A Request Brothers/Sisters

AllDawgs5 wrote: Looks like we have found a gem in Marshall. Kickers never get any credit in high school recruiting rankings it seems. But I think we all know they are just as critical as anyone in crunch time.

As far as the folks messing with Walsh, could be a possibility, but I don't think it was the coaching. If it was, I don't know which coach to blame. Believe CMR leaves the kickers alone from what I can tell. I do know it seemed like Walsh's best FG kicking year was the year when we did the directional kicking. I guess the approach could have messed up his kickoff performance, but I just can't see how it could have messed up his FG kicking. To totally different kicks to me. I believe he just hit a slump this year cause generally we have been pretty successful in the FG department under CMR's watch

GO DAWGS

The coach that is no longer with UGA is Fabris. He was the person instructing Walsh on his kicking game. Below is a link from Rex Robinson that some might find interesting.


www.roughingthekicker.com/ncaa-says-no-to-touchbacks/#more-581

AllDawgs5 wrote: Looks like we have found a gem in Marshall. Kickers never get any credit in high school recruiting rankings it seems. But I think we all know they are just as critical as anyone in crunch time.

As far as the folks messing with Walsh, could be a possibility, but I don't think it was the coaching. If it was, I don't know which coach to blame. Believe CMR leaves the kickers alone from what I can tell. I do know it seemed like Walsh's best FG kicking year was the year when we did the directional kicking. I guess the approach could have messed up his kickoff performance, but I just can't see how it could have messed up his FG kicking. To totally different kicks to me. I believe he just hit a slump this year cause generally we have been pretty successful in the FG department under CMR's watch

GO DAWGS

AllDawgs5, Fabris was the coach that Richt put with Walsh. Interesting article from Rex Robinson on the kicking game.

www.roughingthekicker.com/ncaa-says-no-to-touchbacks/#more-581

AllDawgs5, seem to be having a problem with my IP. Will try again. Below is Rex Robinson's article, interesting read. The coach that Richt put in charge of Walsh was Fabris.

Imagine if you will, a professional golfer who is consistently able to drive the ball 300 yards with reasonable accuracy. Now you tell him he HAS to either to drive it 330 yards with the same degree of accuracy OR drive it 290 with an even higher degree of accuracy on the left side of the fairway, with greater height. WITH THE SAME CLUB. But he can’t tee it UP, he has to tee it down. If you are a golfer and/or a knowledgable golf fan you probably see the lunacy in these expectations.

Yet this is what was expected of Blair Walsh last year.

I am going to try to explain this with as much factual information as possible, so it will not appear I am trying to make excuses for Blair or anyone else.
Since the late 1970′s when the proficiency of college kickers began going through the roof, the NCAA has repeatedly made rule changes to attempt to nullify what I guess is perceived as an overly dominant role kickers play in the flow of a game. The first changes came in 1978, while I was at UGA. The NCAA made it more risky for a team to attempt long field goals by bringing the ball back to the line of scrimmage after a miss versus it being a touch-back. The other rule that changed was that the ball used in the game had to be new or “nearly new”. Both of these came on the heels of several kickers having made kicks from 60-67 yards the previous two seasons, while using old “balloon” type balls that allowed for much more compression in the ball and were also more aerodynamic .

In 1986, kick-offs were moved back from the 40 yard line to the 35, thereby reducing the number of touch-backs. By 1989, the NCAA decided to eliminate the kicking block that had been a part of the game since 1948 when 1 inch tees were allowed, then 2 inch tees in 1965. In 1991 the goalposts were narrowed from 23′ 4″ to 18′ 6″.

In the last couple of years, two rule changes have greatly reduced the likelihood of a touch-back even more. Kickers now kickoff from the 30 yard line just as they do in the NFL and the kickers are not allowed to use 2 inch kickoff tees any longer, just 1 inch tees. This obviously impacts how much the kicker can get under the ball and create hang time for coverage purposes.

So, where does that leave us?

