What's Up With Tim Masthay ?

[Go Pack 85]

While he wasn't perfect last year he has really regressed this pre season ? Is it Zook or the ST in general ?

 

[Cheesedog]

My money is on Zook... Someone in chat said Zook had screwed with Masthay's approach. If true that would be bad...

 

[Scoremore12]

My money is on Zook... Someone in chat said Zook had screwed with Masthay's approach. If true that would be bad...

Thing is, he was going downhill last year already when Slocum was still ST coach. Having a mental lapse similar to what Crosby went through a couple years back?

 

[CaptainD]

Found this little write up from a couple years back. Kind of covers directional punting as a whole:

It is a time-honored tradition in football to blame the kicker for a loss. It's easy, after all. Damn kicker blew the game. But that's not how it works. Football is complex. Every player on every single play affects the outcome, but no one wants to hear this. They want someone to burn in effigy, and who better than the weenie who wears a weird number and a weird facemask and hangs out by himself on the sideline kicking special footballs into a net over and over while real men do men's work out on the field.

Just kick the ball out of bounds! If only it were that simple. Of all the special teams, punt team gets the most work during the week, because its execution is so crucial. A punt is a two-part play. First, the punt team must protect the punter and make sure he's not rushed at all. There is a numbering system that determines who blocks whom. Defensive players are counted outside in, not including the one or two hold-up men that are responsible for locking down the gunner, the guy who's job is to get downfield to the return receiver as quickly as possible.

If a defensive team is trying hard to block the punt, they'll use only one hold-up man, but typically, the defensive team is not trying to block the kick. They're trying to set up a return. The gunners are the fastest dudes on the punt team, and they have no blocking responsibilities, so they can go at the snap of the ball. If they're not dealt with effectively, they'll produce a fair catch.

The second part of the punt team's execution, after protection, is to cover the kick. Every player on the punt team, based on his position on the play, has a specific lane he must stay in when pursuing the returner. Special teams coaches will not tolerate any deviation from these lanes. These plays are practiced ad infinitude in training camp.

We can't get the right number of men on the field or stay in our lanes which isn't on Masthay. I think ST is so screwed up right now that both theFG miss and punt SNAFUS are products of a bigger mess.

 

[Crease Creature]

I had a post a couple months back, maybe when they announced the Zooker was the new ST coach, on how to coach special teams. I'll see if I can find it.