"Do you change?" asked assistant coach Jon Fabris, who oversees the unit. "That's kind of like saying we've been running the offense we've been running here and we sign a Michael Vick - that kind of guy. Do you implement some things for (Georgia's dual-threat backup quarterback) Logan Gray? Do you emphasize some things to show him off? That's no different than that deal."We'll see. The more interesting thing to me will be today's practice report when we hopefully hear how many freshmen skill players were on the kick coverage unit vs. how many older, slower walk-ons.
See Also:
-- Hidden Yardage: Kickoff Coverage - Georgia Sports Blog
PWD
30 comments:
I'm not at all encouraged by Fabris' comments and answers. He intentionally avoids the question and refuses to man-up and take responsibility to change and get better. He comes off the interview looking confused and goofy as h@ll.
Just my two cent$.
Maybe the coach could watch film on the 72 teams who performed better than we did and see what approach9es) they followed. This 21.7 return stat is nowhere indiciative of how bad our special teams were last year. I do not beleive it captures when a ball goes out of bounds and they get it at the 35 yard line or that they caught the kick at the 15 year line and then ran for 21.7 yards. I do not think Saban or Meyer would allow this to continue like we have.
Oh well, lets start this season and see what happens. Believe it or not, I am so tired of talking about our coaches it is not funny.
Forty Yard Line Fabris can join Willard in the unemployment line if special teams don't vastly improve. Fabris seems very arrogant and defensive of his strategy. When 10% of your kickoffs go out of bounds someone needs to be held responsible- the kicker or the coach.
Why is this so difficult? And why does the coaching staff seem to be so dead set against changing what is obviously broken? Put scholarship players out on kickoff return and kick the damn oblong ball out of the back of the friggin end zone. Problem solved. National Champs...well maybe that's wishful thinking.
Can we just have the best players play special teams? Why is that so hard? Florida does it. Works pretty well for them.
Does walkon always mean old and slow? Don't we have any fast, hard-hitting walkons that just don't get on the field for other reasons? What's Chad Gloer's deal?
Fabris once started a kid on special teams that didn't start for us frigging HS team at WR.
Richt said he was going to play FR on special teams. I simply meant...how many will we see.
I didn't mean...I didn't believe him.
was fabris the coach when billy bennet was kicking off? I think the angled kicks worked well then, right?
PWD: do you block comments from being published if they are too long?
I also agree that CMR saying that he'll play the BEST available athletes on special teams will make a bigger difference than anything. I appreciate walk-ons too, but if they are hurting our kick coverage, it's got to stop in close games.
If we have one kickoff go out-of-bounds against Oklahoma State, I'm running on the field and clotheslining Fabris. I would do Richt too but he usually has too many people around.
"The coverage unit should be bolstered by Richt's plan to play all freshman skill players."
If freshman skill players are the best special teams players we have, that's pathetic.
I figured it wouldn't take long for someone to rag on Richt's decision to not play the walkons so much on special teams.
I don't know of many Coaches who put "the best players" they have on special teams. When you see Tebow blocking on the punt team, let me know.
In regards to his comments about installing special packages/schemes based around a single guy: Yes, you absolutely do. That's what you get paid to do, draw up plays and design schemes from year to year. Am I implying that you should reinvent how players go hurdling down the field at 90 mph? No, but I am implying that if we have a guy who can kick it 5 yards into the endzone consistently, then you SHOULD create some kind of coverage that can hold up the entire length of the field. Just like if you have Randy Moss of your team, you better have a damn vertical pass in the playbook.
As easy as it is to say, "That Blair Walsh kid is a bum," it's really not his fault. He walked out there and did what he was told (as a true freshman). Trying to coffin corner someone only works when its not a big deal that it goes out of bounds.
PTC Dawg,
So b/c Tebow doesn't play special teams, that means Meyer doesn't play his best players on special teams? You pointed out one exception (which actually makes sense considering Tebow plays QB and takes an unusually high number of hits for a QB).
