Colorado University Athletics
Senior Diego Gonzalez has targeted better consistency as his 2016 goal.
Buffs Take By-Committee Coaching Approach To Special Teams
August 18, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Return Of Kinney, Gonzalez Should Boost Kicking Game
(Fifth in a series of position-by-position previews of the 2016 Buffs to be posted on CUBuffs.com during the preseason. Today: Special teams)
BOULDER – The direction of the Colorado Buffaloes' special teams will be in new hands in 2016. Many new hands, in fact. As for how that affects the kicking, coverage and return games, stay tuned.
Rather than hire one person to replace the departed Toby Neinas, Buffs coach Mike MacIntyre elected to spread out the special teams duties. And that includes MacIntyre himself devoting more time in practice to special teams work, with his position coaches taking on various areas of responsibility.
"I was always involved in making sure we had special teams (time) in practice," MacIntyre said. "With us having coaches doing different areas I kind of make sure the coach knows it's his time, his day. I'm sitting in on it, just like I did before, but now with each individual area.
"I guess there is a little bit more (personal) focus but each coach has an individual responsibility so the monkey is on his back so to speak. I'm noticing a lot more involvement by our coaches – I'm not saying there wasn't before, but when it's your team, if you're in charge of a certain phase . . . I've been pleased with how it's gone."
While position coaches might be tasked with more coverage/return duties, coaching the kickers, punters, snappers and holders is assigned to Matt Thompson, whose title is director of quality control/special teams. Thompson has a kicking/punting background and was a CU video assistant in 2011-12. MacIntyre felt comfortable enough with Thompson's resume to add him as a staffer last spring.
Sophomore punter Alex Kinney said not having a special teams coach per se "really hasn't affected us." Thompson's presence, Kinney added, "helps out a lot, but a lot of it is alone work. We've kind of always known what we needed to do and got it done."
JT Bale, who replaces Wyatt Tucker Smith as CU's long and short snapper, said Thompson "does a really good job; he knows quite a bit about snapping so he coaches me through it."
Along with the staffers assuming new duties, Bale and holder Robert Orban, a junior receiver, are the kicking game's newcomers. MacIntyre says both have performed well in August camp, making a smooth transition for Kinney and placekickers Diego Gonzalez and Chris Graham.
"Getting that whole machine oiled well gives a kicker a lot of confidence," MacIntyre said. "He doesn't want to ever think about that – and I don't think he is."
Kinney's first college season was spent as the Buffs' starting punter, while Gonzalez broke in as the placement specialist in 2015 as a junior. Having both return this season undoubtedly helped ease Thompson into his new role.
Overall, CU is noticeably deeper in MacIntyre's fourth season than his first. That depth, said MacIntyre, will be a factor in identifying coverage/return teams personnel. He still plans on using starters on special teams but won't over-use his No. 1s.
"If a guy is a starter and playing a ton, we'll play him on one coverage unit and back him up on another," MacIntyre said. "If he's playing half the game or just sparingly, we'll play him on two to three 'teams.' If a guy is a true backup and we don't see him playing a lot, we'll play him on four.
"We'll see how it all fits . . . we have enough depth now to be able to do it that way. All the skill starters will be on multiple teams but only really start on one. If someone gets nicked up, you could see the (skill starters) playing on two."
That formula, or a variation of it, was employed last season, but MacIntyre noted, "Now we have so many guys who play scrimmage plays and special teams plays. Our backups even on special teams were maybe starters last year . . . it all ebbs and flows during the season according to injuries."
Kickoff and punt returners will be firmed up in the final week and a half of work before the Sept. 2 opener against Colorado State. MacIntyre said some drills determine the best fits for both of those roles, but players actually working in the return schemes can be more telling.
"We'll be in more of the scheme and figuring who can hit the hole," he said. "We've got an idea from the drills but we'll put it into reality."
DIEGO IS DA MAN: Gonzalez made 18 of his 29 field goal attempts last season and all 35 of his PAT attempts. None of his kicks were bigger than a 32-yard field goal in overtime that beat CSU 27-24. It followed a missed 48-yard attempt at the end of regulation, which set the stage for the redemptive game winner.
The week after the CSU win, the Mexican sports media – Gonzalez is from Monterrey – couldn't get enough of Diego. CU's athletic media relations department fielded its most media requests in history from south of the border.
Gonzalez says he's currently "kicking my best since probably . . . ever. So I'm really excited about that. I want to see how it translates to the games."
What's he doing better now than last August?
