Improvement imperative for Tech special teams
The eighth and final installment in a series of position group breakdowns of the 2011 Georgia Tech football team:
Georgia Tech will need more special-teams plays like this one, from Fred Holton in the Georgia game. JOHNNY CRAWFORD/jcrawford@ajc.com
Projected starters: K Justin Moore (So., 5-10, 160), P Sean Poole (So., 6-1, 161), LS Tyler Morgan (6-3, 205).
Others to watch: David Scully will be Moore’s main competition, likewise Chandler Anderson at punter. Both returner spots look wide open. At punt returner, Jemea Thomas, Roddy Jones and Tony Zenon are possibilities. Last season, B.J. Bostic was the primary kickoff returner, averaging 20.5 yards per return. Embry Peeples, Orwin Smith and Daniel McKayhan also had opportunities. Incoming freshmen Chris Milton and Broderick Snoddy may also get looks. Sean Tobin is an incoming freshman long snapper to whom coach Paul Johnson gave a scholarship.
Key losses: Scott Blair, who handled field goals for the past three seasons and kickoffs for the past four, has graduated, one of the most significant losses off the roster. He made 29 of 37 field-goal tries in his last two seasons while helping Tech rank 10th in the country in kickoff return yards allowed last season. Jerrard Tarrant took punt returns for the past two seasons, averaging 6.6 yards per return in 2010.
Key fact: Georgia Tech ranked 97th (out of 120 teams) in kickoff and punt returns last season. The Yellow Jackets were also 98th in punt return yardage allowed and 114th in net punting. On top of finding a replacement for their kicker of the past three years, they also have to repair other units that were fairly miserable. It’s a big task for a team that doesn’t figure to have much margin on either offense or defense.
Key fact II: Johnson will be more involved in coaching special teams, including helping with the schemes and sitting in on more meetings. In the past, he had delegated the responsibility to assistants responsible for the different return and cover teams. The shortcomings of the return teams go beyond the actual returners. Plenty of time in fall practice will be spent finding the best players to play on those units.
Key question: Can special teams improve enough at least to the point that they aren’t a liability? While hardly the deciding factors, special teams breakdowns played a role in Tech’s final two losses of the season, to Georgia and Air Force. The Jackets will need both big plays and consistency wherever they can find them. Better special teams play could make a big difference.
Outlook: Questionable. It may prove that Moore is a dependable kicker and that the return teams improve considerably, but it’s nowhere near a given. In Johnson’s three years at Tech, only once has a kick or punt return team ranked higher than 64th nationally in return yardage. Poole, who did fine after winning the job from Anderson, is coming back from a knee injury.
Your turn: What do you think?
PAST POSITION BREAKDOWNS
Ken Sugiura, AJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
98 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
1:39 pm
At any rate, on the topic at hand, we have GOT to do something on special teams this year, and I agree completely with GT 1. To paraphrase the old adage about fooling me, “screw up once, and shame on you; screw up twice and shame on me.” Why on earth after the first botched catch was he in there again?
Brock
July 21st, 2011
2:06 pm
Tarrant-Rape-chgs dropped- not enough evidence
Houston- weed- plea deal
Hall- abuse- chgs dropped-not enough evidence
GT Fan...
July 21st, 2011
2:06 pm
I was there, in the friggin COLD, watching the miserable 3rd Qtr vs. AF!
Opening drive, 8:25 off the clock, ends on 3rd & 1 from the AF 7 after TW fumbles at the 5 on a QB keeper.
GT D plays great forcing AF punt … Fumbled.
GT D plays great again forcing another AF …. Fumbled AGAIN, this time at the YJs own 14. End of 3rd Qtr.
GT is an 8 win team last season if just one of the following was better:
TOs, STs, Injuries, 3rd Down D, or WRs.
