43 pm

Cataholic wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:51 pm
catatac wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:09 am
AFCAT wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:36 am
Hawks86 wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:31 am
Coy Steele returns as a PR. Several young guys could be very exciting on KR. We have the 2nd rated punter in the nation. Sullivan is a very good long snapper. Kickers might be a question mark until actual games are played.

I'm glad Howe is coaching the DL, but I don't think he is here long term, which is why Pilapil was brought in. I think we have a solo ST coord. in a year or two.
Elijah Elliott could be dangerous on kick and punt return, Charles Brown too.
I still think TA should return punts, and kicks..... :lol:

Mainly joking, I understand the risks there - but talk about electric.
Haha!! Would be entertaining to say the least!

Not seriously thinking that he should return kicks or punts, but curious if he did that in high school? Does anybody know?
So have him block for Charlie brown and steel on a Sprint down the field. As Mr T would say, I pity the fool who gets in the way.


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