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In the Heart of Special Teams: Your Best Opportunity to Gain a Competitive Advan

by: Mike Tressel
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At the University of Cincinnati, we believe that special teams is one area of the game where you can gain a significant advantage over your opponent simply through the commitment of your best players and the commitment of your entire coaching staff. In this article I will share ideas on how we attempt to get our players to buy into special teams and how we attempt to “out coach” our opponents.

    Whether you coach high school, college or in the pros, each one of us sells the fact that special teams is the only phase of the game where we can unite the best players from offense and defense. It is also emphasized that each player put as much focus and heart into each special teams snap as offense or defense. I believe the same principal must be applied to a coaching staff. At UC, coaching special teams is a total group effort. The best coaches on your staff must have a significant role and it must not be secondary to the other phases of the game.

  A high level of commitment from the coaching staff must come from the top down. Coaches must understand they are being evaluated on the performance of their special teams players, not just their position players on offense and defense. Everyone must believe special teams play a huge role in winning football games and they are responsible for the special teams success!  As much as possible, break down special teams units into multiple position meetings. Let your coaches coach; it is inefficient to have all your players in one room listening to a single coach. Give players individual attention and coaches more responsibility / accountability. Also remember, coaches, like players, must perform on GAMEDAY!  Coaching special teams must take place on Saturday's too. Oftentimes position coaches have small special teams coaching assignments during the week but on game day they are buried in call sheets for the other phases. We assign every coach a job for each special teams snap during a game (See Special Teams Game Day Assignment Chart, Diagram 1).

Diagram 1. Special Teams Game Day Assignment Chart

 This allows us to identify how and opponent is attacking us and to correct any assignment / technique problems we are having. One set of eyes cannot evaluate 22 players. It takes an entire staff to do detailed game day analysis.

    To get this level of commitment from players requires some creativity. The immediate feedback of grades for each special teams play are handed out at our first meeting on Sunday, prior to grades from the other phases. In the past, we have awarded dog tags for superior performances or utilized helmet decals, which can be manipulated to reward those who perform well on special teams. In addition, make sure practicing special teams is not a punishment. Often special teams players are required to attend more meetings and run more sprints over the course of a week. This may be unavoidable but find ways to reward rather than punish!

    Once you have your best coaches and players committed to special teams, you can work towards capitalizing on your personnel advantage. Although we all work hard to maintain sound schemes and perfection in assignment, I believe the fine techniques often go unaddressed once the season begins. These techniques would be under constant scrutiny in other phases of football. At UC we have adopted a “Special Teams Circuit” that is designed to give us a daily time slot dedicated to special teams technique. By adding two minutes to our traditional ten minute Specialists / Stretch period, we have been able to see significant improvement in all phases of special teams. The circuit is composed of three four-minute periods:

I.      Specialists / Stretch
II.      Daily Circuit #1
III.      Daily Circuit #2

    During the first period all position players warm up with their position coaches. Specialists will have completed their warm up pre-practice and will go through a pre-assigned routine of traditional kicks. Periods two and three are the true emphasis of the circuit. Each day two special teams phases work on techniques that do not receive essential coaching during normal practice hours, while specialists work on alternative kicks (See Special Teams Circuit, Diagram 2).

Diagram 2. Special Teams Chart

    The punt team, for example, uses Day 1, Circuit 1 to work release techniques versus the hold-up. On Day 2, Circuit 1, the punt team works a coverage leverage / net drill. Notice that punt footwork and protection are not part of the punt circuit. They get the majority of the emphasis during our traditional punt team periods (See Punt Drills, Diagrams 3-5). The punt return team will typically emphasize weekly block and return schemes during team periods. The punt return team uses Day 3, circuit 1 to work various hold-up techniques and finishes. Day 4, Circuit 1 is dedicated to punt block technique (See Punt Return Drills, Diagrams 6-9).
Diagram 3. Punt Drills Phase 1| Releases


Diagram 4. Punt Drills Phase 2| Releases


Diagram 5. Punt Drills: Coverage Net


Diagram 6. Punt Return Drills | Phase 1


Diagram 7. Punt Return Drills | Phase 2


Diagram 8. Punt Return Drills | Phase 3


Diagram 9. Punt Block Drill

Drills used by the kick-off and kick-off return teams are listed in the Special Teams Circuit chart. These are simply the drills our staff believes our players need. One of the circuit’s greatest strengths is its flexibility. It can be changed based on any team’s needs. NOTE: specialists and offensive players go through tackling drills two times each week during the circuit!

    In general, your opponents use lesser players and fewer coaches to prepare their special units. You must take advantage of this situation. Use your best personnel, coaches and players alike and make it important to them. Also, in addition to your schemes, use a Special Teams Circuit to emphasize those techniques that are too often ignored. By focusing on these two areas you will improve as a TEAM! 


About the Author Mike Tressel Mike Tressel joined the UC coaching staff in 2004 as both linebackers and special teams coach. He previously served two seasons at Ohio State where he contributed to the Buckeyes' 2002 national championship. Tressel also coached at Wartburg College for four seasons (1998-2001) where he was offensive line coach for three seasons and offensive coordinator for one. A four-year starter in the secondary for Cornell College (IA), Tressel graduated in 1996 and began his coaching career at South Dakota. Questions? If you have any questions you can email the author at: MikeTressel@AmericanFootballMonthly.com





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