"My consistency is better," he said. "I've worked on that. I didn't really care last year about kicking from the left hash, but I know I had a couple of misses from there. So I'm working from the left hash, the right hash, everywhere and trying to feel comfortable."
It only took a glance at his 2015 stats to make him realize where most of his work was needed. "I wasn't happy with any of my misses," he said. "But I knew that most of them were from the left hash. It made sense to practice more from there."
Gonzalez has a powerful left leg and has shown it in camp. He made a 42-yarder in practice last week that MacIntyre said "could have been a 62-yarder." Added Gonzalez: "Over the summer with fresh legs I hit a 64-65-yarder indoors. I'll be happy with any distance I have to kick from. I'll go out and do my best."
Gonzalez says he can handle both kicking off and the placement duties and wants to compete with Graham for the kickoff spot. But he does admit that doing both can put a strain on his leg.
"You just have to be smart with how many kickoffs you do in a week," he said. "I'd love doing both . . . I want both spots and (Graham) is trying to do the same thing. Davis Price (freshman) is coming in too. Competition good for everyone; it makes us better."
SHAKY START, STRONG FINISH: After a freshman break-in period that required a couple of games, Kinney came on strong in 2015. He was one of only seven CU freshmen to earn the No. 1 punting job, and his 40.1 average was third among those seven.
In the off-season and summer he's worked on his drop, speeding up his time in getting his punts off and "getting more comfortable back there – really just everything you can get better at year by year. There's always stuff to work on; nobody's perfect, there's always something to work on in punting."
Kinney called his first couple of games last season "a little rough, but toward the end I started feeling a lot more comfortable. And I feel comfortable now. My times are faster and I'm hitting it a lot better."
IT'S A SNAP: Bale moves into one of the single-most important special teams duties – snapping on punts and placement kicks. MacIntyre says Bale is "really savvy about it" and has done "excellent" work on both snaps.
Kinney adds that Bale "is doing a fine job" and says that "there's really no difference" between Bale and the Buffs' previous snapper, Wyatt Tucker Smith, who held the job for two seasons.
That last bit of praise might be the highest and means a lot to Bale. He watched Smith closely last season and said that observation "really benefitted me. Being able to see him and how he went through his routine, how he handled himself, is really impressive."
The advice passed on by Smith?
"Basically, be calm, cool, collected," Bale said. "That's pretty much it. Keep your head in the game, have a thick skin and snap the ball. There's not much more than that. A lot of long snappers have their own way of warming up . . . some guys like to snap a hundred balls before they go out. I'll snap 20-25 and I feel good."
Bale began snapping – "Just messing around with it really" – with an older cousin when both were younger. He didn't realize he might snap at this level until his senior year of high school in La Mirada, Calif. CU, New Mexico and a couple of lower division school showed an interest, but he chose to walk on in Boulder.
"I really love it here," he said. "I don't want to leave anytime soon. It's pretty awesome."
His pre-camp goals included gaining weight (he's 6-2, 210) and "really dialing in and not having to worry about anything, having (snapping) be second nature," he said. "You just jump in there and snap . . . I definitely feel comfortable with it now."
THE INSIDE LOOK AT . . .
Special teams
Coach: By committee; position coaches are responsible for a specific special teams area, and Matt Thompson, director of quality control, also is working with the punters and kickers.
Returning starters: Â P Alex Kinney, Soph.; PK Diego Gonzalez, Sr.; P/PK/KO Chris Graham, Jr.
Returnees: SN Chris Hill, Sr.; H Robert Orban, Jr.; H T.J. Patterson, Jr.
Newcomers: SN J.T. Bale, RS-Fr.; P Cameron Silzer, Jr.; PK/KO Cutler Halvorson, Jr.; PK/KO Nick Porter, RS-Fr.; K Davis Price, Fr.
Key losses: SN Wyatt Tucker Smith, H Colin Johnson.
Stat line: The Buffs were ninth in the Pac-12 last season in net punting (36.7 yards a punt) and last in field goal percentage (62.1, 18-of-29). Kinney ranked ninth in the league in punting (40.1 average) while Gonzalez's 18 made field goals put him in a three-way tie for sixth. In the return games, CU was sixth (21.9 yards) in kickoff returns and 11th (6.2 yards) in punt returns.
Bottom line: Â With a year's experience as starters and a spring/off-season to hone their crafts, Kinney and Gonzalez each should be improved. Execution in the snapping/holding portions of the kicking game has been turned over to a pair of newcomers (Bale, Orban), and each must be good from the get-go. How much coverage and return teams might improve under the new by-committee coaching arrangement will be a mystery until the season begins.
