Fire the special teams coach

[vacuum_cleaner]

Our special teams are atrocious and have been for years. This game was the tipping point. Absolutely pathetic.

Special teams have gone from a unit that wins the Hawks the big games to a unit that is solely responsible for them losing the big games.

Think of Clayborn's punt return for a td vs. penn st in 2009, purdue in 2002 when we had two blocked kicks returned for tds, even the penn st game in 2002 when we blocked one of their PATs and returned it for 2 points....we would've lost that game in regulation without those two points. So right there is two games we would've lost in Ferentz's banner 2002 year...turning that from a fantastic 10-2 season to a mediocre 8-4 one.

The 2003 Michigan game when Razor Ramon had multiple nice returns and we blocked 2 or maybe even 3 punts is another.

UNI game in 2009 (?) with 2 blocked kicks to end the game.

The list goes on and on.

If the special teams unit literally did nothing in last night's game, we win. Seriously, if they just don't field a punt for the entire game and fair catch every kick, we would've won the game, possibly by 2+ scores.

Instead, the special teams unit is the reason we lost the game.

Who used to be the ST coach? Like 2001-2007 ish? I don't know the history but I am guessing that there was a special teams coach from 1999 to 2007ish (when ST were REALLY good), another guy from 2007 to 2012 (when ST were pretty good), and then the current guy (Levar Woods?) has probably been in charge for 4-5 years or so, and our special teams have flat out been terrible since he took over.

What have we blocked, like 1 kick in the past 3 years? Used to be 1 every other game.

What have we had, like 1 punt return for a td in the past 3 years? Probably even worse for kick returns.

Seriously...when was the last time we returned a kick for a td?

For that matter, how many punt/kick blocks did we have all of last year? Zero?

And it's not even the tds or the blocks....it's the fact that every single drive after a punt or kick starts at the 25 or 30 and forces the offense to drive the field. Every. Single. Drive.

So what happened? Why has the quality of special teams dropped off so significantly. Only logical explanation is that the current ST coach is responsible for the drop off.

I am not blaming the ST coach for Beyer's moronic mistake or the terrible midfield fumble. It's more that last night's debacle opened my eyes to just how awful our special teams have been for years. Also if you're the coach in charge of preparing your players and coordinating the special teams, at some point you have to be held accountable if they consistently make mistakes, even if those mistakes are fumbles and other things that are out of your control.

If a defense goes from giving up 150 yards a game one year to giving up 500+ the next year, the D coordinator is blamed. If an offense goes from averaging 40+ points to averaging 10 points, the O coordinator is blamed. It's not an exaggeration to say that the drop off in our special teams has been that steep, so why isn't anyone demanding Levar woods be fired?

We've gone from one of the best special teams units in the country to one of the worst.

So fire the damn special teams coach already.

 

[Hawkfan5220]

Wow.....speechless. Talk about overreacting, just insane.

 

[BigHawksFan]

Too bad we can't just clone Tim Dwight every four years until this planet becomes uninhabitable and we move to Mars. Cuz then we'd have an entire special team full of Dwights. Hey, it's a fun thought.

 

[JStandefer]

Our special teams are atrocious and have been for years. This game was the tipping point. Absolutely pathetic.

Special teams have gone from a unit that wins the Hawks the big games to a unit that is solely responsible for them losing the big games.

Think of Clayborn's punt return for a td vs. penn st in 2009, purdue in 2002 when we had two blocked kicks returned for tds, even the penn st game in 2002 when we blocked one of their PATs and returned it for 2 points....we would've lost that game in regulation without those two points. So right there is two games we would've lost in Ferentz's banner 2002 year...turning that from a fantastic 10-2 season to a mediocre 8-4 one.

The 2003 Michigan game when Razor Ramon had multiple nice returns and we blocked 2 or maybe even 3 punts is another.

UNI game in 2009 (?) with 2 blocked kicks to end the game.

The list goes on and on.

If the special teams unit literally did nothing in last night's game, we win. Seriously, if they just don't field a punt for the entire game and fair catch every kick, we would've won the game, possibly by 2+ scores.

Instead, the special teams unit is the reason we lost the game.

Who used to be the ST coach? Like 2001-2007 ish? I don't know the history but I am guessing that there was a special teams coach from 1999 to 2007ish (when ST were REALLY good), another guy from 2007 to 2012 (when ST were pretty good), and then the current guy (Levar Woods?) has probably been in charge for 4-5 years or so, and our special teams have flat out been terrible since he took over.

What have we blocked, like 1 kick in the past 3 years? Used to be 1 every other game.

