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WHO’S GOT THE BEST SPECIAL TEAMS IN YOUR CONFERENCE?

by: Mike Slovick
Assistant Football Coach, Saint Xavier University
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At our first team meeting with our football squad in August before we opened camp I stated my goal as the special team’s coordinator was to produce the best special teams in the conference and win the national championship. When we finished our season we were co champions of the Midwest Football Association’s Western Division for which Saint Xavier University received the automatic bid to the NAIA Championship Series. In the final coaches’ poll Saint Xavier University was ranked 7th in the country. Needless to say after our season ended (2005) a couple of our special team players asked me how we finished in the conference with our special teams. I sat at my office desk and said “Ok Coach Slovick – Who had the best special teams in the conference?"

As a member of the Mid-States Football Association we are fortunate to have Larry Alter compile and publish all of our conference statistics. We could not have completed this study without his information. This is the process we developed in determning the best special teams play.

Method:

I used statistical data in the four running specialties to comprise the final overall ranking. I did not use field goal/extra point protection or pressure in our statistical analysis. We may find those teams’ statistical information useful in a future study. Within the four special teams of kickoff return, punt protection, punt pressure and return, and kickoff coverage, I used nine individual categories. Within those nine categories I ranked the results1 to 8 in the Western Division of the Mid-States Football Association and 1 to 9 for those teams in the Eastern Division of the MSFA. I also ranked the results 1 to 17 overall as to compare all 17 teams in the MSFA. I then added that school’s individual ranking points (1 being the best or highest with 8, 9 or 17 being the lowest) of all nine categories together to find the overall rank of that school in its respective division and overall within the association.

For those math majors who are coordinating special teams, you may want to use a value criteria or value matrix for your special team study. Since I only have my master’s degree in Physical Education I did try to keep it simple. I do believe in Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) when he stated “Count what is countable, measure what is measurable, and what is not measurable, make measurable.” For my study all categories were weighted equally. I did not use statistics from playoff games.

Explanation of individual categories with my concerns:

(A) Kickoff Return – I used the total yardage returned divided by the number of returns to obtain the average. Concern – Although as a special teams’ coach we are all interested in a return average, I believe since so many teams are squib kicking, directional kicking, and lobbing kickoffs, your average return yardage will suffer. I believe you must keep track of where the offense starts its first play after that kickoff.

(B) Average Number of Punts Per Game – This category is a true reflection of all phases of your teams play. The fewer times you punt the ball in a game the better.

(C) Punting Average – Your punter likes to rank high in his category. Concern – In the SXU special team game goals we do subtract the 20 yards of a touchback from the punter’s net yards. They Don’t Like That!! You must also account for good pooch kicks!

(D) Average Return Against – This is a great look at your team’s coverage. We use an Individual Productivity Chart for every player on every special team. Punt coverage is extremely important.

(E) Punting Net – This is a true figure and takes into account all phases of your punting game – Long snapping – protection – punting – coverage and tackling. Your best players have to be on this team.

(F) Punt Return Average – To get the true picture of this category you must look at the number of punts returned and the yards. Concern – Your punt returner should be your best athlete. He must be fearless. I will draw a few analogies to baseball. Like a shortstop or centerfielder, he wants the ball hit to him in a critical situation. He likes the pressure. He will get to every ball hit in his area. I hate seeing that football hitting the ground and rolling. Not fielding a punt in a crucial situation may cost your team 15 or more hidden yards in your statistics. (We keep track of that too!) By the way, Ted Williams always stated hitting a round ball with a round bat was the hardest thing in sports. If that’s number 1, 1A is catching a 39 yard punt with a 4.3 second hang time with a 20 mph wind in your face looking into the sun with 10 opponents wanting to do you harm.

(G) Punt Pressure – This category takes into account touchdowns scored with your punt pressure team. This would happen with your returns for touchdowns and your punts blocked for touchdowns. Concern – Statistically our conference does not keep all blocks; that is, punts, field goals and extra points. I think this data would be very interesting for future study.

(H)% of Kickoff Touchbacks – This category indicates the strength of your kicker’s leg.
Concern – This is another category that is very important because you must realize the percentage of kickoff’s that are returned during the season. Your kickoff coverage team must be highly organized to give your defense the advantage of good field position.

(I) Average Kickoff Return Against – Coordinating your kicker with the coverage unit is very important. Only a few yards separate the top from the bottom in this category.
Concern – I feel the yardage is secondary to where your opponent starts his offense. It’s the type of your kick, your coverage, his return and starting field position that is important.

Conclusion: I call this method of finding which team in your conference has the best special teams, the CSM – Coach Slovick Method. I realize it may have some flaws, but I will try to improve upon the CSM in the future. As the head coach or special team’s coordinator you will see just how you compare to the other team in your division and also your league. The CSM will give you an indication of your strengths and weaknesses. The spring time or off season is a great time to study your opponent’s schemes, your own schemes and personnel along with new information from clinics, videos and articles. As I reviewed the results I was amazed how close the correlation is between success with special teams and conference standings. I know plenty of coaches preach the gospel of possession time, plus and minus turnover ratio and running the ball vs. passing the ball for winning football games. STOP: If you want to win – produce quality special teams. The better your special teams, the better chances your squad has of winning a conference championship. The poorer your special teams, the lower you will finish in your conference.

At this time I want to thank our Head Coach Mike Feminis who started the tradition of outstanding special teams at Saint Xavier University. I also want to thank Coach Tom Kujawa (our kicking coach), Coach John D’Ambrosio and our video guru Eric Schreiber. Any comments or suggestions would be received at E-mail: slovick@sxu.edu





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