Lots of stuff to work on in 2011, but it’s easy to see 8+ wins if some of these things are better in 2011. Getting WAY ahead of myself here, but if TOs, STs, and 3rd down D are much better in 2011, I can see 10+ wins.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:22 pm
Brock, those are the cases that came to my mind, but on one of those other blogs, a Tech fan told me that there was an incident in 1989 where 3 players beat up a girl at an Atlanta bar and pretty much got away with it. I doubt that’s what the mutt posters were referring to, because it was so long ago. And if it was the incident they were referring to, then I can think of a similar one in Athens from the 70s involving a kid on the team there from Augusta. But that’s all ancient history.
BigTimeTechFan
July 21st, 2011
2:24 pm
yes, practice in 2 weeks. Tech’s going to be awesome.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:25 pm
GT Fan, I hope too that the positive outcome of this damn probation will result in a fired up team and coaching staff. If they play with any degree of emotion more than the zilch they had last year, then they will do fine. If they play PO’d, but obviously with it under control, they could be a beast.
Stinger 2
July 21st, 2011
2:29 pm
GT must get better everywhere not just special teams.
I hope they do but I cannot be optimistic. Maybe they will at least get fired up and play better because of the NCAA sanctions. Meanwhile, CPJ needs to learn to stop babbling about what constitutes cheating and what does not.
His interview a couple of days ago was awful saying that cheating is o.k. playing board games (he has done that), playing recreationly …..everybody does it. Then he says its not o.k. to cheat in football. What is with this guy?
Brock
July 21st, 2011
2:31 pm
Don’t know about that incedent in ‘89 but I would like to see some facts before I believe it. However, I gotta name for the dogs. Montez Robinson. Give him credit. when he commits a crime he goes down in flames.
Yeah, just look him up.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:33 pm
Brock, hang on and I will post the link I found. It is unfortunately true
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:38 pm
Brock, for some reason, this stupid site won’t let me post the link. Google the names Mike Mooney, Jim Lavin, and Kevin Salisbury and check out the Sports Illustrated link
Americus Jacket
July 21st, 2011
2:39 pm
That older incident, if I remember correctly, was that some players broke a woman’s nose in a bar fight. Tech’s coach at the time, I think Ross, refused to suspend them from the team, and there was an outcry over it. (Including me.) When the whole story came out, the players were vindicated — and that the boyfriend of the women attacked the Tech guys, and the women got involved when a fight broke out. I was very proud of Ross for not suspending the players — and his comments were that it was none of anyone’s business.
Fast forward: The NCAA tell Tech not to play Thomas. Tech feels Thomas is innocent and plays him anyway. I love coaches who don’t listen to wahoo’s like me and others and place their players under the bus.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:42 pm
Americus, I didn’t see any reference to the later vindication in that case. It’s good to know, however, if it’s true. Doesn’t look like there will be any vindication for THUGa’s Montez Robinson though. He’s still in jail.
Brock
July 21st, 2011
2:45 pm
sounds like a typical college bar brawl where the girl was unfortunately hit. None the less they should have been suspended.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
2:51 pm
Brock, it sounds a little worse than that to me, but if they were eventually vindicated, then I guess you are right. I honestly didn’t even remember it though.
Brock
July 21st, 2011
2:58 pm
same hear super. the link I went to didn’t give a whole lotta detail so that’s why I took it the way I did.. anywho, old news.
All teams have their bad apples. It’s just a pick and choose of what incident you want to shove in someone’s face.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
3:01 pm
Yes Brock, and none of us really should be pointing fingers. But when some punk mutt on here slams Tech, especially since it’s usually based on lies and distortions, then I get riled up and fire back.
Brock
July 21st, 2011
3:05 pm
so I see you post on hear quite a bit and you seem to have a pretty good head on your shoulders.
How do you think the team will do this year even with a favorable schedule? I’m excited about the home schedule because of who’s coming here but I’m not to excited about the team right now.
