04pm miami-oh special teams

7/28/2019 04PM Miami-OH Special Teams

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Special teams are one of the most, if not

the most important part of a champi-

onship team. Games are won because of

special teams and games won lead to cham-

pionships. However, games are also lost

due to special teams, which lead to poor sea-

sons. There is nothing more heartbreaking

than to play a great offensive and/or defen-

sive game and lose because of a poor per-

formance on special teams. We all, coachesand players, must realize this and feel proud

when we are chosen for these units because

it emphasizes the faith and confidence we

have in your ability to help the team win.

We believe the first play of the game,

whether the Redhawks are kicking off or

returning a kickoff, must be a tone setter for

the game. We want to let our opponents

know through our desire and toughness

that the Redhawks came to play.

Our overall goals as a full special teams

unit this year are:

1. To have the best special teams units

in the Mid-American Conference.

2. To make at least three Big Plays a

game.

3. Win at least two games with special

teams play.

4. Be known as the most physical spe-

cial teams units in the MAC.

The focus of our philosophy is:I. Soundness

Every aspect of the special teams will

be centered on the fact that we must never

beat ourselves. Soundness means:

A. From a coaching standpoint, players

will be given a thorough and detailed scouting

report. They must study this and have total

knowledge of not only their techniques and

assignments, but also what we are attempt-

ing to accomplish in each phase of the game.

Many times starters are involved in special

teams and not only must they master offen-

sive and/or defensive game plans, but they

must know and be an expert in certain special

teams areas. Know your opponent.

B. On game day there must be nomissed assignments, poor techniques,

penalties, substitution errors, fumbles,

turnovers and blocked kicks. This involves

great concentration.

II. Attitude

The attitude we have is that our com-

mitment to excellence in special teams

play will help us get the edge.

A. From a coaching standpoint, we are

going to play the best available athlete to

help us win that phase. Everyone must be

willing to contribute in this area.

B. We must never want to look back on

a game and say I wish I would have ... In

each game, each special team and each

play, if I am on the field, the attitude must

be I am going to win. This attitude wil

make us the best.

III. Field PositionBecause of the great amount of field posi-

tion yardage that is produced on specia

teams, we will constantly preach field position.

Our goal is to give the offensive and/or

defensive units the best field position pos-

sible to help make victory possible.

IV. Hitting

Lastly, and most importantly, the tempo of

all games is set by hitting and big plays. On

special teams, we have more opportunities

for these than any other phase of the game.

How badly we want to do things required to

make big plays reflects on how much of a

commitment we have made to winning.

The Importance of Special Teams

As everyone knows, there are three dis-

tinct phases to football; offense, defense

and kicking.

Any team that neglects placing impor-

tance on its special teams will never be

successful. Very rarely in Division I-A col-

lege football does one team dominate

another team in both the other phases of

the game. Along this philosophy, it wil

often be the play of the special teams that

become the determining factor in which the

balance of the game hangs. That is why

special teams are so important.

Last year, over 25 percent of all plays in

college football were some form of special

teams. That can add up to close to 500

snaps of kicking plays per team.

Keeping these facts in mind, it also

must be noted that special teams are con-

stantly involved in more critical, big plays

than any other aspect of the game. This isbecause on kicking plays:

A sizable amount of yardage is

involved (usually 40 yards or more).

There is a change of possession

involved.

Often a specific attempt to score points

is involved (PAT or FG attempt).

Momentum of the game is impacted.

The plays that involve the kicking game,

therefore, are weighed heavily insofar as,

they affect the outcome of the game.

Miami-Ohio

Special

Teams

Philosophy


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Many of the big breaks in a game occur

on a kicking play. Breaks usually happen

against you when a team or player is

unprepared for a situation. When a team

and player are well prepared and physical-

ly alert, good breaks happen.

In college football, the play of special

teams make the difference. You then can

make the difference by your approach and

attitude. Your pride in yourself and yourteam must be a positive factor.

The Importance of Field Position

in the Kicking Game

The kicking game gains added impor-

tance when you realize how important a role

it plays in determining offensive scoring abil-

ity and where the defense starts. We already

know that the farther away an offense starts

from its intended goal, the more difficult it will

be to score. The closer an offense starts, the

easier it will be to score. The following chart

clearly shows this difference (Diagram 1).