Next: Offensive line.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Â
BOULDER – The direction of the Colorado Buffaloes' special teams will be in new hands in 2016. Many new hands, in fact. As for how that affects the kicking, coverage and return games, stay tuned.
Rather than hire one person to replace the departed Toby Neinas, Buffs coach Mike MacIntyre elected to spread out the special teams duties. And that includes MacIntyre himself devoting more time in practice to special teams work, with his position coaches taking on various areas of responsibility.
"I was always involved in making sure we had special teams (time) in practice," MacIntyre said. "With us having coaches doing different areas I kind of make sure the coach knows it's his time, his day. I'm sitting in on it, just like I did before, but now with each individual area.
"I guess there is a little bit more (personal) focus but each coach has an individual responsibility so the monkey is on his back so to speak. I'm noticing a lot more involvement by our coaches – I'm not saying there wasn't before, but when it's your team, if you're in charge of a certain phase . . . I've been pleased with how it's gone."
While position coaches might be tasked with more coverage/return duties, coaching the kickers, punters, snappers and holders is assigned to Matt Thompson, whose title is director of quality control/special teams. Thompson has a kicking/punting background and was a CU video assistant in 2011-12. MacIntyre felt comfortable enough with Thompson's resume to add him as a staffer last spring.
Sophomore punter Alex Kinney said not having a special teams coach per se "really hasn't affected us." Thompson's presence, Kinney added, "helps out a lot, but a lot of it is alone work. We've kind of always known what we needed to do and got it done."
JT Bale, who replaces Wyatt Tucker Smith as CU's long and short snapper, said Thompson "does a really good job; he knows quite a bit about snapping so he coaches me through it."
Along with the staffers assuming new duties, Bale and holder Robert Orban, a junior receiver, are the kicking game's newcomers. MacIntyre says both have performed well in August camp, making a smooth transition for Kinney and placekickers Diego Gonzalez and Chris Graham.
"Getting that whole machine oiled well gives a kicker a lot of confidence," MacIntyre said. "He doesn't want to ever think about that – and I don't think he is."
Kinney's first college season was spent as the Buffs' starting punter, while Gonzalez broke in as the placement specialist in 2015 as a junior. Having both return this season undoubtedly helped ease Thompson into his new role.
Overall, CU is noticeably deeper in MacIntyre's fourth season than his first. That depth, said MacIntyre, will be a factor in identifying coverage/return teams personnel. He still plans on using starters on special teams but won't over-use his No. 1s.
"If a guy is a starter and playing a ton, we'll play him on one coverage unit and back him up on another," MacIntyre said. "If he's playing half the game or just sparingly, we'll play him on two to three 'teams.' If a guy is a true backup and we don't see him playing a lot, we'll play him on four.
"We'll see how it all fits . . . we have enough depth now to be able to do it that way. All the skill starters will be on multiple teams but only really start on one. If someone gets nicked up, you could see the (skill starters) playing on two."
That formula, or a variation of it, was employed last season, but MacIntyre noted, "Now we have so many guys who play scrimmage plays and special teams plays. Our backups even on special teams were maybe starters last year . . . it all ebbs and flows during the season according to injuries."
Kickoff and punt returners will be firmed up in the final week and a half of work before the Sept. 2 opener against Colorado State. MacIntyre said some drills determine the best fits for both of those roles, but players actually working in the return schemes can be more telling.
"We'll be in more of the scheme and figuring who can hit the hole," he said. "We've got an idea from the drills but we'll put it into reality."
DIEGO IS DA MAN: Gonzalez made 18 of his 29 field goal attempts last season and all 35 of his PAT attempts. None of his kicks were bigger than a 32-yard field goal in overtime that beat CSU 27-24. It followed a missed 48-yard attempt at the end of regulation, which set the stage for the redemptive game winner.
The week after the CSU win, the Mexican sports media – Gonzalez is from Monterrey – couldn't get enough of Diego. CU's athletic media relations department fielded its most media requests in history from south of the border.
Gonzalez says he's currently "kicking my best since probably . . . ever. So I'm really excited about that. I want to see how it translates to the games."
What's he doing better now than last August?
"My consistency is better," he said. "I've worked on that. I didn't really care last year about kicking from the left hash, but I know I had a couple of misses from there. So I'm working from the left hash, the right hash, everywhere and trying to feel comfortable."
