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Getting Back on Track
August 27, 2015 06:44 PM | Football
Back in the day, when I played high school football, our coach used to call our special teams the “Oh My God, Special Teams” unit. Actually, the words he used were a little more colorful, but since this is a PG-rated blog, I am choosing to alter his phrasing a little bit.
The reason we were called the “Oh My God, Special Teams” was because of our propensity for allowing kickoffs and punts to be returned for touchdowns, as well as for the general mayhem we usually managed to cause in that particular phase of the game.
I remember once getting ready to cover a kickoff during a game against Bellaire, Ohio (when the high school enrollments in the Ohio Valley were much larger than they are today and blue chip college prospects more plentiful), looking downfield at the guy standing deep about to catch the ball and realizing he was much bigger than any player we had out there about to tackle him.
I glanced at one of my teammates standing next to me and noticed his eyes were as big as saucers, like he’d just seen a UFO or Big Foot, and it became immediately clear to me that nobody wanted a part of that big dude standing back there.
Once the ball was kicked, the forward wall we attempted to establish was like the parting of the Red Sea and the opposing player ran 99 yards for a touchdown – without needing to make a single move!
Now, this is not to imply West Virginia’s punt return unit last year reached that level of futility, but there were plenty of gasps and breath-holding going on whenever airborne punts sailed toward the waiting arms of a West Virginia returner.
Seven guys took cracks at catching punts last year, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so successfully, and the sense I am getting this fall is that everyone involved is getting a little sick and tired of hearing about it.
This past spring, KJ Dillon jumped in there on his own and began catching punts, much to the coaches’ satisfaction. He’s now one of the guys expected to be deep when the season’s first punt happens on Saturday, September 5.
“KJ is a risk taker, he is fearless, and that’s what you need back there,” said Joe DeForest, who is responsible for that phase of West Virginia’s special teams. “Hopefully, he will make great decisions that we’ve taught him and get our punt return team back on track.”
Back on track for DeForest means first catching the ball in the air, and then advancing it once the ball is securely underneath his arm.
“They are as tired of it as all of us are,” said DeForest. “It was an abomination last year. I’ve never, in 26 years (of coaching), seen anything like it. It’s not like we didn’t try different guys, it’s not like we didn’t coach them and it’s not like we didn’t teach them. It was one of those things that just kept snowballing.”
DeForest continued.
“It was embarrassing for everybody involved and that’s why we’ve worked harder than I’ve ever worked and coach Holgorsen has worked harder than he’s ever worked in finding the right guys and working them every single day and teaching them every single punt, every single way to field it and every single communication.”
What it became, for some of the guys standing back there about to catch punts, was like a golfer getting the yips. One mistake led to several more and it soon became contagious with everyone.
“It was a confidence thing and it was a lot of things,” said DeForest. “It’s funny, because Squirt (Jordan Thompson) never dropped one in practice. You’ve got three guys back there, you chart them, ‘OK, he’s caught every one. He’s in.’ Well, then he drops one. ‘OK, the next guy go in’ and then he drops one, you name it. We weren’t going to put them back there unless we thought he could do the job, and that’s what was frustrating. People don’t understand, we did the best we could (trying to identify the players capable of consistently catching punts).”
DeForest said more time was devoted to that portion of special teams play this year because it was one of the teams’ glaring deficiencies last season.
“Every other day we hit punt return and that’s a lot,” he said. “We recognized it as a flaw, a sore spot and as a weakness, and we’re going to make it a strength this year.”
The trick, of course, is being able to turn a weakness into a strength without harming the other phases that WERE successful last year.
“We led the conference in kick return last year. Do you not practice that?” said DeForest. “That just doesn’t happen. It would be nice to put all four phases together in one year. We put two here, one here, two here so let’s do them all at one time and see what happens, right?”
Sounds like a plan.
***
Speaking of “Oh My God, Special Teams” there was an occasion when awful special teams play actually blew up an entire football season.
The year was 1996 when West Virginia was cruising along with a 7-0 record and was well on its way to win No. 8 when Miami’s Tremain Mack came off the edge to block a Mountaineer punt for a touchdown and give the Hurricanes an unbelievable, come-from-behind 10-7 victory.
West Virginia that year had seven punts blocked. SEVEN. That means one in every 12 punts the team tried that season never got into the air. In addition, the punt team also surrendered two returns for touchdowns, making the ’96 punt team the Mount Vesuvius of bad special teams play.
And as poorly as it seemed WVU was last year attempting to catch punts, it didn’t come close to reaching that level of futility.
***
Our living Mount Vesuvius, Dale Wolfley, known to many as the Wolfman, whose entertaining sports commentary can be seen on West Virginia Media stations throughout the state, informs me there are several team reunions happening this fall.
Bobby Bowden
A 1975 Peach Bowl team reunion is planned for the Saturday, September 26 weekend when coach Bobby Bowden will be inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame. I am told 61 former players, coaches and staff members are planning to return to campus to celebrate coach Bowden’s special weekend.
Former student manager Bob Pitrolo and Mountaineer players Gary Lombard and Andy Peters have been particularly helpful getting the word out.
Women’s soccer will have its annual team reunion that same weekend. Former players will be able to take in the soccer team’s match against Texas on Friday night and then the Mountaineer game against Maryland the next day, followed by a team reunion on Sunday.
In addition, swimming and diving will have its annual team reunion that weekend in conjunction with former coach Kevin Gilson’s induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
The 10-year reunion for the 2005 Sugar Bowl team will take place during Varsity Club Weekend on Saturday, October 10, when West Virginia plays host to Oklahoma State on homecoming weekend.
The WVU volleyball team is planning its reunion that weekend as well.
Lastly, the wrestling team reunion will take place the weekend of November 6 when the football team plays host to Texas Tech. Former players, coaches and staff members wishing to attend these fall reunions can contact the Mountaineer Varsity Club at 1-800-433-2072.
***
WVU Press
So far, the responses I have received for Saturday Snapshots through emails, tweets, Facebook posts and texts have been very encouraging and some have asked if it will be carried in their local bookstores, sports shops, etc.
The best way to get them to carry Saturday Snapshots is by asking them to.
Other than some of the Morgantown area bookstores, I understand the Charleston Department Store and Mountaineer World in Bridgeport are also planning to carry it, as is Witschey’s in my hometown of New Martinsville.
In addition, the gift shop in Ruby Memorial Hospital will have copies for sale so you can swing over there on football game days and pick up one if you like. I believe books will be available for sale in the Zide’s Team Store at the WVU Coliseum and in Milan Puskar Stadium at some point, but I am not sure if the online store will have it or not.
Those wishing to order a copy online can do so easily (and quickly) through WVU Press, or through the major book carriers Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million.
My gratitude goes to those of you who have already purchased one!
I hope you like it.
***
And finally, yes, season ticket sales are down slightly from last year, as Mitch Vingle pointed out in his column in the Charleston Gazette-Mail earlier this week. However, mini-ticket sales have already exceeded last year’s total and single-game tickets are about 16,000 ahead of last year’s pace, meaning overall sales are slightly up from last season.
Right now, approximately 28,900 season tickets have been purchased (with eight days left until the season opener), which is about 600 off from last year’s final total.
There are still five weeks left to purchase the popular Gold mini-season plan, which includes games against Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech, and enjoy a $25 savings off of the regular single-game ticket price.
All ticket orders are continuing to be accepted through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling toll-free, 1-800-WVU GAME, or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Can you believe there are only eight days left until the 2015 football season officially kicks off?
It’s not too far away!
Enjoy your weekend!
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