The significance of this information is sim-

ply that we can utilize the kicking game to give

our opponents poor scoring position and

enhance our own scoring position. For exam-

ple, on kick-offs, if we can start our opponents

inside their own 20-yard line, their chances of

scoring are quite poor. On punts, if we can

return to the 40-yard line or beyond, we have

greatly increased our offenses scoring ability.

The Big Play Theory

No other phase of football gets more

Big Play opportunities than the kicking

game. A big play can be the lone factor that

determines the outcome of a game. Ourspecial teams are made up of Big Play

units. A score is a big play.

In the kicking game, there are 12 ways

in which to score:

1. Punt return for a touchdown.

2. Kickoff return for a touchdown.

3. Fumble recovery for a touchdown, in

end zone on a punt.

4. Fumble recovery for a touchdown, in

end zone on a kickoff.

5. Punt block for a touchdown.

6. Kick a PAT.

7. Kick a field goal.

8. Return a blocked field goal/PAT attempt

for a score.

9. Score a touchdown on a field goal fake.

10. Score a touchdown on a punt fake.

11. Safety on a punt.

12. Intercept a fake field goal or punt for a

touchdown.

Examples of other big plays:

1. Long punt return.

2. Long kickoff return.

3. Blocked punt.

4. Stop a fake punt attempt.

5. Convert a fake punt attempt.

6. Down ball inside the five yard line on

a punt.

7. Force and recover a fumble in the

kicking game.

8. Tackle the kickoff return man inside

the 10-yard line.

9. Recover an onside kickoff, theirs or

ours.

10. Block an attempted field goal.

11. Block an attempted PAT.

12. Stop a fake field goal attempt.

13. Convert a fake field goal attempt.

14. Force a bad snap.

Big plays win games. We must think

Big Plays! Every kicking game play is an

opportunity.

2003 Redhawks

Special Teams GoalsBe the Best Special Teams in the MAC

The combination of the Miami philoso-

phy of special teams, the importance of

field position in the kicking game and the

big play theory resulted in our special

teams goals for 2003. We also conducted

a study of the last two seasons special

teams statistics in the Mid-American

Conference and came away with some

parameters for each phase of the kicking

game. We hypothesized that if we at least

met the baselines, we would finish in thetop third of the Mid-American Conference

in each category of the kicking game.

1. Win the game.

2. Kickoff Coverage: Hold opponents

return to 18 yards or less.

3. Kickoff return average of 22 yards or

more.

4. One hundred percent punt protection

and coverage (no 10-plus yard returns).

5. Punt average of 42 yards or more.

6. Opponents punt return average of

four yards or less.

7. Net punt average of 38 yards or more.

8.Punt return average of 10 yards or more

9. One hundred percent field goal/PAT

protection and coverage.

10. Convert 100 percent of all PAT and

80 percent or better of all field goals.

11. No penalties.

12. Make at least three big plays on spe-

cial teams per game: Fumble recovery.

Punt return of 15-plus yards.

Kickoff return of 30-plus yards.

Kickoff cover tackle inside the oppo-

nents 20-yard line.

Punt cover tackle with a three or less

yard return.

Punt cover tackle inside opponents

20-yard line.

Down a punt inside the opponents 10-

yard line.

Block a punt.

Block a field goal/PAT.

Recover an onside kick (ours or theirs)

Give the offense the ball in scoring

position.

Net over 45 yards on a punt.

Score a touchdown.

Miami RedHawk Spread Punt

Protection and Coverage:

Simple and Sound

I. Philosophy

As we all know, there is no other play in

the game of football that accounts for more

field position than that which is involved in the

punting game. Thus its importance should

not be under emphasized. The punting game

encompasses all of the components that we

stress in our special teams philosophy;

soundness, attitude, field position and hitting.

The importance of the punting game is

reflected in the amount of time that is spent

practicing this phase of the game. At Miami

like many other schools, we work on the

punting game every practice. However, we

do not just give it lip service. The portion of

practice that is devoted to the punting gameis untimed and is not concluded until we are

satisfied with the results. We strive for per-

fection, but settle for excellence.