What have we had, like 1 punt return for a td in the past 3 years? Probably even worse for kick returns.

Seriously...when was the last time we returned a kick for a td?

For that matter, how many punt/kick blocks did we have all of last year? Zero?

And it's not even the tds or the blocks....it's the fact that every single drive after a punt or kick starts at the 25 or 30 and forces the offense to drive the field. Every. Single. Drive.

So what happened? Why has the quality of special teams dropped off so significantly. Only logical explanation is that the current ST coach is responsible for the drop off.

I am not blaming the ST coach for Beyer's moronic mistake or the terrible midfield fumble. It's more that last night's debacle opened my eyes to just how awful our special teams have been for years. Also if you're the coach in charge of preparing your players and coordinating the special teams, at some point you have to be held accountable if they consistently make mistakes, even if those mistakes are fumbles and other things that are out of your control.

If a defense goes from giving up 150 yards a game one year to giving up 500+ the next year, the D coordinator is blamed. If an offense goes from averaging 40+ points to averaging 10 points, the O coordinator is blamed. It's not an exaggeration to say that the drop off in our special teams has been that steep, so why isn't anyone demanding Levar woods be fired?

We've gone from one of the best special teams units in the country to one of the worst.

So fire the damn special teams coach already.

I appreciate your passion. But I agree that this is an overreaction

 

[vacuum_cleaner]

not insane at all. He should be fired not for last night but for the fact that the special teams have declined so significantly compared to where they once were.

Our special teams decline is equivalent to a team's offense going from averaging 40+ points a game to averaging 10 a game. O coordinator would be fired if that happened. So why isn't the ST coordinator fired?

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Ironically, I listened to a 20-minute segment on Hawk Central with LeVar Woods (special teams coach, in his first year at that position) a couple of days ago. He had been busting his butt all week getting the guys prepared, reviewing film, etc. He was extremely impressive, I thought, very humble, talked up the program in a sincere way, showed a ton of respect for Coach Ferentz and the culture of Iowa football, etc.

I really don't put any of this on Coach Woods. Surely our punt returners know not to fair catch the ball inside the 5. He probably lost his spot on the field. That's on him. And I have no doubt that our guys are coached to stay the heck away from an unreturned punt. The fumbled return was a little fluky but still on the returner. Woods can't carry it for him.

Poor special teams execution, to be sure, but I don't see how you can put those lapses on a coach who has worked his tail off getting his guys prepared. They were mental lapses in the heat of competition. Sadly, it happens.

On the other hand, our kickoffs were great, FG kicking was fine, and our punting was solid. Kick coverage was fine outside of the obvious gaffe.

Ultimately, the players have to execute. No amount of coaching will do that for them.

 

[bojihawk44]

Our special teams aren't what they once were, but the mistakes last night were clearly on the kids. Unfortunate, but it happens.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

not insane at all. He should be fired not for last night but for the fact that the special teams have declined so significantly compared to where they once were.

Our special teams decline is equivalent to a team's offense going from averaging 40+ points a game to averaging 10 a game. O coordinator would be fired if that happened. So why isn't the ST coordinator fired?

The sanity can be debated, but that was a massive overreaction, IMO.

 

[Harbinger273]

Clear mental focus gap between Iowa and Wisconsin players. In Beyers case I wonder if there was a situation similar to what's happened with Amani Jones. Was Beyer too excited and amped up on the play to the point where he lost his feel for the game?

 

[vacuum_cleaner]

Who was the special teams coach in the early 2000s? Can't find info on any of the previous ST coordinators.

Again, I'm not saying fire him for the mistakes last night...not the coach's fault. I'm saying fire him for the fact that, for 5+ years now, our special teams have been really, really, REALLY bad when they were once really, really, REALLY good.

Didn't realize it's only Woods's first year. Sounds like whoever the previous ST coordinator was got his ass demoted. Good. Our special teams were trash the past few years.

So if Woods has only been in charge of ST for a year, don't fire him. Give him a year or two to see if he can recapture some of the magic we once had.

Special Teams have made exactly zero good plays in the first 4 games so the results so far aren't exactly encouraging but the guy does deserve a chance.

 

[BigHawksFan]

Clear mental focus gap between Iowa and Wisconsin players. In Beyers case I wonder if there was a situation similar to what's happened with Amani Jones. Was Beyer too excited and amped up on the play to the point where he lost his feel for the game?

He's responsible for his actions, but since it's a team sport, I also think it's reasonable to rely on your teammates to give you a heads up by yelling to get away from the ball. They may have been the ones to let him down. That would be the fault of the ST coach for not coaching teamwork and communication.