Special Teams Issues

[F'n Hawks]

I thought the new kicker was supposed to kick touchbacks? Obviously not...  The field goal he missed today was short and 20 yards to the right, this could be a HUGE liability as the season moves forward.

Haven’t been impressed with our punts either.

Kickoff coverage seems to still be an issue.

 

[UND-FB-FAN]

To say kicker Brady Leach's play in the first two games is concerning is an understatement. 

From a punter standout the YouTube sensation Warren Taylor looks perhaps better than Cade Peterson.

Limited sample size with only 2 games but these special teams players are all freshmen and they sure look like it. 

[sioux24/7]

Remember when we were Kicker U?

[darell1976]

1 hour ago, sioux24/7 said:

Remember when we were Kicker U?

Who is our ST coach, cause he isn’t doing his job if our kickers are this horrible. Why isn’t he on the hot seat with Rudy.

[geaux_sioux]

2 hours ago, sioux24/7 said:

Remember when we were Kicker U?

That was when we recruited actual kickers not QBs who also happened to kick.

[Irish]

1 hour ago, darell1976 said:

Who is our ST coach, cause he isn’t doing his job if our kickers are this horrible. Why isn’t he on the hot seat with Rudy.

I fear Rudy is on the hot seat only on this board - Bubba seems to love him.  We recruited much better kickers when we were DII - this is on the coaches.

[Siouxphan27]

1 hour ago, darell1976 said:

Who is our ST coach, cause he isn’t doing his job if our kickers are this horrible. Why isn’t he on the hot seat with Rudy.

There is no hot seat under Bubba.  Love seat maybe, but no hot seat. 

[geaux_sioux]

23 minutes ago, Siouxphan27 said:

There is no hot seat under Bubba.  Love seat maybe, but no hot seat. 

If he doesn’t really succeed this season his seat will be white hot next year.

[Siouxphan27]

2 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

If he doesn’t really succeed this season his seat will be white hot next year.

I hope so. My comment was referring to Bubba’s undying commitment to his coaches, and no hot seat under them. 

[geaux_sioux]

Just now, Siouxphan27 said:

I hope so. My comment was referring to Bubba’s undying commitment to his coaches, and no hot seat under them. 

Can’t argue with that unfortunately.

[SIOUXFAN97]

didn't see the game...but leach's mised FG was "short" from 43 yards?

[F'n Hawks]

55 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

didn't see the game...but leach's mised FG was "short" from 43 yards?

And 20 yards to the right 

[zonadub]

On September 9, 2018 at 12:29 PM, F'n Hawks said:

And 20 yards to the right 

and bounced in the end zone

[Siouxperman8]

On 9/9/2018 at 8:40 AM, darell1976 said:

Who is our ST coach, cause he isn’t doing his job if our kickers are this horrible. Why isn’t he on the hot seat with Rudy.

Special teams coaches have very limited impact on the ability of the kickers. 

Rob Bollinger (among others) was the special teams coach when I played at UND.  He was a great coach and got us in the right positions but kicking is an individual skill.  Maybe things have changed but I rarely, if ever,  heard from him regarding kicking technique.

 

[Irish]

3 minutes ago, Siouxperman8 said:

Special teams coaches have very limited impact on the ability of the kickers. 

Rob Bollinger (among others) was the special teams coach when I played at UND.  He was a great coach and got us in the right positions but kicking is an individual skill.  Maybe things have changed but I rarely, if ever,  heard from him regarding kicking technique.

 

They do, however, have a big impact on who is recruited to kick.  No way our cupboard should be this bare.  And don't even mention our execution on returns.  

[Siouxperman8]

11 minutes ago, Irish said:

They do, however, have a big impact on who is recruited to kick.  No way our cupboard should be this bare.  And don't even mention our execution on returns.  

I don't know if the special teams coach recruits the kickers or not.  Back in the day different assistants recruited based on geography.

[UNDBIZ]

If Leach truly was booming them in practice and is struggling with confidence in games right now, that'd be something kind of tough for the coaches to predict/evaluate from practice. 

[Hawkster]

Just now, UNDBIZ said:

If Leach truly was booming them in practice and is struggling with confidence in games right now, that'd be something kind of tough for the coaches to predict/evaluate from practice. 

Sounds like he's becoming a head case in front of crowds.   That IMO is the worst thing that could happen and no amount of coaching is going to change it.   Leach is going to have to figure it out by himself I'm afraid.

[geaux_sioux]

15 minutes ago, Hawkster said:

Sounds like he's becoming a head case in front of crowds.   That IMO is the worst thing that could happen and no amount of coaching is going to change it.   Leach is going to have to figure it out by himself I'm afraid.

Gotta overload him in practice. Have him kick with the whole team talking !@#$, yelling,  throwing things at him, squirting him with water, anything to throw him off. Have him kick for conditioning. Anything to add pressure.

[UND-FB-FAN]

 

38 minutes ago, Siouxperman8 said:

I don't know if the special teams coach recruits the kickers or not.  Back in the day different assistants recruited based on geography.

Special teams coordinator Kostich recruited kicker Leach. 

Moorhead to Moorhead connection.

[SiouxFan100]

With our football teams of late it is one thing or another that are glaring weaknesses- ugh

maybe more accurately stated many things or others 

let’s work through it

[LeaveNoDoubt]

We know the kickoff coverage has been not good but has anybody noticed the punt coverage too? I swear it seemed like every time Santiago was back there it was him fair catching or having to let it bounce and 5 other teams jerseys around him. I noticed on at least one punt we weren’t even going for a block, looked like we were in nickel defense waiting for a fake or something. 

[F'n Hawks]

Great win today but special teams could still be an issue in the future. Our kickoff coverage did force a fumble but because our kicker gets it to about the 10 yard line opposing teams start around the 30-35 yard line. 

Another punt was blocked today. This has been an issue in recent years as well and is unacceptable. 

One would think that at some point this year a critical field goal will be needed and that fact scares the heck out of me.

[SiouxFan100]

And the block was a complete breakdown 

[geaux_sioux]

We need to recruit another kicker. I watched Leach warm up for the second half and he has terrible body language and struggled with 35 yard FGs. He had a few that looked good but you can tell he’s lacking confidence. Also, his inability to kickoff deep and with hangtime kills our coverage.