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AFM Magazine


The Search for The Winning Edge

Creating a Systematic Winning Edge with the Kicking Game
by: Jeff Reinebold
Rhein Fire
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The search for a winning edge drives those of us in the coaching profession. Look at the time and money spent by coaches in search of the latest wrinkle or new idea. We attend clinics, read magazines and books, and at every chance, swap ideas and experiences in hopes of building the proverbial better mouse trap.

George Allen, one of modern football's greatest innovators went out on a limb when he convinced the ownership of the Los Angeles Rams to allow him to hire Stanford assistant Dick Vermiel as the NFL's first special teams coach. For the first time, an NFL team had moved to prioritize the role of the kicking game. Since that day, men like Rusty Tillman, Bill Cowher, Scott O'Brien, Frank Ganz, Bobby April, Joe Avezzano and Joe Marciano have elevated the position of special teams coach in the NFL and advanced the science and strategies employed in the coaching of the kicking game.

Be sound in your overall approach to the kicking game. The winning edge is not necessarily a trick play or a gimmick, it's sound play that contributes to the overall team scheme and objective, which ultimately is to win the game. Beyond that, all of the special teams goals are reflective of what it historically takes to succeed as a winning special teams unit in pro football. After researching stats in the NFL Europe since the league resumed play in 1995, these are the goals that we felt were reflective of what it takes to create an edge in the kicking game.

Rhein Fire Kicking Game Goals 2000:

1) Win

2) Punt avg. of 38 net yards

3) Punt return avg. of 10 yards per return

4) Out punt our opponent (net)

5) Hold opponent inside the 25-yard line on kickoff coverage

6) DSA (drive start average) of the 30-yard line on kick return team

7) Out DSA our opponent

8) More kicking points than our opponent

9) At least two big plays in the kicking game

10) No big plays against the kicking game

11) Zero penalties against the kicking game

Be passionate. We are asking our athletes to perform above and beyond the call of duty. Few players will initially volunteer for the kicking units. Not very many athletes approach the kicking game with the passion that two of our kicking game standouts did in 1999 - linebacker Jamie Baisley, who went to training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and current Dallas Cowboys fullback Robert Thomas. Every team has the potential to have guys like that, and it is the special teams coach's job to locate those guys and use their passion for the game to develop a unit's pride. Remember it all starts with you. You cannot expect them to give it up for you if you're not willing to give it up for them.

Be demanding. We grade each and every kicking play and the performance of every player. This is a tremendous amount of work, especially in the NFLE, where we all coach another position and we must write reports each week back to the parent clubs on all of our allocated players. Again, it boils down to a simple fact: if it is important to you, it will become important to them.

We post the names of athletes who give us winning efforts in each game. Over the course of the season, we keep a running tally of plus-points awarded. It's amazing to see how closely the athletes follow the scores and how they compete with one another. Additionally, we post a game evaluation on our board so all can see where we did well and what areas need to improve.

As we look at all facts of the kicking game, we divide the total picture into six subgroups: punt, punt defense, kickoff coverage, kickoff return, field goal and field goal defend. Let's begin by looking at what we consider the highest-priority kicking situation: the punt game.

Punt Coverage Lanes

Discipline in lane distribution is vital to success in punt coverage. Each member of the punt team will have an assigned landmark to run through (see diagram one). Our coverage philosophy is to run through your landmark then squeeze to the football as we "close the cage" on the return man.

Punt Coverage Landmarks

Diagram 1

Key Punt Concepts

• Know and understand punt protection principles. Protect first, cover second.

• Run through your landmark. Converge on the football by running through the near leg of the returner.

• Come to balance in the open field. This does not mean break down, but lower your base as you get to the moment of truth.

• Turnover mentality: gang tackle and get the ball out.

• Attention to detail: listen to the punter's directional calls: Red= punted ball right, White= punted ball in the middle, Blue= punted ball left.

Punt Defense Concepts

Blocks and returns are our opportunity to create big plays. Our main initiative in punt defense is to establish ball possession and field position. Points are a bonus. A punt block or big return is a momentum changer for us, and a demoralizer for our opponent.

Ball Security

We must understand that we are gaining possession of the football from our opponent. We never want to create a situation where our opponent can maintain possession of the ball.

Penalty Avoidance

The field-position battle can be won and lost on yellow flags. Penalties are the product of lazy or undisciplined players.

Trust

All 11 players must believe in our ability to create a big play on every trip. Commit yourself to your assignment and give yourself to the scheme. Don't wait to see if you have a chance to make a block or get free to the block point. If all 11 give themselves each trip out, a bond of trust will develop and the big plays will happen.

