Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe gave Georgia Tech fans pining for a specia-teams coordinator all the ammunition they could want.
For the first time in his career, Grobe assigned an assistant to special teams this season, commissioning him to spend all of his practice time with the Demon Deacons’ specialists. Voila — Wake kicker Jimmy Newman leads the ACC with 13 field goals in 14 attempts.
“I like it,” Grobe said. “I think the advantage is you’ve got somebody keeping an eye on those guys all throughout practice and kind of planning their day.”
One small problem — despite all that attention, punter Alex Wulfeck is ninth in the league in punt average and the team’s net punting average is slightly worse than Tech’s, even taking the Jackets’ 13-yard punt Saturday into account. Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose practice of sharing special-teams coaching duties among his staff has become some Tech fans’ explanation for the team’s inconsistent play in that area, may want to take note.
“I don’t care who’s coaching special teams,” Johnson said. “If you punt the ball 13 yards, it’s not good.”
It would appear that whatever the solution to improving Tech’s special teams is, hiring a special teams-only coach isn’t it. Another reason: While punter Sean Poole, kickoff specialist David Scully and kicker Justin Moore have shown ability this season but have lacked consistency, Virginia Tech coach and special-teams guru Frank Beamer might caution the wisdom of hiring a coach to handle them. Beamer told reporters earlier this week that he has never tinkered with the technique of his kickers and punters, leaving it to their private coaches.
So perhaps the caller to Johnson’s Wednesday radio show who told the coach to hire a special-teams coach, prompting Johnson to invite him in for an interview, may want to hold off on assembling his resume. On Johnson’s staff, secondary coach Charles Kelly puts together the special-teams game plan and coaches the punt and punt-return teams.
“Other coaches are assigned areas of special teams,” he said. “It’s been that way everywhere I’ve ever been for 32 years.”
It would be difficult to make a case that special-teams play under Johnson has been a strength. The Jackets’ average ACC rank in five notable special-teams categories — kickoff coverage and return, punt net and punt return and field-goal percentage — has been 8.8 (2008), 6.0 (2009) and 7.2 (2010). Through Saturday’s games, Tech’s average rank was 9.4. With No. 5 Clemson arriving Saturday, the Jackets almost certainly will need much better special-teams performance to have a chance.
The Jackets have finished in the top three of any of those categories four times — third in kickoff coverage in 2008, first in punt net and third in punt return in 2009 and third in field-goal percentage in 2010.
However, Tech’s special-teams play has not been the complete failure that it might be perceived to be. Punt returner Zach Laskey, while he committed a disastrous error in trying to handle a bouncing punt inside the Tech 10-yard line, is second in the ACC at 8.5 yards per return. The Jackets have blocked or deflected at least two field goals and a punt. The long snapping, now in the hands of freshman Sean Tobin, has been uneventful. When Poole has connected, the punt-coverage team has been solid, and likewise with Scully and the kickoff team.
The kickoff-return unit does need significant improvement in coaching and execution. The Jackets’ best finish under Johnson in kickoff-return yardage was seventh, in 2009. They rank 11th thus far.
The Jackets spend most of their Monday and Thursday practice on special teams and dedicate time to it Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’ve got to be more efficient and do a better job of teaching it,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if [more] time is the answer.”
Neither, apparently, is a special-teams coach.
Etc.
Center Jay Finch was ruled out for Saturday’s game against Clemson after Thursday’s practice. Finch sustained a lower-leg injury last Saturday in the Miami game and was deemed unlikely to play at the start of the week. Nick McRae will be his likely replacement.
