Special Teams Schollys

[Milktruck74]

I was having a conversation with a fellow Moc fan and we used a schollarship on a Kicker/Punter. We have a pretty good KO and FG guy, that will be around for another 3 years, so my buddy was kinda upset that we burned a scholly on a guy that may only punt....I was fine with it, because he averaged 47 yards per punt in HS, and he will just get stronger....but....

Just curious: How many schollys do you think should be used on the kicking game? When you only have 63 vs FBS? Thinking of the "specialist" that could take up a slot: Punter, KO guy, FG guy, Snapper, Punt return, Holder (this is a big stretch). I realize many of the slots can be filled by other position guys or a single guy that does 2 or 3 jobs, but how many special teams specialist does your team have on scholarship?

[JSUSoutherner]

Our kicker and KO specialists are the same dude. I think he's got one. Not sure who our punter is this year but I believe our Aussie from last year had a scholarship. I believe our long snapper has one as well. We usually use a wide receiver as our holder so if they got a scholarship it's not because they're holding for kicks. Same deal with kick returners. In 2016 Josh Barge was our punter returner. Last year Reggie Hall was one of our kickoff returners. Those guys had scholarships but not because they were returning kicks.

[PaladinFan]

2017 was the first time in quite a while that the Paladins had both a designated place kicker and punter. Ordinarily, our kicker handles punting duties.

Furman a few years ago used a scholarship on a long snapper who snapped for four years. It is not unconscionable to spend a scholarship on a guy that is going to put his hands on the ball in a game 100 times a year for four years.

I do think holding and snapping are skills that can be taught.

[JSUSoutherner]

2017 was the first time in quite a while that the Paladins had both a designated place kicker and punter. Ordinarily, our kicker handles punting duties.

Furman a few years ago used a scholarship on a long snapper who snapped for four years. It is not unconscionable to spend a scholarship on a guy that is going to put his hands on the ball in a game 100 times a year for four years.

I do think holding and snapping are skills that can be taught.

It's the same way with us. We'll have our long snapper for 4 years and I've heard he's a great guy as well so I don't have an issue with it.

[Milktruck74]

2017 was the first time in quite a while that the Paladins had both a designated place kicker and punter. Ordinarily, our kicker handles punting duties.

Furman a few years ago used a scholarship on a long snapper who snapped for four years. It is not unconscionable to spend a scholarship on a guy that is going to put his hands on the ball in a game 100 times a year for four years.

I do think holding and snapping are skills that can be taught.

Agree and disagree. A good reliable Long Snappers is worth their weight in gold....but as far as teaching long snapping...I wanted to learn, and could never get the hang of it. Not sure if it was poor coaching or a poor student...probably a combo of both. hahaha.

[Professor Chaos]

Punting (and specials teams in general really) is a hugely underrated facet of the game. I'll never forget how crucial NDSU All-American punter Ben LeCompte was in their win over UNI in the 2015 quarters. He pinned them deep so many times it made it virtually impossible for their offense to ever find a groove. Of course the NDSU defense had a lot to do with that as well but seeing the NDSU punt game go south since LeCompte graduated has underscored the need in my eyes for scholarship level punters. In last year's natty it took a Herculean effort from the NDSU defense to make up for some horrible punting/punt coverage against JMU.

I think the problem with giving scholarships to specialists at the FCS level is that you have no margin for error to have a recruiting miss. Generally at NDSU they have at least one other kicker and punter but usually those guys are walk-ons who aren't much more than practice bodies. In the end though offering at least partial scholarships to specialists a risk worth taking IMO.

[IBleedYellow]

I want Ben LeCompte back.

Bohl focused heavily on special teams. Coach K has not nearly as much as I'd like.

[RichH2]

Lehigh 's K is on a schollie as is our LS. Money well spent.

[ST_Lawson]

I want Ben LeCompte back.

Bohl focused heavily on special teams. Coach K has not nearly as much as I'd like.

While we're submitting ST requests, I'd like to put in one for Mike Scifres.

[Catbooster]

I don't know how many scholarships we have on special teams players. It's hard to say what is a special teams scholarship vs. regular one since there is so much overlap (i.e. punt returner may be a wide receiver that would be on scholarship anyway, holder is likely a backup QB, etc.). It seems like the only scholarships devoted almost exclusively to special teams would usually be punter, 2 kickers - KO and FG/XP - and long snapper and sometimes the punters/kickers are the same 1 or 2 players. Say there's a back-up or two (underclassmen in development), so 4 or 5 scholarships devoted to special teams?

I don't think it would be unreasonable to spend 4 or 5 scholarships on them. That's less than 10% of your scholarships on a very important aspect of the game. 11 offensive and 11 defensive players - you get almost 3 strings covered with full scholarships with 65 schollies (yes, I know, very simplistic analysis). Is 4 or 5 unreasonable for special teams? It sucks when you can't rely on getting that short field goal, or the punts don't let the coverage team get there.