Punt Return

Take advantage of the fact that the interior linemen cannot leave the line of scrimmage prior to the punt. By delaying the cover people's release into coverage with good holdups, we create working space for our return man. Returns are won or lost on the line of scrimmage.

Middle Daylight Return

Diagram 2

C and RWB are free - they both belong to the return man.

Right Return

Diagram 3

FB and LWB are free, they belong to the returner. Holdup side: put your head in the outside gap and force an inside release. If your man is determined to release outside, flatten him. Peel side: rush for three steps and peel then run for the return man. Return man: run for the holdup side until you are forced back to the peel blocks.


Left Middle Return

Diagram 4

Center is the only free guy. L4 will lie in the weeds to trap the guard. Return man needs to set up the trap by the L4. 5's are singled up outside and must win to give the returner a chance.

Keys to Punt Rush

• Clue the football and get off first. Attack with pad level - get skinny or dent your way to the "free zone."

• Break to the block point once you've cleared the inside blocker.

• At the block point, explode your eyes to the football - take the ball off of the punter's foot.

• Attack the double-team versus the zone. Bump position.

• Attack rookies and subs. Make them play.

• Go after punt blocks to force the protection to be honest

KICKOFF COVERAGE
Key Concepts

• Our goal is to hold our opponents to the 25-yard line or less on all kickoff returns.

• Kickoff coverage is a test of our collective toughness. There is no place for the faint of heart.

• The kicker's job is to give us both hang time and placement on all kickoffs. We want a minimum four-second hang time on any returnable kick.

• The best kickoff is the one that isn't returned.

• Collisions don't enhance your ability to get to the football - avoid contact with the first wall of blockers, then realign yourself in your proper lane. Attack any second level blockers.

• When attacking the wedge, we can never cancel one-for-one - run through and blow up the wedge.
Deep Right Kickoff

Diagram 5

Deep Middle Kickoff

Diagram 6

Deep Left Kickoff

Diagram 7

KICKOFF RETURN

Middle Wedge Return

Diagram 8

Wedge Right Return

Diagram 9

Right Return

Diagram 10

FIELD GOAL AND FIELD GOAL DEFEND
Key Concepts

• This is never a routine play. One team is trying to move the scoreboard, the other is trying to prevent it from moving - take this play off and you can get beat.

• We need effort and technique out of everyone for 1.25 - 1.35 seconds. We're not asking a lot.

• Just as in any offensive or defensive situation, we stress technique. It is critical for the inside people, in particular, to understand the concept that low man wins.

• Most field goals and extra points are blocked up the middle. Protection has to be firm inside-out.

• Rushers who give effort and get their hands up stand the best chance of getting a block.

Field Goal Protection

Diagram 11

Fire Call

Diagram 12

Field Goal Pick-Pass Right

Diagram 13

Field Goal Screen Left

Diagram 14

FIELD GOAL DEFEND

Middle Push Safe

Diagram 15

MLB will push the DT who is lined up over the block point. Corners rush and pull off on their third step to contain and check boot if the ball goes away. SSFS step to then soften to cover the WB. S & W: man-to-man on the TE. On the hash, the MLB will slide the front to get more hands to the block point.

Block Right

Diagram 16

Rush side: attack the block point. Block right or left also tells the MLB where his coverage responsibility is. Rush-side OLB: grab and pull the TE down on you. S on the rush side: jump through the D gap.

EDGE RUSH TECHNIQUES

2 on 1 Situation

Diagram 17

INSIDE RUSHER: Align cocked to the inside shoulder of the wingback. Take off with your outside foot and cross the line of scrimmage on your second step, then jump over and step through the C gap between the tight end and wing back. On your third step, flatten or step to the block point. If the wingback closes on you, occupy him. This will allow a short corner for the outside rusher. We can't allow one man to block two of us.

Outside Rusher Align cocked to the inside with your outside foot back. Align wide enough to get a good, tight angle to the block point (4.5 yards from the football). Take your first step with your outside foot across the line of scrimmage, second step with your inside foot, then on your third step plant off your outside foot and redirect to the block point with your arms extended. Have big eyes to the ball and lay out every time.


Diagram 18

GAP RUSHERS: Align in a track stance - butt up - looking in at the football. Communicate to one another prior to the snap and reinforce takeoff and effort. s

(Editor's Note: Although we traditionally we include multiple clinic articles in each edition of the magazine, this issue we chose to include an expanded, A-to-Z article on special teams. We hope it serves you well - JD)






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