Harvin and Demps and some other key guys played special teams. Meyer makes it a point to get his best players on special teams and rewards them
Here's an idea: copy EXACTLY what Florida does on special teams.
I think what Fabris is inellegantly trying to say is that the type of kick-off strategy we will employ will depend on which kicker is out there. Just my guess, but if its Walsh we may try the "corner kick" and if its Bogotay we may try to boom it deep. But a decision hasn't been made yet on which guy to use, so he gave this goobley-goo response.
It is an honor as a Florida Gator to be on their special teams. In other words, a BFD.
It's time for it to be a BFD to play on Georgia's special teams.
It's not that hard, really.
I hate to say this given the comments on the last couple of entries, but what about Ohio State and Virginia Tech as models for special teams? Tressel won a BCS NC on special teams and Beamer puts together some of the best special teams units around. Part of the secret is that they use starters for special teams--all of those linebackers that OSU had in the last 10 years (Katzenmoyer, Hawk, Carpenter, Laurenitis, etc.) all started on kickoff coverage when they were juniors and seniors. As someone else noted earlier, Meyer puts his starters on special teams. Make it happen, Fabris.
This doesn't have anything to do with the kickers, but the returners -- i can remember a backlash for Richt putting Gibson back to return a kickoff against a low-level team before the LSU game and he strained his hammy. Perhaps that's why we didn't see as much out of Knowshon at PR last year as we might have otherwise
Gibson wasn't exactly a model for conditioning and injury prevention. Probably a poor example to use to determine policy. Guys are always going to get hurt - see last year even after we stopped tackling in practice.
Like someone above said...copy what Florida does! I know our coaches are proud but damn.
Yeah apparently those UF players kill for a spot on special teams. They take great pride in it and in turn really excel at it. We need that same mentality. Sound special teams is critical.
Actually kill? Like with an automatic weapon in the parking lot of a nightclub?
J/K LOLOLOLOLOLOL
/satirical use of text abbreviation.
(Seriously just kidding though - I'm getting desperate for humor waiting for the season.)
Such a random comment... but what is this the band is playing, I can't make it out. (The intro up until it goes into the fight song) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D55imGFCaXs&feature=related
That would be Krypton Anon 8:39
unless i'm crazy, i think i remember boss bailey, thomas davis, odell thurman, greg blue, etc. playing on special teams. what happened to that?
as far as the strategy goes, the coffin corner MO always worked when we had a kicker that could pull it off(Bennett, Coutu). Walsh came in last year and he couldn't execute the damn kick, but did Fabris adjust? NO!
Just how willie didn't adjust when it was obvious that we didn't have enough pass rush with the front four. No adjustment = the same results over, and over, and over, etc.
If Walsh has improved and can execute that kick this year, and we put SCHOLARSHIP players on coverage(Munzenmaier, Dowtin, Lynch, Hebron, Jordan Love, Curran, Reshad Jones, etc.) then it shouldn't be a problem.
I think UGA does have a slight problem with some of the coaches being too stubborn and reliant on their old stand-by routine to adjust to anything.
I see a lot of you guys asking why we weren't playing starters on special teams, but not a lot of you pointing out the obvious fact that we didn't have enough starters to risk on special teams. Remember the injuries?
Maybe it's an ongoing problem, but I keep hearing a lot of vitriol for our coaches lately... and I think its only fair to hold the "fire ___" comments until after we see what they do with a much healthier squad.
Right on Watch Dawg. Remember the injuries! The coaching staff didn't have a pile of bodies, especially safeties, lying around last year. A kick-off team including Gloer, Nick Williams, Commings, Dowtin, M Washington, Dewberry, and Gamble would would be fun to see.
Anyone who doesn't think injuries had an effect on most everything UGA did last year, well, I'm just not sure what to say.
That said, CMR has said he'll make changes on special teams, and in regards to tackling, etc. what more do you want him to do at this point?
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