JM
July 21st, 2011
3:07 pm
Definately a need to improve special teams.
juvenal
July 21st, 2011
3:09 pm
the pizza parlor brawl…it was a different century….the folks ragging on them were Tech students, dropped because they threw the first punch-most Tech students too smart to get that drunk & swing at Olinemen, must have been IM……that’s why i am more galled by Techies who get too negative in public(especially when it’s me) than i do dauug-dregs, lots of them & skeeters here ’bouts, latter more annoying, they do have an actual bite…Supersize, got my new yellow jump suit from Dickies, it’s purty, will stand out at games….
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
3:18 pm
Brock, I definitely think the D will be greatly improved. Enough? Only time will tell, but I don’t see us giving up points willy-nilly the way we have the past 2 years. Offensively, I think it depends solely on the QB. Washington telegraphed his moves too much last year, although I think that factor improved with experience. Maybe the season off will mature him. I didn’t go to the Spring Game, so I don’t know much at all about Days, other than what I have read. Lee COULD be the QB of the future, but I don’t think he can step right as a freshman in in this offense and make it work. I think the O-line will do its job, although pass protection may still be a problem (assuming we pass any…..LOL). I think the A backs will get it done, but I’m not sure we have a B back who will compare to either Allen or Dwyer, not that that is required as long as they are consistent. I don’t trust the kicking game or the kick/punt return coverage….moreso the actual kicking/punting this year than the return coverage. But that coverage HAS GOT to improve, regardless. I see 7 wins at worst, 9 wins ideally as best, but we could surprise. I guess that’s my take on it. I can’t wait for it to start. 2.5 hour drive each way or not, I WILL be there
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
3:20 pm
juvenal, your reference to skeeters must mean you watch “Falling Skies”. Awesome show, huh? I don’t know that I really WANT to see you in a yellow jump suit. LOL
ramblingbuzz
July 21st, 2011
3:21 pm
@ Stinger 2 I agree that it’s hard to single out any phase of the game that doesn’t need improving after last year’s showing. But where all that improvement is going to come from beats me. Hope I’m wrong.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
3:21 pm
OK, guys, I have got to log out for awhile. I’ll check back later and scroll through the messages to see if anybody had anything interesting or pertinent to say. Give all those ignorant redneck trailer-trash lie-spouting mutts hell. LOL
Spike 80DF
July 21st, 2011
4:05 pm
sorry to interrupt the love fest between brock and supersize….wow guys, get a room. yea special teams will be a problem but not as big a problem as the 1 dimensional offense that everyone is used to seeing now after a few years. think about it, if your coach calls plays from memory and not a formation sheet it can’t be very difficult to figure out what’s coming.
ACC Forever & FSU Rules
July 21st, 2011
4:13 pm
Special team excellence is a function of two factors. Quality coaching and more importantly quality depth. Without quality depth (kids that could or should be starters on offense or defense in the next year or two) great coaching has less impact. I see a GT team that lacks true quality depth.
Great special teams have 4 or 5 star players sprinkled into the mix. Using the 4 or 5 star starters on special teams can bite you in the butt.
ACC Forever & FSU Rules
July 21st, 2011
4:15 pm
Hey GTFan if frogs had wings……………………
repeat offenders
July 21st, 2011
4:32 pm
he’d screw birds and sing
WnE
July 21st, 2011
4:35 pm
Coach Kung Fu Panda’s problem on STs have nothing to do with whether or not he delegates or gets personally involved with STs.
Coach Fish Fry’s problem on STs is due to his POOR RECRUITING, the 2nd & 3rd String players at GT are such poor Recruits talent-wise that when they get on the field, even for a few plays on STs, their talent is so inferior for a BCS-Level Team that those back-ups get exposed and cannot make plays while giving up too many big plays to the opposition’s back-ups that man their STs.
Our STs problems are due to personnel, not due to scheme or Coaching.
Brock
July 21st, 2011
4:38 pm
Sorry Spike-I must have been confused. I thought this was a public forum. Get over yourself champ.
Jacket Backer
July 21st, 2011
4:38 pm
Kicking was really bad in the spring game……Special teams has a LONG way to go!
Go Jackets!
