Is Danny Smith the right guy for the ST gig?

He's been around for what seems forever. But have Special Teams ever really been that special? I'm not saying he's the guy who stunk on punts or kicks the past few years. But doesn't he have a voice in eval talent for those roles? Whenever we kickoff, I expect the other team to get around the 30, maybe further. Whenever we return kicks, I pray we get past the 20, and maybe get lucky by the 30.

Am I the only guy who thinks that Danny should have never made it to this season? I mean, how hard is it to find a good special teams coach?

Every year tons of people panic in preseason because we stink in special teams. Smith's teams have typically been very good on coverage during the season. We have been terrible punting and place kicking but our coverage teams have generally been very good. The reason we stink in coverage every preseason is because they are trying a ton of new people.

I would rather be near the top of the league in field goal kicking than in kick and punt coverage. I would wager that translates into more points gained due to made field goals than lost due to field position given up.

Smith is a good coach I think, working with poor talent on teams.

In his time we've not had a legitimate punter or place kicker, and we've had nobody resembling a return threat (except Santana)

Actually, you could say he's somewhat of a miracle worker.

Smith is a good coach I think, working with poor talent on teams.

In his time we've not had a legitimate punter or place kicker, and we've had nobody resembling a return threat (except Santana)

Actually, you could say he's somewhat of a miracle worker.

Is he saying to the Front Office "Hey, the talent for teams is poor?" or is he saying they will always be better than last year? I think he's overrated.

I will say this. I think Thomas looked like he was "this close" to doing something on KR's.

We have had a very good special teams group for a while. He doesn't get talent, he works with what he has.

I think he is the BEST thing going for our ST.

Remember LeCharles McDaniel.

I'm just glad that guy's gone.

Whew

Our kickers have sucked pretty bad recently.

How many times would a good punt have gotten us out of a bad situation?

Is he saying to the Front Office "Hey, the talent for teams is poor?" or is he saying they will always be better than last year? I think he's overrated.

I will say this. I think Thomas looked like he was "this close" to doing something on KR's.

Well, the average fan can see that our kicking has been atrocious. I don't think Smith needs to (or should) say anything.

That's on Snyderatto.

Danny is highly regarded in the league. Our poor ST play is not only his problems.

As far as coverage goes, I think our coverage teams will be fine during the regular season. But smith has never had a good kicker and untill now he has never had a good punter. Our returns are never gonna make Sportscenter unless Santana takes them back and that is sad when we have guys like Thomas who untill now never get a shot to do it. The only question I have had about Smith was why he is allowing/allowed Randle El to return punts as long as he has.

I would rather be near the top of the league in field goal kicking than in kick and punt coverage. I would wager that translates into more points gained due to made field goals than lost due to field position given up.

I would agree but you have to be good at both. The FG kicking is more personnel related than coaching IMO.

The best ST coaches are gamblers, Danny never gambles and generally plays a "try not to mess up" approach. Rock Cartwright is fine. But ARE pretty much has failed as homerun return man. The punt coverage was about as bad as it gets last year, 8 yds worse than the best in the NFL.

I thought he was one of the best ST coaches in the league.

He's gotten good production on returns from Rock Cartwright -- a former Big 12 fullback.

Randle-el has been terrible but I think that's more of a Randle-el problem -- Tana has certainly busted some big ones during limited opportunities.

Our coverage units have been superb with Khary Campbell and James Thrash leading the way.

Those two guys are gone now and Danny is trying to replace them with Mitchell, who hasn't made a tackle since high school, Cody Glenn, a converted college half back, and Robert Henson.

He's got input on the roster, but no more than other coaches I'd think.

I don't believe so.

Sure, our punt return blocking and running have been near league worst.

But the real problem emerging now is both kickoff and punt coverage on defense.

Is he mediocre? Maybe

Would you pick him ahead of most ST coordinators? Of course not.

And who was the President of the US the last time we blocked a punt? That one blocked field goal, yes.

A punt? 10 years ago maybe?

Whenever we return kicks, I pray we get past the 20, and maybe get lucky by the 30.

That's an error in perception, then, because Cartwright was near the very top in kickoff return average, even if he rarely broke big returns. It seems like he always got out to the 30 or more.

