Coordinating Special
Teams Success
I n the spring of 1999, I became the Head
Coach of the University of North Dakota
football team. My immediate concern was
what role would I play in the preparation of
this football team on the field.
I had previously served as a defensive
coordinator at UND and an offensive coor-
dinator as a head coach at the University of
Mary. I realized, however, that the
demands of being a head coach at UND
would be restrictive in being a coordinator
on either side of the ball. My best solution
was found within the special teams. The
more I examined the advantages of being a
head coach and special teams coordinator,
the more I liked this concept. I found that
the major benefits were:
• An opportunity to work with the pun-
ters and kickers as their position coach.
• An opportunity to work with players on
both sides of the ball on a daily basis.
• It frees up your offensive and defen-
sive coordinators to concentrate on their
side of the ball.
• It gives special teams a true sense of
importance when the head coach is direct-
ly involved.
• In game situations, it helps in making
Dale Lennon crucial decisions when the head coach is
the special teams coach.
Head Coach Once I made the decision that I was
going to become the special teams coordi-
University of North Dakota nator, organization, structure and evalua-
tion became a major focus.
Grand Forks, N.D.
Organization
In coordinating the special teams, I
believe it is very important to delegate
responsibility for the overall operation of
special teams preparation. With each spe-
cial team, one coach is given the assign-
ment of being responsible for the design
and execution of that special team unit.
Three to four other coaches will be
assigned to assist with the technique work
required at each position. The delegation of
our special teams assignment breakdown
occurs as follow.
Punt Team
Tackles & Slots Coach
Snapper/Guards/
PersonalProtector Coach
Bullet Coach
Punter Coach
Punt Block & Return
Interior Rush Coach
Left Perimeter Coach
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Right Perimeter Coach
Return Man Coach
PAT.& FG Team
Interior Linemen
Wings & Ends Coach
Holder & Kicker Coach
PAT & FG Block Team
Interior Linemen Coach
Perimeter Block Side Coach
Perimeter Block Safe Coach
Kickoff Return Team
Front Line Coach
Tight Ends & Fullbacks Coach
Return Man Coach
Kickoff Cover Team
Right Perimeter Cover Side Coach
Left Perimeter Cover Side Coach
Middle Cover Coach
Kicker Coach
The assignments are made according to
the experiences of the coaching staff.
Generally, the defensive coaches will be
responsible for the Block teams (Punt, PAT,
and FG) and the Kickoff cover team. The
offensive coaches will be responsible for
the punt team, kickoff return team and the
PAT/FG team. As the head coach, I am
responsible for the punt team and the kick-
off return team and will oversee all other
teams.
Structure
I believe it is very important to have a
practice schedule for your specialty per-
formers. At UND, we use a period struc-
tured set-up for our practices. On our
special teams bulletin board, I will post a
specialty practice schedule (Diagram A)
along with the special teams depth chart
and any information pertaining to the
special teams unit that we are practicing
that day. Our punters and kickers will
have their assigned individual technique
periods along with group times when
they are working with other position
groups. This gives our kickers and pun-
ters an opportunity to stay involved with
the team during the course of a practice
(Diagram A).
Evaluations
Kickers
One of the most difficult parts of coach-
ing the special teams is finding a fair and

efficient way of evaluating your players. A
big part of our evaluation process is chart-
ing. Each week, we will have times
assigned to chart specific skills. By keeping
a season charting log, the coach develops
a performance record of his special teams
performers. Once a weak, our kickers will
chart 10 kick offs for distance and hang-
time. They will also chart their field goal
accuracy (Diagram B) from different points
on the field. In our field goal chart, I like to
have a visual account of the point where
the ball crossed the goal posts. By record-
ing the accuracy point, you will be able to
• AFCA Summer Manual — 2002 •
identify the strength and weaknesses of
your kicker at certain points on the field
(Diagram B).
Punters
Our punters chart (Diagram C) will
record the punter’s get-off time, hang
time and the distance of the punt from the
line of scrimmage. My biggest emphasis
in punting is the get-off time. The get-off
time is the amount of time that expires
between when the ball touches the pun-
terís hands and the sound of the foot
kicking the ball. The hang time and the
distance of the punt are naturally very
important, but my first concern is getting
the punt off. If the punters get-off time is
over 1.3, the distance of the punt may be
irrelevant.
Snappers
As with our punters, my biggest con-
cern with our snappers is their snap time.
