5 ways to immediately improve your Special Teams

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You probably know Special Teams constitutes one third of the game. You also probably know too many teams, coaches, front offices (and fans) don’t give Special Teams the attention it deserves. I readily admit I used to be one of those coaches. As a 22 year old, I was hired as the offensive coordinator at a high school that had gone 1-19 in their last 20 games. Because of the program’s limited resources, I also volunteered to run the Special Teams. Little did I know what I was in for.

In our first three games, we gave up four kickoff returns of over 75 yards. Our opponents average starting field position was inside our territory, while we had a starting field position inside our own 25 yard line. We started 0-3. Luckily we were headed into a bye week to lick our wounds. In that two week stretch, I took more time to learn and think about Special Teams than I had ever before.

This article gives coaches 5 concrete ways to immediately improve their Special Teams. It also gives fans insight into how seriously their favorite team takes Special Teams. Although I use NFL and Division I NCAA examples, the principles apply to all levels of football.

Know the Rules

This sounds simple enough, but Special Teams include some of the most complicated and intricate rules in the game of football. Special Teams rules also change drastically across levels of football, with different rules for high schools, colleges, and professionals. High school rules can change from state to state. Consider the following Special Teams scenarios:

  • A punt returner signals for a fair catch but then thinks the ball may go in the end zone. May he legally hit a player trying to down the ball while the ball is in the air? How about after the ball hits the ground? NFL Answer at Rule 10, Section 2, Item 5.
  • Team A kicks the ball off and the football gets close to going out of bounds. A player on Team B places one foot out of bounds then touches the ball at the 5 yard line. Where should the official spot the ball? NFL Answer.
  • Can a player’s feet touch the goal line while downing a punt? Can the ball cross the goal line in the air before being downed? NFL & NCAA Answers.

Did you know the rules in each instance? More importantly, does your team know the rules? The rules can affect the clock, field position, penalties, and directly change the scoreboard. For example, in the NFL a team making a fair catch has an option for their next play–snap it regularly, or try a “fair catch kick” with the chance for 3 points, off a tee, without a defensive rush. This normally is a meaningless choice, but can be critical in end of half or end of game situations. In one of 2019’s Tampa Bay vs. Carolina games, the Bucs punted from inside their own 20 yard line to the Panthers, who fair caught the ball at the 50 with :01 left:

Another situation is where one team needs to run the clock out, but may not want to punt the ball back to the other team for a number of reasons. If you are leading by more than 2 in the NFL, you can have every player hold for as long as they can, and then have the ball carrier run out of the back of the end zone. Whether there are 0 or 100 flags on the field, there is no time reset, and the game is over:

There are countless rule and clock scenarios between kickoff, kickoff return, onside kick and hands team, punt, punt return, field goal, field goal block, and both extra point units. The more of them you know, the better position your team will be in to win.

Eliminate Easily Correctable Mistakes

Field position is precious. No coach would volunteer to lose 10+ yards on an offensive play. Yet every week during football season, teams do just that the play before their offense takes the field. Punt Returners at all levels of football fail to field the ball and allow the opponent to down the ball 10+ yards later:

 

At the high school (and even lower college) levels, sometimes it’s just best to use two returners. Coaches should emphasize and prioritize fielding the ball nearly 100% of the time. And if a returner is instructed not to field the ball inside a certain yard line, they should have a plan. They should either 1) run to a different spot and fake like they are making the catch to draw away attention or 2) be ready to hit and prevent a player from downing the ball.

Dig into the Details

Offensive coaches know the proper timing for their pass game, whether it’s catch and throw, 1-step, 3-step, or 5-step. Defensive coaches know the intricacies of the blitzes, stunts, and coverages they call. Special Teams requires the same level of detail. Below are examples of Special Teams details a coach should know about BOTH their team and their opponent during the practice week and on game day:

  • How long does it take for the long snapper to get the ball to the Punter?
  • Where is the Punter’s launch point?
  • How long does it take for the Punter to catch, step, and punt the ball?
  • What is the Punter’s average hang time?
  • Are there any left footed kickers? It matters.
  • How long does it take for the short snapper to get the ball to the holder?
  • How far do a Kicker’s kickoffs go? With what hang time?
  • How long does it take for the edge rusher to get to the Punter/Kicker’s launch point? Is either team susceptible to blocked kicks this week based on the above times?
  • What do the most common formations for the Kickoff, Punt, Field Goal, Extra Point, and Return teams look like? You could be giving away an obvious fake or missing a clear sign of a fake/trick play from an opponent.
  • What is your Kicker and Punter’s range in each direction?
  • Does weather impact any of the questions listed above?