The University of Georgia has had 4 primary kickoff men since the Mark Richt era began… Brett Kirouac, Billy Bennett, Brandon Coutu, and Blair Walsh.

Brett Kirouac – 6’2″ – 200 lbs - Junior when Coach Richt came to Athens…had been in the program 2+ years

Billy Bennett – 5′ 8″ – 165 lbs. – A senior the year he kicked off in 2003… had been in program 3+ years

Brandon Coutu – 6′ - 190 lbs. – Red-shirt freshman when kicked off in 2004…had been in program 1+ year

Blair Walsh – 5′ 10 – 175lbs. – True freshman…new to program

Brett and Billy kicked off from the 35 and with a 2 inch tee…Brandon had to make the transition his senior year to kick off from the 30 and use a 1 inch tee. Blair, as an 18 year old true freshman, was apparently expected to perform on par with a 5th year senior who is now on the 53 man roster for the Seattle Seahawks. Was that reasonable? I sure don’t think so.


I have a late breaking addendum, because I just heard from Brett Kirouac about his time kicking in this directional system. He states that he kicked with naturally higher trajectory than most kickers(I was the same way, almost too high at times). His average hang-time was in the 4.15-4.25 second range, with the occasional kick of up to 4.4 seconds. Awesome! Again this off a two inch tee. I believe Brett did this so well, it has stuck in the minds of our coaches and they are looking for those results again, but it’s impossible.

What once was a very good alternative, “pooch kicking”, high and into the corner, has been rendered largely ineffective, because you can’t get the necessary height. It’s a new world. I have listed 2008 NCAA statistics for kick-off coverage below. These stats are instructive but can be deceiving.

What these stats will show is that even the results for the very best kickers in 2008, touchbacks are a 50/50 proposition at best. The vast majority of kickers in the country were well below this percentage. Return yardage is deceiving because it is counted from where it’s caught. If like UGA you are not even trying to kick it deep, and the ball is being caught anywhere from the 5 to 10 yard line, then your 21.66 yards allowed average is not as successful as the team that kicks to the goal-line and gives up as much as 25-30 yards per kick return. Does that make sense? Kicking it to the 5-10 plus 21.66 yards puts the opponent at the 26.66-30.66 yard line on average. As you know, sometimes the returns were even further.

My contention is this, if UGA were to kick it anywhere from goaline to 3 yards deep and gave up as much as 25 yards per return, we are still better off. Please read the story linked above “30 yard line”, Urban Meyer makes the statement that when UF starts drives inside the 30 they score less than 10% of the time. When the drives start outside the 30 yard line, they score 3 times as often. This was based on pre-2007 numbers.


Now, here comes Brandon Bogotay, a JUCO transfer to save the day. At 6’3″ 200 lbs. and apparently a HUGE leg, last year he kicked 20 touchbacks out of 52 kickoffs, and that is 38%. That is good, but he was trying to kick it deep every time, Blair Walsh was not, so to compare their numbers is BOGUS.

I hope the UGA coaches let these two relax and kick it deep.

Then cover the dang kick.

Buc, Great analysis.

Understand the article, but at the same time, if my memory serves me correctly, we weren't trying to pooch the ball. We wanted Walsh to kick the ball as deep as he could in a certain direction. I am sure if he drove it through the end zone in that direction there would have been no complaints. I don't think directional kicking is a bad thing. I understand with the tee being lowered it makes it harder for hang time, but hoping we weren't coaching for hang time. I would have had Walsh drive the ball as far as he could in a direction. Limits half the field. Can be an effective scheme if executed correctly.

My problem with Walsh has been his FG kicking, not necessarily what he has been asked to do with kickoffs. I can't understand how one is effecting the other.

Also seems for the most part, Walsh has been trying to kick it through the end zone this year.

GO DAWGS

I guess my though would be, would you rather a guy like Boykin start at the goal line and have a whole field to operate, or have him start at the 5 with half the field to work with.