With the amount of field position that is

involved with the punting game, it is impera-

tive to our teams success that this unit exe-

cutes its job with precision. For this reason,

we keep our scheme very simple. It does

not matter how much we know and under-

stand as coaches, but how much the players

can handle and perform when it counts.

Diagram 1


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II. Goals

Everyone involved with this unit has

measurable goals. What we try to accom-

plish with this is place accountability on

each individual from the snapper to the

punter and to everyone covering the kick.

They must all do their jobs in order for the

unit to achieve its ultimate goal.

A. One hundred percent punt protection

and coverage (no returns over 10 yards).B. Punt average of 42 yards or more.

C. Hold opponents punt return average

to four yards or less.

D. Net punt average of 38 yards or more.

E. Create Big Plays with solid protec-

tion and relentless coverage.

III. Stance and Alignment

Stance

Long Snapper: Get in comfortable

square stance in order to deliver a perfect

snap and set for protection responsibility.

Guards and Ta c k l e s : Tw o - p o i n t

stances with feet approximately shoulder

width. Set power angles in the knees, back

flat with chest over knees and head up.

Inside foot should be up, outside foot back

with a toe to heel stagger. Rest hands on

the thigh-board of the inside leg. Weight

should be on the balls of the feet, more so

the inside foot. Push off of the inside foot

at the snap of the ball.

Wings: Two-point stances with feet par-

allel. Set power angles in the knees, back

flat with chest over knees, head up and

hands resting on thigh-boards.

Personal Protector: Two-point stances

with feet parallel. Set power angles in the

knees, back flat with chest over knees,

head up and hands resting on thigh-boards.

Gunners: Two-point stance with inside

foot forward. Stagger outside foot to get a

great take-off.

Alignment

Long Snapper: Align over the ball in a

good snapping position. The center must

get his feet set quickly.Guards: Take a six-inch split from the

foot of the center. Align the toe of the

inside foot on the heel of the centers foot.

The guards helmet must break the plane of

the long snappers hip. Note: Taller guards

may cheat the alignment of their inside foot

back as long as their helmet still breaks the

plane of the centers hip.

Tackles: Take a one-foot split from the

guards outside foot. Align the inside foot

on the inside foot of the guard.

Wings: Draw an imaginary line from the

tackles outside to a point four yards deep

and place the inside foot on it. Set stance

at a 45-degree angle to the rest of the line.

Personal Protector: Align directly

behind guard (right or left depending on the

protection) and in his footprints. Place heels

at five yards behind the ball. Set the integri-

ty of the pocket, never back up (Diagram 2).

IV. Cadence

The personal protector will handle all of

the cadence information during the execution

of the punting game. The information in the

cadence may vary week to week depending

on the game plan. The cadence will identify

the front and set the protection accordingly.

The first call will tell the front to hold

their position and listen for the rest of their

orders.

The second call will identify the front.

The third call will set the protection.

The fourth call will tell the long snapper

and the front that the ball is ready to be

snapped.

All calls will be repeated except for the

fourth (example: get set-get set, even-

even, white-white, ready).

The personal protector is responsible for

all situation management. If there is a

change that needs to be made, the person-

al protector will walk up and place his

hands on the long snapper and say, Easy-

Easy. After the Easy-Easy call, the per-

sonal protector will make the cadence calls

necessary for any changes.

The long snapper will use a non-rhyth-

mic count when snapping the ball.

V. Miami Protection

The Miami Protection is based on thezone principles punt protection. Each man

is responsible for an area in order to create

a solid pocket and time for the punter to get

the kickoff.

Each mans zone starts at his inside

shoulder and extends to the inside shoulder of

the man aligned outside of him (Diagram 3).

The zone scheme puts each man in

the position to block anything that enters

his zone with inside-out leverage. This cre-

ates the cup of the pocket.

Keeping constant split relationship isparamount in the zone scheme. It is imper-

ative the each man sets with vertical depth

off of the line of scrimmage and keeps split

relationship. If each man sets vertically, it

maintains the integrity of the pocket and

minimizes any rush lanes for rushers to

exploit (Diagram 4).

