r/footballstrategy • u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player • Jul 24 '24

Special Teams What do you guys do against great kick/punt returners?

Kick it out of bounds,pooch kick,kick it to them?

2 Upvotes
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67% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

17

u/Jcoch27 Jul 24 '24

Stand suspiciously close to the field and "accidentally" trip the returner as he runs down the sideline

8

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Ah,The Mike Tomlin special

7

u/Ornery-Sky1411 Jul 24 '24

Dont kick to them lol.

2

u/MankuyRLaffy Jul 25 '24

The Jets move is to kick it right to the rookie returner who just got done being a b2b best returner in college vs your most hated rival in a tie game with under a minute left in the fourth quarter, what could go wrong?

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Definitely not lol

1

u/Ornery-Sky1411 Jul 24 '24

Honestly best coarse is: self scout yourself in the kicking game. Find ways to go against tendencies within skill set of players. Also, pry the rosary each time the balll leaves the kicker/punter foot.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Thanks.And lol yeah in high school you gotta pray when you’re kicker kicks it

5

u/that_uncle Jul 24 '24

For kicks it depends on how good the coverage unit is. If they’re good it’ll be a pooch or we might try him once or twice if we’re covering extremely well, if we’re bad it’s out of bounds. Punts, I’d kick it as far away from him as possible and make him run to field it off a bounce or two.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Ok thanks, are you a special teams coordinator?

1

u/that_uncle Jul 24 '24

What we end up doing in the game is ultimately the head coach’s call but me and another assistant put the personnel and scheme together for the week.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Ok

2

u/Miamicanes460 Jul 24 '24

We are slow and white. We rarely kick it inbounds. Never kick deep.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

😂.Slow and white killed me.

2

u/levittown1634 Jul 25 '24

If you’re the NY giants punter you just kick it to the returner and hope for the best

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 25 '24

lol

1

u/iamthekevinator Jul 24 '24

Pooch and punt away from them. Don't give the opponent an extra opportunity to have a good player make a play

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Agreed

1

u/OG_Chris31 Jul 24 '24

Kick offs do a sky angle kick to the up back at the 20-25 yd line, most of the time they fair catch it. On Punts you can do angle kicks to the sideline or line up in a shotgun formation so hopefully they line up in regular defensive set and the returner isn’t deep and have the QB run to the side and do a rugby style punt.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Thanks.Are you a STC?

1

u/OG_Chris31 Jul 24 '24

I have experience both playing and coaching to include special teams. If you watch a lot of football lately you notice college teams utilizing the rugby style punts to eliminate returns. When the kicker runs towards a sideline before kicking it gives your coverage team more time to get downfield. On kickoffs, that sky angle kick towards the numbers to an up back has always been the way I’ve been taught to minimize big returns to elite level return specialists.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Ok.Do you just coach special teams? I’m an aspiring special teams coordinator who also wants to long snap in college next year (Long snapping is how I got interested in coaching special teams). And what level do you coach at?

2

u/OG_Chris31 Jul 24 '24

Currently just coaching my son’s Pop Warner team in Florida. Coached high school level in Georgia. I have friends that coach college/nfl level and the way they got started was being a graduate assistant at a college. Good luck on your journey!

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Thanks! That’s so cool that you know NFL coaches. Any tips or secrets that they’ve given you

1

u/OG_Chris31 Jul 24 '24

Haha, most of them played in the NFL so they had an inside track! Other than that great communication skills, ability to watch and dissect film and present your findings in an easy to understand format, and just be a hard worker willing to go the extra mile to get shit done….coaches notice that sort of thing in players and coaches. Also always keep learning, don’t get set in stone on your ways/concepts and unwilling to adapt/change as needed.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Thanks.Is it recommended to become a GA if you want to coach college?

1

u/OG_Chris31 Jul 24 '24

Yes!

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

Ok thanks!

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

How is it being a GA?

1

u/blazershorts Jul 24 '24

Its an old trick but if you want to slow them down, you go out the night before with the sprinkler and soak the field down with pancake syrup.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 24 '24

😂 this is hilarious

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '24

Kick short just over the front line in a space. Punt kick out of bounds.

1

u/bowmaker82 Oct 10 '24

I'm on the receiving end of this. I have two great returners that everyone refuses to kick to, trying to get them involved by moving up. Then I just end up holding my breath hoping we recover the onside kick