[SUPharmacist]

I want Ben LeCompte back.

Bohl focused heavily on special teams. Coach K has not nearly as much as I'd like.

I second missing LeCompte. Hopefully, the special teams are much improved this year. If the punting game is subpar, I can never decide at what point a team should be going for it on 4th down. Although, I would like to see NDSU a little more aggressive in that area next year.

[kdinva]

I believe VMI's three kickers/punters are each on about 35 - 40% of a scholly, and one of VMI's new signees is listed as: "LS/OLB"......so he's getting some $$$ as well.

[FormerPokeCenter]

Agree and disagree. A good reliable Long Snappers is worth their weight in gold....but as far as teaching long snapping...I wanted to learn, and could never get the hang of it. Not sure if it was poor coaching or a poor student...probably a combo of both. hahaha.


I still get Christmas cards every year from Louisiana Tech fans. In 1984, my piss poor snap into the endzone (I took something off of it, because we were on the two-yard line) on a punt got it blocked and Tech's win propelled them into the I-AA playoffs...

[Milktruck74]

I still get Christmas cards every year from Louisiana Tech fans. In 1984, my piss poor snap into the endzone (I took something off of it, because we were on the two-yard line) on a punt got it blocked and Tech's win propelled them into the I-AA playoffs...

As a center you can blame most things on the guards....at least blocking wise....bad exchanges can be blamed on the QB pulling out early.... but shoot one over his head, or forget the snap count, and you are on an island!!!! hahaha.

[geaux_sioux]

If you don’t scholarship a kicker, a punter, and a long snapper then be prepared to lose tight games at the end. Georgia Southern vs NDSU comes to mind.

[JSUSoutherner]

If you don’t scholarship a kicker, a punter, and a long snapper then be prepared to lose tight games at the end. Georgia Southern vs NDSU comes to mind.

Georgia Southern's problem wasn't special teams. It was that they hadn't spent enough time in the weight room.

[Thumper 76]

Punting (and specials teams in general really) is a hugely underrated facet of the game. I'll never forget how crucial NDSU All-American punter Ben LeCompte was in their win over UNI in the 2015 quarters. He pinned them deep so many times it made it virtually impossible for their offense to ever find a groove. Of course the NDSU defense had a lot to do with that as well but seeing the NDSU punt game go south since LeCompte graduated has underscored the need in my eyes for scholarship level punters. In last year's natty it took a Herculean effort from the NDSU defense to make up for some horrible punting/punt coverage against JMU.

I think the problem with giving scholarships to specialists at the FCS level is that you have no margin for error to have a recruiting miss. Generally at NDSU they have at least one other kicker and punter but usually those guys are walk-ons who aren't much more than practice bodies. In the end though offering at least partial scholarships to specialists a risk worth taking IMO.

All of this. A good punter and a good kicker could be worth 2-4 games if you have a bunch of tight games. Pretty sure I remember arguing how big of a loss LeCompte was for ndsu when he graduated. Also being a fan of a school that’s had some pretty good kickers, being able to trust them to get you three points if you get inside the 35 at least is huge.


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[NorthChuckSouth]

Special teams are 1/3 of the game.. if you have a unit that is reliable then they are priceless

[Bisonoline]

There is an equation they came up with that will show how many points the punter is worth in a game. I remember Drago was worth 7.5 points per game.

[ST_Lawson]

By most people's accounts, WIU's best seasons in our DI history were 1998 (9-2 regular season, 2-1 in playoffs) and 2002 (10-1 regular season, 1-1 in playoffs).

The best punting average in a season we've ever had...Mike Scifres (https://goleathernecks.com/hof.aspx?hof=292) in 2002 (48 yards per punt). Second best...Jeff Baker in 1998 (44.2 yards per punt). Two of our best punters in school history...back to back (Baker '95-'98, Scifres '99-02)...which also coincided with pretty much the best stretch of football in our school's history.

The most FGs in a season we've ever had...Justin Langan (https://goleathernecks.com/hof.aspx?hof=290) with 20 FGs (and a .741 average) in 2002. That season, Langan had streaks of 38 straight XPs and 10 straight FGs without missing and also had the best season we've ever had for most made XP's (56 out of 58 made).
The second-best for FGs was in '07, but third-best...Joe Lopez in 1998 (18 made FGs).
Overall, best kick scoring seasons in our history: 2002, 2003, 1997, 1998 (in that order).

Sure, we also had one of the best defenses in the FCS in '98 and one of the best offenses in the FCS in '02, but the consistency of our special teams play helped a LOT.