The goal of our snappers is to get the ball
to the punters within 0.90 seconds. The
combination of the snap time and the get
off time should be at 2.2 seconds. The
next major concern is the accuracy of the
snap. As with our kickers, I want to have
a visual reference to verify the accuracy
of the snap (Diagram D). Accuracy will
have a direct correlation on the get-off
time of the punter. By charting our snap-
pers in a pre-practice session, it
becomes obvious who are the top snap-
pers. Charting is also a great way to eval-
uate your top snapperís strengths and
weaknesses, therefore allowing you to
implement specific drills for individual
improvement.
Final Evaluation
On the day before a game, we use a
special teams rehearsal script. This script
has become a very important element of
our game week preparation. Our scripted
routine allows us to go through game-like
situations to clarify our sideline manage-
ment and make sure our personnel substi-
tutions and our two-deep depth chart is
accurate. This review will only take 15 min-
utes and is run at the end of practice. Our
team review script is as follows (Friday
Special Teams Script).
Summary
Special teams play is one-third of the
game and can be the difference between a
win and a loss. I firmly believe it is very

Friday Special Teams Script
• 1st - Kickoff Return (Kicking South)
-Gather on 50-yd line (Return Rt or Lt) w/Head Coach
• 1st - Offense (1 Play on the South 35-yardline)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 1st - Punt (Punting North - Fair Catch on the North 20)
-Gather on Sideline w/Head Coach
• 1st - Defense (1 Play on the North 20)
-Signal Defense
• 1st - Punt Return (Punting South on the North 20 & Return
to North 20)
-Gather on Sideline w/Linebacker Coach
• 1st - Offense (1 Play on the North 20 - Red Zone — Score TD)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 1st - PAT (1 Kick on the North End Zone)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Offensive Line Coach
• 1st - Kickoff (Kicking North to the North 20)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Defensive Line Coach
• 2nd - Defense (1 Play on the North 20)
-Signal Defense
• 2nd - Punt Return (Punting South on the North 20 & return
to the North 20)
-Gather on Sideline w/Linebacker Coach
• 2nd - Offense (1 Play - On North 20 - Red Zone — Score TD)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 2nd - PAT (North End Zone) •End of 1st Half
-Huddle on Sideline w/Offensive Line Coach
• 2nd - Kickoff Return Team (Kicking North - Return South &
Score TD)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Head Coach
• 2nd - Kickoff Team (35) (Kicking North)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Defensive Line Coach
• 2nd - Offense (1 Play) On North 45 going South
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 2nd - Punt (Fair Catch) Punting South on North 45
-Huddle on Sideline w/Head Coach
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important that the assigned coaches recog-
nize the importance of each team. If top
players need to be assigned a special
teams role, do not hesitate to make that
assignment. Never underestimate the
importance of special teams play. There
are obviously so many more elements that
go into a well-prepared special teams unit,
but by starting with organization, structure
and evaluation, you will be well on your
way to special teams success.
• 1st - Kickoff onside (BonzaI!!!) (On 35) Kicking North
-Huddle on Sideline w/Defensive Line Coach
• 1st - Hands Team - Kangaroo (Opposite Onside Kick)
Kicking North - Returning South
-Huddle on Sideline w/Head Coach
• 1st - Defense (RUN 1 PLAY) - On North 35 Defending the
South
-Signal Defense (Defensive Line Coach/Linebacker Coach)
• 1st - Defense Punt Safe (Punt South) On North 35 Defending
the South
-Punt Safe signaled in from sideline.
• 1st - Offense - Sudden Change (On South 35 Going South)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 1st - Defense - Sudden Change (On South 20 Defending the
South)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Defensive Line Coach-Linebacker Coach
• 1st - Offense - 1 Play on South 20 Going South (1 Play to
five-yard line)
-Huddle on Sideline w/Runningback Coach
• 1st - Offense Goal Line (1 Play) South 5 Going South
-Signal Offense
• 1st - Field Goal (No Time Outs - Clock Running) South 5
Kicking South
-Hustle in from sideline (Offensive Line Coach)
• 1st - Defense on 20-yd line (1 Play) South 20 Defending the
South
-Signal Defense (Defensive Line Coach/Linebacker Coach)
• 1st - Defense Goal Line (1 Play - Set up FG Block) South 5
Defending the South
-Signal Defense (Defensive Line Coach/Linebacker Coach)
• 1st - FG Block (1 Play) South 3 Defending the South
-Signal Defense (Linebacker Coach)