While setting vertically, each man

should keep his shoulders parallel to the

line of scrimmage. This creates a moving

wall. Each man should let all potentia

threats, to his zone, come to him. Do not

chase a potential threat.

At the snap of the ball, push off the line

of scrimmage using the inside foot as the

drive point. Gain initial vertical depth with

the outside foot. Do not step in the buck-

et (underneath the body). Have an inside

presence with the inside hand and aware-

ness in the outside zone with the outside

hand and eyes. Continue to get depth,

keeping power angles in the knees and

head up. Once a threat has entered the

zone, two-hand punch through him with

thumbs up and elbows in. After punching

the threat, make a stand and do not give

anymore ground.

VI. Coverage

Punt coverage requires soundness, atti-tude and hitting. Our coverage philosophy

is that we will pressure the punt returner

with our gunners; contain with our wings

and then net and squeeze the area in

between with our long snapper, persona

protector, guards and tackles.

Coverage Stages

Protect, protect and protect.

Fight any hold up, release and get on

top of the defender.

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Diagram 4


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Run through the assigned coverage

landmark.

Do not follow the same colored jersey

down the field. Be alert for switch calls

and adjust. Keep a five-yard relationship

with teammates while forming the net.

Find the punt returner; he is where the

ball is going to be.

Net and squeeze the punt returner,

keeping him inside and in front. Use a landmark of five yards in front of

the punt returner as the alert to gather,

break-down and be ready to make a tackle.

Coverage Assignments

Middle of the Field Coverage

G: Across the face of the punt returner.

Take a shot at a solo. Worst case scenario,

make the returner bounce the ball laterally.

LS & PP: Left and right shoulder of the

punt returner.

G: The upright of the field goal post.

T: One yard outside of hash.

W: In between the hash and the top of

the numbers.

Left Hash Coverage





punt returner.

LG: In between the left hash and the top

of the numbers.

LT: The top of the numbers.

LW: One yard outside the bottom of the

numbers.

RG: The left upright of the field goal post.

RT: The right upright of the field goal post.

RW: One yard outside the right hash.

Right Hash Coverage





punt returner.

RG: In between the right hash and the

top of the numbers.

RT: The top of the numbers.

RW: One yard outside the bottom of the

numbers.

LG: The right upright of the field goal post.

LT: The left upright of the field goal post.

LW: One yard outside the left hash.

Miami Redhawk Punt Return/Block

Fast and Furious

Punt Defense: Return/Block

The punt defense team must be consid-

ered the first play of a new offensive series.

We have just stopped our opponents and

have a big psychological lift. We must

make this next play an important phase,

not just another play.

From a basic knowledge of football, a

punt block or a big punt return can have a

huge impact on any game. We are usuallytalking about a 40-plus yard turnaround.

The lift and momentum is unmatched on

any single play. We must be able to make

this an important part of our game plan.

Punt Defense Objectives

1. We will make consistent transfer of

possession giving our offense the ball in

the best field position.

2. We will mix our rush/return look using

linebacker movement and alignment to

give us a variety of looks and fronts.

3 . We will prepare one punt block

scheme for each game based on our oppo-

nents weakness.

4. We will play with great effort and be

fundamentally sound.

5. Make positive yards. Get into posi-

tion to block your man. Make good deci-

sions and field punts.

Alignments

We want to be able to present as many

different looks as possible, while keeping it

simple for the players. We accomplish this

goal by using linebacker movement and

alignment. The three linebackers are the

only ones that need to change or move

their alignments; stack, base and deuce

Remember, the goal is to keep things

simple while looking complex. It is very

important to note that no ones blocking

responsibility changes by moving from one

alignment to another.In each one of our alignments, the line-

backers are responsible for any motion or for-

mation change by the offense (Diagram 11).

Factors Governing Great Punt Returns

Opponent Scouting

Identify Contain Men: The first thing

that I try to do when I sit down to watch an

opponents film is identify who is responsi-

ble for contain. We must identify who has

contain,in order to effectively use our per-

Diagram 5

Diagram 6

Diagram 7

Diagram 8

Diagram 9

Diagram 10


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sonnel and set our returns accordingly.

