Banaszak - special teams

[GoRMU]

I am very excited that John Banaszak will be the next head coach at RMU, with one reservation. Coach Banaszak
is responsible for special teams. It seems to me that the special teams have often been a weak point in recent
years, and have made a number of costly mistakes. I do not follow special team stats and such in any detail, so I may be wrong. I would like to hear from Andrew, Original_RMC and other serious observers on this topic.
This post was edited on 10/21 12:06 PM by GoRMU

 

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

Special teams have made a few mistakes, but outside of a return or two
Saturday, kick coverage has been really strong. The return game has been
excellent. The issue has been with the kicking game. Outside of the
blocked punt, Tony Lamancusa had a strong game Saturday, and the blocked
punt was a large result of Duquesne sending the house and just winning
battles.

As for the placekickers, as Joe Walton told me
afterward...there should be no question on an extra point. Sometimes
it's not about planning but about execution, and there's only so much a
coach can do.

Over the last few years, special teams coaching has become more of a group effort. Banaszak handles things on game day and is the lead instructor during sessions at practice, but multiple coaches are involved. For instance, Bob Morris works with the returners and kickers during special teams practice sessions; Bill Hurley and Pat Shepard help place certain people in coverages; etc.

I think one of those guys could handle a larger load (maybe Hurley in particular). I think Banaszak can also handle a lot of the duties still. I get the impression that he may be more of a true head coach, rather than also act as a coordinator like Joe Walton does.

Plus, there's no telling what the staff may look like. I think there will be a number of holdovers, but Banaszak may choose to bring in a new face or two.

 

[Original_RMC]

Special Teams have me nervous when they take the field. I see many little things that can be addressed during the games but I see very little adjustments out there being made. I realize that certain units out there this year have improved but the kicking game is very disappointing. And I'm not just talking about a missed extra point. Sure the kickoffs for touch-backs are great which is why the kickoff team as a whole statistically looks great because no one is going to return a kick when its 5 yards deep in the end zone.

I think the bigger question is why are we still seeing the same mistakes year after year. I'm not sure what the answer is. I would never want to write off a season but last year RMU gave up the opening kickoff against Wagner. That game was one they should have won.

I agree with Andrew that you should see some new faces within the staff next year...no clue who.