West Virginia focused on kickoff improvement this spring
West Virginia has put a focus on improving in the area of kickoffs this off-season.
Some of the problems caused last year, most notably highlighted by allowing a pair of kickoff returns against Baylor, were caused by some fixable issues. Due to injuries and depth concerns to the mid-skill type bodies on the roster, the Mountaineers were rotating people and trying to find fixes.
That moving bodies around created issues at times.
“That’s exactly where you saw the biggest hit was kickoff specifically,” coordinator Jeff Koonz said.
And there were also issues that Koonz believed could be adjusted from a teaching perspective in order to get his team to play faster. That is the goal of any special teams unit as there is a balance between being prepared but not overthinking things to the point where it affects the level of play.
Coaches job is to prepare players and provide tips on what to expect but do so without attempting to change their jobs every time the ball is kicked off down the field.
“Everything on special teams is about making game-time decisions, split-second decisions and reacting as fast as possible,” Koonz said.
As for the personnel issues that have been aided with the Mountaineers continuing to develop depth in the linebacker, tight end and running back rooms to help assist on those teams.
But the coaching staff also has placed an emphasis on drill work in order to make strides. Now, that doesn’t mean that West Virginia is necessarily lining up 10 across and running down the field to fit up returns, but instead emphasizing technique.
West Virginia utilizes what is referred to as “Mountaineer Techniques,” which focuses on eight to nine different movements that are common on special teams such as defeating blocks, avoiding blocs and making blocks, among other fundamentals.
That’s because in the end the cover units have to avoid and defeat blocks before finishing the play with a tackle, while the return units have to create contact and make blocks in order to give the returners a chance to make something happen with the ball in their hands.
Breaking things down into smaller groups in a circuit allows players to work on many different things at once depending on the players. Those groups include timing up their approach with the kicker, full-speed reps on how to avoid a block down the field and tackling in closed spaces for example.
But instead of the risk of live special teams reps, they are done in controlled settings, but players can still get the benefit of full-speed technique work.
One of those areas has been working on missing tackles while overrunning on the backside on the kickoff team and the Mountaineers have created a drill for that.
"Wrap tackle where we’re sprinting and we’re practicing it on the track landing pad so it’s not putting a bunch of force on your shoulders," head coach Neal Brown said.
The second part of that is the competition aspect where players can go full speed in those controlled types of situations and there is a declared winner and loser. That allows the coaches to determine who is showing up in certain aspects of special teams and slot them into roles later in the fall.
“Special teams is getting guys excited about competing,” Koonz said.
West Virginia has also looked into improving Michael Hayes' touchback percentage after hitting just 20 of his 73 attempts last season which is lower than the coaches wanted. Now, that is something that the coaches have looked at improving through preparation and recovery but is key.
However, accuracy matters just as much as a strong leg if you just try to bang it through the end zone and mishit it could lead to big returns given the fact the coverage is dictated by where the ball goes. West Virginia is shooting for a 4.0-second hangtime because that limits opportunities in itself.
“By the time they hit the goal line we’re going to have four or five people past the 30-yard line and it’s really hard to block that,” Koonz said. “If they bring it out it should be a very positive play for us.”
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