I think the biggest problem for a long time has been the blocking on punt returns, especially the two guys that are supposed to slow down the punting team's gunners on each side. I'd sit at the games and watch the other team's gunners just blow right through, and by the time Randle El caught the ball, he had to dodge 2 or 3 guys.

I really don't think it was Randel El's fault at all. Pointing to Moss isn't fair, because Moss is freakishly good at doing stuff Randel El shouldn't have to. Look at the return against the Lions. Moss had to dodge out of the way of 3 players (including his own guy hitting him :doh:) before he could even start the return.

I guess the blocking comes back to Danny Smith, so I'm not happy with his performance there. Everything else I'd think has been as good as expected, given the limited personnel.

I don't believe so.

And who was the President of the US the last time we blocked a punt?

George W. Bush

I'd have to look up the details, but I'm pretty sure Vernon Fox got one in 2006, and maybe Rocky McIntosh too.

It seems Danny Smith suffers from a perception problem. He needs to hire a PR agency.

And who was the President of the US the last time we blocked a punt?

GHWB

It was '04 or '05 against the Lions by Taylor Jacobs. Not sure if there were others after that, but that one sticks out to me.

George W. Bush

I'd have to look up the details, but I'm pretty sure Vernon Fox got one in 2006, and maybe Rocky McIntosh too.

It seems Danny Smith suffers from a perception problem. He needs to hire a PR agency.

Bingo. We were 4th in the NFL in KO returns and 3rd in KO return coverage. We were 8th and 4th in those categories respectively in 2007. We were 7th in NFL in average starting position against last year with an average starting position of the 26.3. We were top 10 in punt coverage both years as well but I can't give any credit (or discredit) because of so many horrible rolling punts that any data derived from the numbers is faulty. Any problem we have on ST can be directly attributed to:

Antwaan Randle El (why he still is returning punts I'll never know)

Scott Plackemeier

Durant Brooks

Derrick Frost

Shawn Suisham

Nick Novak

John Hall

Special Teams has been anything but for a LONG time. I don't know how much I blame Danny Smith, how much actual coaching is involved really? ST coaches are rah-rah coaches not X+O. More than anything how about Suisham? How is this guy still in the league? CUT THIS ****** NOW!

Special Teams has been anything but for a LONG time. I don't know how much I blame Danny Smith, how much actual coaching is involved really? ST coaches are rah-rah coaches not X+O. More than anything how about Suisham? How is this guy still in the league? CUT THIS ****** NOW!

I completely disagree with almost every word of that.

As noted above, our ST stats have been solid, DESPITE the pitiful carousel of punters and kickers coming through Ashburn.

You think NFL ST coaching is just yelling at guys to play hard?

There is a TON of video work and teaching technique in ST, from the long snaps to the gunners to the wedge busters to the return setups and everything in between.

Danny Smith is widely respected as one of the best in the business, and the results reflect that.

As another poster said, we do not want to go back to the days of LeCharles.

Bingo. We were 4th in the NFL in KO returns and 3rd in KO return coverage. We were 8th and 4th in those categories respectively in 2007. We were 7th in NFL in average starting position against last year with an average starting position of the 26.3. We were top 10 in punt coverage both years as well but I can't give any credit (or discredit) because of so many horrible rolling punts that any data derived from the numbers is faulty.

Thank you. Danny Smith is a pretty fantastic special teams coach and our coverage and return units have consistently ranked near the top of the leauge (except punt returns) despite an apparent lack of talent in key positions. He's been making lemonade out of lemons and doing a pretty good job of it.

We may question why ARE continued to return punts last year, but who else could we have put back there? Thrash? We had guys with kickoff return experience, like Devin Thomas, but no one else with punt returning experience besides Moss, and that's a huge injury risk.

being ranked high like our D doesn't mean squat. Where are the big plays?

I think we all found out that being ranked 4th doesn't mean anything on Defense or special teams.

We weren't in the top 10 for KR for TDs, or KR over 40 yards. Punt returns we were just a little better though a lot of us were hating on ARE last season for his dancing. Tied for 10th with downing the ball inside the 20.

We did give up a few PR for TD's though.

We have one of the worst in preseason, but I'm trying to chalk it up to the youngsters playing. If it isn't the youngsters, we're in trouble this season on coverage units.

As noted above, our ST stats have been solid, DESPITE the pitiful carousel of punters and kickers coming through Ashburn.