Brock
July 21st, 2011
4:40 pm
Thanks for the info super. I have to go now. Spike has a problem with guys having a conversation.
juvenal
July 21st, 2011
4:42 pm
to whiner & free shoes(loved being at the last 2-series even now)-the 4or 5 stars going early in the draft are the guys that get lots of offers-like the 3 we had in ‘09…one of thse 4 stars REALLY got us bit in the butt…….poor kids soon to be rich? sorry, whiner, may be more trouble than they are help……..
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
4:43 pm
I’m back for a minute……Spike, Spike, Spike, get a grip. CPJ has been calling this offense for 25 years and to date, nobody has “figured it out.” Why do you think anybody will now, and what evidence do you have that anybody has? The mutts sure haven’t figured it out, nor have the Hokies, nor anybody else. Just because you don’t win every game doesn’t mean other teams have figured out anything. NO OFFENSE ANYWHERE is 100% effective 100% of the time. One of these days HOPEFULLY some of you dummies will “figure out” that the offense CANNOT be “figured out.” The only way to consistently stop it is to play hard-nosed DISCIPLINED defense, and to date while at Tech, Iowa is the only team even to come close to doing that.
Steve
July 21st, 2011
4:50 pm
Say what you want, but with Gailey, Tech was better both on special teams and defense.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
4:53 pm
Steve, thus far you are correct, but his offense stunk. And he didn’t inspire either players or fans.
Old Blind Dawg
July 21st, 2011
4:54 pm
Supersize you bring out the worst in people. You constantly complain about “mutts” and then type garbage like:
“But when some punk mutt on here slams Tech, especially since it’s usually based on lies and distortions, then I get riled up and fire back.”
“Give all those ignorant redneck trailer-trash lie-spouting mutts hell. LOL”
Incidentally in your weak effort to paint ALL Georgia football players with the broad brush of thuggery you come across as a spoiled and misinformed child.
Do you lack empathy? You make sheet up and then post it as fact: “Doesn’t look like there will be any vindication for THUGa’s Montez Robinson though. He’s still in jail.” Is this based on fact?
Do you have any idea why his actions were considered a “felony?” Do you have any first hand knowledge of Robinson’s tragic background?
I’m sure CMR recruited Montez because he was a very gifted athlete. I’m also sure CMR knew he was a risk but he also rightly thought he could make a difference in a troubled young man’s life – possibly providing life skills that would make him a productive citizen. If you can find fault in that then you are possibly beyond hope.
I enjoy a good football debate with a little ribbing thrown in – I don’t enjoy IGNORANT rants birthed out of jealously and envy.
Childish drivel like yours makes our annual pounding of GT much sweeter.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
5:00 pm
Blind, I know I get a little carried away in here at times, but after all, it IS a Tech blog, and most of the Georgia fans who post on here say much worse things about Tech than I could even think of about Georgia. All I know about Montez Robinson is that he beat up his girlfriend or wife or whatever she was while they were in bed together. You can find those FACTS anywhere online. Somebody on another blog brought up the arrest of 3 Tech players 22 years ago for hitting a girl in a barroom brawl. It was apparently washed over by the Tech staff, which I admit to finding disgusting. Somebody else pointed out to me the Robinson case, which only happened this past January, not 22 years ago. I don’t think I was out of bounds countering the slam against Tech about something 22 years old with pointing out the current Robinson case to be out of line on my part at all. If any of you Georgia fans don’t like being treated the way you treat us Tech fans, then get off the Tech blogs.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
5:04 pm
Blind the flaw, if you will, in at least part of what you said, is that Richt seems to have a penchant for signing “risk” kids. If he has helped any of them, then more power to him, but lately, he sure seems to have found quite a lot of bad apples in the bunch. All schools have their share of miscreants, but at least lately, Georgia has not been looking too good in that light. Surely, even a blind dawg can see that….sorry, the pun was crying out to be used….LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
5:11 pm
Blind, you need to realize too that it is the trash-talking by so many of the Georgia so-called fans who post on here that brings out the worst in us diehard Tech fans. If you want clean, informative debate and discussions with a little good-natured ribbing thrown in, then chase those jerks that post the real drivel in here off, and let’s get on with it. They make all your fans look bad. I can assure you there is nothing most of us Tech posters would enjoy more.