It only took a glance at his 2015 stats to make him realize where most of his work was needed. "I wasn't happy with any of my misses," he said. "But I knew that most of them were from the left hash. It made sense to practice more from there."
Gonzalez has a powerful left leg and has shown it in camp. He made a 42-yarder in practice last week that MacIntyre said "could have been a 62-yarder." Added Gonzalez: "Over the summer with fresh legs I hit a 64-65-yarder indoors. I'll be happy with any distance I have to kick from. I'll go out and do my best."
Gonzalez says he can handle both kicking off and the placement duties and wants to compete with Graham for the kickoff spot. But he does admit that doing both can put a strain on his leg.
"You just have to be smart with how many kickoffs you do in a week," he said. "I'd love doing both . . . I want both spots and (Graham) is trying to do the same thing. Davis Price (freshman) is coming in too. Competition good for everyone; it makes us better."
SHAKY START, STRONG FINISH: After a freshman break-in period that required a couple of games, Kinney came on strong in 2015. He was one of only seven CU freshmen to earn the No. 1 punting job, and his 40.1 average was third among those seven.
In the off-season and summer he's worked on his drop, speeding up his time in getting his punts off and "getting more comfortable back there – really just everything you can get better at year by year. There's always stuff to work on; nobody's perfect, there's always something to work on in punting."
Kinney called his first couple of games last season "a little rough, but toward the end I started feeling a lot more comfortable. And I feel comfortable now. My times are faster and I'm hitting it a lot better."
IT'S A SNAP: Bale moves into one of the single-most important special teams duties – snapping on punts and placement kicks. MacIntyre says Bale is "really savvy about it" and has done "excellent" work on both snaps.
Kinney adds that Bale "is doing a fine job" and says that "there's really no difference" between Bale and the Buffs' previous snapper, Wyatt Tucker Smith, who held the job for two seasons.
That last bit of praise might be the highest and means a lot to Bale. He watched Smith closely last season and said that observation "really benefitted me. Being able to see him and how he went through his routine, how he handled himself, is really impressive."
The advice passed on by Smith?
"Basically, be calm, cool, collected," Bale said. "That's pretty much it. Keep your head in the game, have a thick skin and snap the ball. There's not much more than that. A lot of long snappers have their own way of warming up . . . some guys like to snap a hundred balls before they go out. I'll snap 20-25 and I feel good."
Bale began snapping – "Just messing around with it really" – with an older cousin when both were younger. He didn't realize he might snap at this level until his senior year of high school in La Mirada, Calif. CU, New Mexico and a couple of lower division school showed an interest, but he chose to walk on in Boulder.
"I really love it here," he said. "I don't want to leave anytime soon. It's pretty awesome."
His pre-camp goals included gaining weight (he's 6-2, 210) and "really dialing in and not having to worry about anything, having (snapping) be second nature," he said. "You just jump in there and snap . . . I definitely feel comfortable with it now."
THE INSIDE LOOK AT . . .
Special teams
Coach: By committee; position coaches are responsible for a specific special teams area, and Matt Thompson, director of quality control, also is working with the punters and kickers.
Returning starters: Â P Alex Kinney, Soph.; PK Diego Gonzalez, Sr.; P/PK/KO Chris Graham, Jr.
Returnees: SN Chris Hill, Sr.; H Robert Orban, Jr.; H T.J. Patterson, Jr.
Newcomers: SN J.T. Bale, RS-Fr.; P Cameron Silzer, Jr.; PK/KO Cutler Halvorson, Jr.; PK/KO Nick Porter, RS-Fr.; K Davis Price, Fr.
Key losses: SN Wyatt Tucker Smith, H Colin Johnson.
Stat line: The Buffs were ninth in the Pac-12 last season in net punting (36.7 yards a punt) and last in field goal percentage (62.1, 18-of-29). Kinney ranked ninth in the league in punting (40.1 average) while Gonzalez's 18 made field goals put him in a three-way tie for sixth. In the return games, CU was sixth (21.9 yards) in kickoff returns and 11th (6.2 yards) in punt returns.
Bottom line: Â With a year's experience as starters and a spring/off-season to hone their crafts, Kinney and Gonzalez each should be improved. Execution in the snapping/holding portions of the kicking game has been turned over to a pair of newcomers (Bale, Orban), and each must be good from the get-go. How much coverage and return teams might improve under the new by-committee coaching arrangement will be a mystery until the season begins.
Next: Offensive line.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Â
Players Mentioned
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