This is also a great opportunity to get younger coaches, grad assistants, interns, and volunteers involved. If you are tight on time, delegate these tasks, but make sure they are being accounted for. And if you haven’t thought of them before, don’t worry. These details are missed at even at the highest level of football. Below, even after multiple kicks into the wind come up extremely short, the Cowboys coaching staff doesn’t adjust their returner:

Be Aggressive, Creative, and Deceptive

Aggression is consistently rewarded on offense and defense. But coaches don’t show the same aggression on Special Teams even when presented with the opportunity. These opportunities are more often available in high school football, where younger and more inexperienced players are the primary Special Team players. For example, when you watch an opponent’s kick return tape, note their front line: Is their depth well beyond 10 yards? Do they bail out hard and fast as the Kicker runs up to the ball? Are they players that rarely handle the ball? If so, it could be a great opportunity to have something like the following onside kick in the game plan:

 

Another opportunity to be aggressive are kickoffs after a 15-yard penalty against your opponent. Don’t just boom it out of the back of the end zone. This is a great chance to either kick it high inside the 5 yard line and pin them inside the 15, or to try a surprise onside kick.

My personal aggressive philosophy on Special Teams is constantly going after kicks–trying to block as many punts, extra points, and field goals as you can. Essentially, Beamer Ball. I’m obviously far from the only person who loves this strategy, and there are countless resources to help your team improve in this facet of the game.

Like play action and window dressing on offense, or a well disguised zone blitz on defense, there is plenty of room for deception and creativity on Special Teams. First, the low hanging fruit. When punting on 4th and short from inside your own 10, consider a shift and/or aggressive hard count to draw your opponent offsides. The downside of a false start is outweighed by a potential tremendous reward. Do the same when punting on 4th and medium from around the 50 yard line.

In the latter example, another strategy is to keep your offense on the field for long as possible before quickly mass substituting the Punt team. This tests your opponent’s discipline and whether everybody on the other team is paying attention. And something just like it may win you the biggest game of the season:

Think about your players’ skillsets. Can your Quarterback pooch punt? If so, you can always line up to go for it, try and draw the defense offsides and if you don’t like the look, punt it. Your wideouts also get a clean release to down the ball, all while saving a timeout:

Are your punt gunners having trouble getting off jammers? Consider moving around your gunners and personal protectors to get a clean release and full head of steam:

 

If your Punter can throw, have a fake punt in the playbook. But don’t expect a pass interference call. This can counter heavy rush looks. And if you’re a little hesitant to actually call it, show a basic version of it in the pre-season. This will make opponents prepare for it and make them less likely to go for all out blocks.

 

Finally, if your punt team has trouble blocking or direction punting, consider punting from a different formation. There are numerous ways to do so.

Prioritize Special Teams Culture

Like anything else in life, one must spend time on an activity to improve or be great at it. Special Teams is no different. In addition to the rules and X’s and O’s of Special Teams, you must practice drills and techniques that will put your team in the best possible position to win. Although technique details are beyond the scope of this article, there are countless resources for Special Teams specific drills that can help your team win.

Ask yourself: when you watch film in the off season, does your staff take time to discuss Special Teams ideas, X’s & O’s, and philosophy? Do your players know what good and bad Special Teams looks like? Below are some video compilations to start that process:

Players on your team can easily name offensive and defensive players across the NFL. But do they know who Matthew Slater, Justin Tucker, and Brett Kern are? They should.

Special Teams must become a priority and a part of the team culture. When your team practices Special Teams, is it at the end of practice for five minutes with the sophomores on the field and the starters off to the side goofing off? Don’t worry, we’ve all played on and coached plenty of teams like this. Now is the time to change.

Does your team incentivize being a Special Teams ace? Consider naming a Special Teams ace each week and allowing that player to walk out with the other captains. Better yet when a captain IS the ace of the week. Also consider whether the team leaders and assistant coaches are engaged when you watch Special Teams film with your team. Who leads the film session? Being great at Special Teams starts with the coaching staff’s attitude towards it.

And for those still wondering about how that season ended following the bye week? After the disastrous 0-3 start described in the introductory paragraph; our special teams didn’t give up another kickoff return over 30 yards, blocked 4 punts, fielded every punt the remainder of the season, and recovered two surprise onside kicks. We won 4 of our next 7 and finished 4-6.

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