GT-97
July 21st, 2011
5:43 pm
Have to agree with WnE.
(Lack of) recruiting a real issue with our program.
Lazy, arrogant Jack-Wagon of a coach has let us down year, after year.
FIRE PAUL JOHNSON NOW!!!!
jack ee
July 21st, 2011
6:06 pm
so this is the Richard Samuel that is going to start at TB for UGA? good luck with that hahahahahahah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYBeRifpsoI&feature=related
Old Blind Dawg
July 21st, 2011
6:10 pm
Super – Montez was arrested for simple battery (not that that is acceptable) but I suspect you could arrest hundreds if not thousands of H.S. or college kids that reacted poorly to jilted love (again I don’t condone it).
The felony part was based on the assumed value (over $500) of the tail lights he broke out of his girl’s car. I would still like some verification that he is as you said still in jail – I haven’t seen anything supporting your claim.
I’ll not comment on your assumption that CMR recruits too many questionable kids except to say if all of the at risk kids were removed from GT your roster would be thin and mostly white. This is true across the country and is a result of failed policy pushed down our throats by feel good liberals – but that is a different topic for discussion at another time.
Old Blind Dawg
July 21st, 2011
6:20 pm
Jack ee you should buy Samual a burger and fries – without his gift fumble GT would have ZERO victories in the last 10 years and get this – only 36 victories in nearly 120 years – yeah you got it
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
6:39 pm
Blind, well, I’m glad to see we agree on something—-the feel good liberals. I would address the rest of what you said, but I have to leave the house in 5 minutes, so I don’t have time. However, that “simple battery” according to the UGA website involved the following: He “grabbed and pushed [the woman] off of his bed and then picked her up and slammed her on the ground.” I’m not sure how “simple” that is. And you’re right, I don’t know if he’s still in jail or not; the item I read indicating that was dated a couple of months ago (I didn’t initially notice the date).
Old Blind Dawg
July 21st, 2011
7:38 pm
Supersize I wonder if you or I would be a bit different if our formative years had been in this environment?
What the arrest reports and statements from UGA and most stories won’t mention is a particularly difficult upbringing for Robinson. It won’t mention that he spent the majority of his youth in and out of foster care and group homes. It won’t mention how he lived in nine different places between the ages of eight and 18. It won’t mention how his father was murdered when he was too young to even remember it happening or how he spent countless hours caring for his younger brothers and sisters — more than a dozen of them. It won’t mention how he went from an awful school situation in Alabama to one of the best schools in Indiana and worked to get his grades up enough in a two-year span to qualify for admission to Georgia.
Steve
July 21st, 2011
8:30 pm
Super…Gailey played for an ACC title, and HIS players won an ACC title with Johnson. And his job is not to inspire fans. Players? Yes. Fans? No. Just watch…Tech will go at best 7-5 this year…and I am a Tech fan!
Supersize that order, mutt
July 21st, 2011
8:58 pm
Steve, inspired players play inspired football which in turn inspires fans. I don’t think we’re in disagreement there. All I can say to your prediction is I hope you are wrong, and I think you will be. I’m not predicting an ACC title, but I still see 7-5 as the minimum record.
Ramblin Man
July 21st, 2011
9:07 pm
Steve,
Yes Gailey got to the ACCCG and then lost to Wake Forest in the most boring game in the history of the game. Gailey was just too carefull and tentative, and that may work in the pros but does not always work in college. I will agree with you that the special teams were better though. Not sure about the defense. I likes Tenuta, but with all the blitzing he did it either worked great hurrying or sacking the QB or left the secondary short and caused huge gains. I think Groh will get the D in line. Not sure the current line will produce as neeeded, but I would love them to prove me wrong.