Example: Many times on a middle return,I will not block one or both of the oppo-

nents contain men.

Neutralize the Gunners: Do we need to

double-team the opponents gunners (wide

outs)? The gunners are typically the first

players down the field. They are quick

release men not responsible for protection

on the punt team. The gunners make the

majority of the tackles for the punt team and

if you dont get them stopped, you have no

chance to set up a return. I will commit two

players to each gunner if I need to.

Identify the Weakness in Coverage: Is

there a weak link in their coverage? Is

there someone we can leave unblocked?

Can their long snapper cover effectively

and make tackles?

Identify Coverage Technique: Does

the coverage team fan out and run to land-

marks on the field? The more spread out

they get, the more we like a middle return.

Will a contain man allow himself to release

inside and be pushed inside the hash? We

will run more sideline returns versus a team

that is undisciplined in their coverage lanes

covering the field.

Disrupt Coverage Responsibilities by

Creating Seams Laterally and Depth-wise

We must force slow, poor, or delayed

releases by the different players of the cov-

erage team personnel.

One coverage man knocked to the

ground or blocked out of his lane responsi-

bility opens a seam our return man can run

through.

Punt Return TechniquesAt the Line of Scrimmage

1. Get Off Key ball; quick, low and

hard; do not extend hands. Use a narrow

sprinter stance form takeoff. Force protec-

tors to protect and retreat.

2. Jam Square up and get your hands

on your man; drive him back; sink your hips

so not to be thrown to one side or the other.

3. Bump and Run You control the sep-

aration; push off in direction you want for

best leverage.

Downfield

1. Run Stay as close as possible while

using an occasional bump. Out hustle your

man (keep him thinking about you, not the

returner).

2. Shadow Place yourself in a hip

position to the return side so that when he

settles, you can finish your block.

3. Wrap If you lose proper leverage,

wrap around your cover man to wall off thereturn side.

Middle Return

We run our middle return from each of

our three alignments. We had the most

success this year from our stack alignment.

The principles of a successful middle return

always remain the same. Get under your

mans pads and hold him up as long as you

can then widen him on separation. The

Returner needs to take the ball north and

south trying to get to the middle of the for-

mation, not necessarily the middle of the

field. Miami University had the most suc-

cess with the following blocking scheme.

LE: Rush outside wing; secure punt; gut

the return and block wing.

LT: Engage guard; hold up and press

separation to your outside.

N T: Engage long snapper; hold up;

release and press personal protector to

either side.

RT: Engage tackle; hold up; press sep-

aration to your outside.

RE: Engage wing; hold up; press sepa-

ration to your outside.

S: Attack tackle; hold up; press separa-

tion to your outside.

M: Attack guard; hold up; press separa-

tion to your outside.

LC: Force outside release; bump and

run technique; stay in between the man

and the ball.

RC: Force outside release; once double

team reaches you, peel off to pick up the

long snapper (Diagram 12).

Sideline ReturnWe use the sideline return to compli-

ment our middle returns. We like to go into

each game being able to run to both side-

lines. I like to run sideline returns to the

field when possible. It allows for more

room to set up the wall. Our initial align-

ment does not give away what return we

are running. A left or right return looks no

different than a middle return from align-

ment. Once again, we can run a sideline

return from any of our alignments. No mat-

ter which alignment we use, everyones

responsibility will stay the same.

Base Left Return

LE: Engage wing; cave down inside

force inside release; keep man inside down

field.

LT: Engage tackle; cave down inside;

force inside release; keep man inside down

field.

N: Slide left to engage guard; force

inside release; keep man inside down field.

RT: Rush punt; see ball kicked; peel left

take wall to returner.

RE: Rush punt; see ball kicked; peel left;

take wall to returner.

S: Double team gunner to your side with

corner.

M: Check for fake; peel to left; pick up first

threat down field; you are the start of the wall

W: Double team gunner to your side

with corner.

LC: Force inside release to double

team.

RC: Force outside release and double

team gunner with weakside linebacker

(Diagram 13 and 14).

Diagram 11 Diagram 12

Diagram 13

Diagram 14

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