Special Teams / Recruiting

[LSU Law Greenie]

I know we have Rome on the roster and that he was redshirted this year. I also see we have kicker Cody Mandell on our commitment list for 2010. With that being said I have a few questions:

1. Is Rome just a pk or does he punt as well?
2. Same for Mandell, is he just a pk or does he punt?
3. Do we have a punter on the roster?
4. Will we have 1 person doing the pk and punting like in years past?
5. Are we attempting to sign a pure punter?

Thanks in advance for the info. I think having a pk and punter (not the same person) may cure some of our special team ills.

[bigmoneytx]

You would benefit from THE WAVE REPORT as they have two interviews recently with potential HS kickers we are after.

Right now we have Rome - who is supposed to be the FG/XP kicker - reports are he has work to do still

Mandell is a really good punter and kick off guy and his HS numbers were good. The WAVE REPORT had someone with intimate knowledge speak about his punts, hang time, distance and his kick offs and how far they went and matched that up to the college game.

I would say that the staff is very active in trying to get another kicker - some who can come in and compete and give challenge to Rome* and Mandell - for FG/XP and kickoff purposes

I think Mandell is the punter unless he blows it 0 I dont see that happening but we really need someone else to come in with a leg that can push those guys... nothing beats working hard everyday other than KNOWING you have to work hard everyday by getting pushed by the next guy.

[Wavemania]

Unless he is a 2 sport athlete (like baseball) or he can play 2 positoins (Deron Smith), then we are wasting schollies and missing out on other positions.

[djh]

You would benefit from THE WAVE REPORT as they have two interviews recently with potential HS kickers we are after.

Right now we have Rome - who is supposed to be the FG/XP kicker - reports are he has work to do still

Mandell is a really good punter and kick off guy and his HS numbers were good. The WAVE REPORT had someone with intimate knowledge speak about his punts, hang time, distance and his kick offs and how far they went and matched that up to the college game.

I would say that the staff is very active in trying to get another kicker - some who can come in and compete and give challenge to Rome* and Mandell - for FG/XP and kickoff purposes

I think Mandell is the punter unless he blows it 0 I dont see that happening but we really need someone else to come in with a leg that can push those guys... nothing beats working hard everyday other than KNOWING you have to work hard everyday by getting pushed by the next guy.

So, what I read you saying is we WILL use 3 schoolies just for kickers?

[bigmoneytx]

that is my GUESS

and i dont have a problem with that at all if the people that run the team feel they need that

I took a quick glace at other CUSA schools and lst year there were 2 two teams with only 3 K/P on the roster and everyone else had 4,5,6 - I dont know who was on scholarship or not but i would imagine the having 3 people is not a huge deal and is really what you Need. Last year we had 3 and then one kid left the program which in turn left us with ONE kicker on the roster that the coaches felt ready to play

Right now we have one kid on the rotser - that kid is "questionable" since he was not even given a sniff to play last year and it is said he has "work to do"

we have 1 kid committed that is supposed to be a really good punter 1st, and gets good distance on kickoffs. I think it is CRITICAL to get another kid - a 3rd kicker on the team ASAP to have options in case someone leaves, someone just doesnt make the cut, injury and to give Competition

This isnt the NFL, you cant just have 2 guys signed up and pick and choose from week to week what you want the roster to look like - If you dont have depth due to whatever - you have to wait another year before you can go get someone else to help.

makes sense to me. I am sure the coaches dont prefer it this way (maybe they do) since we have obvious other needs but this one is JUST AS CRITICAL as any of the others - We as Wave fans should know

[Wavemania]

Anyone watching the games knew Thevenot took WAY TOO LONG to punt the ball. So when the opposing team rushed him , chances were it would be blocked.

[krewe of ham and eggs]

some youtube clips of Cody doing some kicking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCXAaE_GsWI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vLCgtkt-fA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tomVXdqrM3E

[TU23]

Mandell is a pure punter. Much better punter than kicker. Just as Big$ said, Rome has some work to do. We would be looking for a kicker more than a punter at this point to compete with Rome on FGs and Mandell and Rome on kickoffs.

[bigmoneytx]

not that i am taking any sides or making any excuses - but Ross Thev came here as a kicker and never punted fulltime really until last year when our other punter was either hurt or didnt get the job done on distance/hangtime

Ross became the punter by default - and he has a heck of a leg but between his steps, poor blocking and snapping (coaching too) - there was too much to overcome

I think it is KEY to get another GOOD kicker.

even if you look around at the NFL - most kickers are specialist with their own craft - you are either
a punter
or
a place kicker
(yes, everyone can do both - but you focus on one thing to be great at what you do)
even for some teams the FG/XP kicker is not the same person that does kickoffs

It all seems the same or very similar - but it is really very different when you breakdown the little things about kicking

this is a fun topic - Kickers!

