John Baxter - Avoiding special teams chaos at all costs

Submitted by The Mad Hatter on

The first step in fixing a problem is realizing you have a problem.  Coach Baxter seems to be horrified by Michigan's special teams play and aims to fix it.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/03/michigans_john_baxter_wants_to.html

 

Didn't see this on the board.  Posted mainly because we don't hear much from Baxter or about special teams in general.

Farnn

March 18th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^

Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner, the dancing and having fun was the issue last year.  It had nothing to do with poor coaching or only having 9 blockers, if he just hadn't been having a good time dancing when nothing was going on he could have been a superstar.

Space Coyote

March 18th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^

About 18% of plays in football are some form of special teams, whether it's the kicking game, return game, FG units, whatever. You have coaches that are dedicated, first and foremost, to the other 82% of the game.

Having a real coach (not a GA or someone else) shows the importance of the unit. It demonstrates to the players that they need to take it seriously and that they need to pay attention and if they don't, they'll have someone breathing down their back about it.

I think you're going to see more and more teams go this route (think the number is already up to three or four in the B1G that are doing it), because it just makes sense.

DonAZ

March 18th, 2015 at 9:08 AM ^

I'm surprised this isn't the norm already.

Reading that article, I'm left wondering what the heck was going on last year on special teams.  Baxter seems to imply he's having to throw away everything from before and rebuild from the ground up.

Thought exercise -- if you could wave a magic wand and have Michigan specials teams be good overall, but awesome in one phase ... what would that one awesome phase be?

(It's a question designed to get at what might be considered the most critical component of special teams play within the overall special teams.)

I'm thinking defending when Michigan kicks off or punts.  But I'm torn ... because nothing is as demoralizing for another team as taking a punt or kickoff back for a TD ... so maybe blocking on Michigan returns.

Space Coyote

March 18th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^

If there was one area I'd be awesome at, it'd be punt blocks. No doubt about it.

Punt returns are harder and harder to come by so the pay off isn't as much there, and is quite dependent on having a great returner, and everyone else do their job. It's a lot to ask. And frankly, can be mitigated by kicking the ball out of bounds, or extra high, or things of that nature.

Kick returns are nice, that's a quick flip in field position and can swing momentum back your way after giving up a score. But I don't want to give up scores and I don't want to put in the time it takes for something that is mostly associated with giving up scores. It's a psychological thing. Furthermore...

For Kickoffs, honestly, if I was a college coach, I'd say to kick the ball out the back of the end zone every time it was feasible on KOs, because the payoff of the corner kick is minimal compared to the downside. There are too many mitigating factors that the kickoff team can put on the return team (squib, kick out of bounds, kick through the end zone). It's not to say it isn't important, but being awesome on either side of kickoffs doesn't have the reward.

FGs on both sides are, in general, more personnel based for block and harder to do much different when kicking. It's going to come down to blocking inside out and being fundamentally strong and having a kicker that can get the ball in the air. The difference between good and great in kicking unit is marginal (obviously, the difference between a good and great kicker is not, but that's a personnel issue, not something you can fix with more attention paid to it). Blocking kicks without a freak jumpy tall guy is very difficult.

But punt blocks can apply to any team. You're going to get a team off the field and then you are going to get great field position or a touch down. You're going to put in that punter's mind that you are coming after the kick and he'll fear it. It's a huge swing play. And every team is going to have to punt. There are more punts than any other special teams play. So easily, punt block.

Space Coyote

March 18th, 2015 at 9:41 AM ^

There was a big old uproar on Twitter and on here because someone took that picture, only for someone to actually go back, rewind it, and see from another angle that there were very clearly 11 on the field. Two players are covered up by other players in the screenshot above. That, of course, was the MOON game and the peak of "Everything Brady Hoke is bad" phase on the internets.

Space Coyote

March 18th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^

FWIW, the issue on that play is something that Baxtor focused on in his presser. It's a focus on doing the techniques the correct way, on teaching the fundamantals and techniques of every aspect. While there were rare instances where there was something extremely frustrating like not having 11 guys on the field (not the case above), the far more common problem for the special teams, and things in general, is that the players weren't executing their fundamental techniques consistently. That, of course, comes down to coaching issues. On the play above, Bolden got high in his stance, didn't stay strong on his inside foot, got bulled over rather quickly, and a guy got off the edge to block the (low) kick.

tivoman

March 18th, 2015 at 9:00 AM ^

More excited about this hire than any other assistant. ST's have been straight up abominable for far too long. Big ST plays have pitential to shift momentum and we have been on the ass end of it over and over.

CoachBP6

March 18th, 2015 at 9:05 AM ^

All three phases have excellent coaches. Can't remember the last time Michigan was really solid in all three phases.