[Chocolate Freeze]

I'm interested to see how those two kickers that The Wave Report wrote about the last few weeks approach their recruiting and if we go after another kicker if they take their time.

I guess this means they don't trust Rome a whole lot right now, since it sounded - according to TWR (get a subscription!) - like Mandell is a great kickoff guy.

Who knows. I wouldn't mind staying with 2 and getting another DE.

[bigmoneytx]

I am with you
If i had the choice between a DT/DE/S/RB or just about any other player - I would like to have more of them rather than another K on scholly but if the coaches feel we need one (and so do I) based on what our current situation then we need to get one.

I am sure it is also one of those things that if it came down to 1 scholarship left and you have Player A who is a Kicker and Player B who is at a need area and a beast you have to go with player B - Dont you?
(Imagine player B being Kenny Cain or someone like that)

[Texas Greenie]

While we are discussing Special Teams -

For depth purposes (if we don't get another punter) - Brent Comardelle was an All-District and All-County Punter in 2009. He averaged over 42 YPP. He also held for kicks as he has outstanding hands.

By the way - he was also All-District and All-County as a Wide Receiver - :D

[bigmoneytx]

dawg gon'it!

I was seriously just about to post that !!!

http://www.texashsfootball.com/awards/2 ... st245a.htm

[ml wave]

I would assume that the coaches would have no interest in having 3 scholarships tied up in K/P for the next four seasons, all things being equal. Which means, since they seem pretty hung up on signing another K, there must be a pretty desparate need.

[TU23]

If we don't get one via scholarship, we most certainly have to hold walk-on tryouts for a kicker. We can't go into the season with 2 kickers on the squad. It's dangerous. What do you do if Ryan Rome gets hurt? Is Mandell good enough as a placekicker to take over? I think we are covered at punter if we have an injury, but kicker is a different animal. We have been living on that edge for a while now.

[Pepper]

Until we hire a special teams coach, Morten Anderson couldn't make field goals.

[JKO]

The coach has announced that someone from the staff will likely be assigned all special team duties. Irrespective of this, I'm pretty sure the guy coaching the field goal kickers the last few years coached our Lou Groza award kicker earlier this decade.

Anyone care to examine how many Top 25 teams have a dedicated special teams coach?

Anyone care to examine how we handled special teams the last time we were ranked? (Hint: same as last year and the year before).

We sucked in Toledo's first year on special teams when we had a guy on staff coaching nothing but special teams (Bliel).

WAY too much is made of the special team coach issue. I know we need scapegoats as fans, but there is so very little support for the constant arguments bandied about here.

P.S. Going into another season with only 2 kicking specialists on scholarship, when the Punter/KOS has no proficiency in placekicking, and the placekicker has no proficiency in punting, is irresponsible and something I would put on the coaches if it doesn't work out (unless there is a trustworthy walk-on around - of which we have no indication). I agree we may have our flank covered in punting should Mandell get hurt (Comardelle), but what's the alternative if Rome gets injured or isn't up to snuff? Prayer? While it will save your soul, it sure the heck hasn't gotten us very far in the W/L column recently.

[Roller]

The coach has announced that someone from the staff will likely be assigned all special team duties. Irrespective of this, I'm pretty sure the guy coaching the field goal kickers the last few years coached our Lou Groza award kicker earlier this decade.

Anyone care to examine how many Top 25 teams have a dedicated special teams coach?

Anyone care to examine how we handled special teams the last time we were ranked? (Hint: same as last year and the year before).

We sucked in Toledo's first year on special teams when we had a guy on staff coaching nothing but special teams (Bliel).

WAY too much is made of the special team coach issue. I know we need scapegoats as fans, but there is so very little support for the constant arguments bandied about here.

P.S. Going into another season with only 2 kicking specialists on scholarship, when the Punter/KOS has no proficiency in placekicking, and the placekicker has no proficiency in punting, is irresponsible and something I would put on the coaches if it doesn't work out (unless there is a trustworthy walk-on around - of which we have no indication). I agree we may have our flank covered in punting should Mandell get hurt (Comardelle), but what's the alternative if Rome gets injured or isn't up to snuff? Prayer? While it will save your soul, it sure the heck hasn't gotten us very far in the W/L column recently.

No fair! I call foul!
You're fighting ire with facts. Isn't that against the rules somewhere?