Dawgs By Nature
One thing about Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is that he recognizes the importance of special teams. A lot of fans don’t understand the skill needed for these units.
Special teams is the field goal team, which scores points. The guys who block, the players on the outside who defend the edge, the holder who catches a spiral pass and then has to place the ball down at the precise angle with the laces facing forward, the pass from the long snapper has to be exact and straight. The kicker, who is already moving even before the ball is placed in order to time his kick and then has to strike at the exact location of the football, or else alternate things occur, like a shanked kick.
Plus, as former Browns kicker Matt Bahr once explained, every field goal attempt is nine-on-11. The kick block team can rush all 11 players while the line is just nine players with the holder and kicker occupied.
This same group of guys also lines up for PATs, which also adds to the scoreboard. The punt team requires that the kick not be blocked or returned for a touchdown, so good blocking up front and skilled tacklers are needed, plus a great hike that doesn’t hit the ground from the long snapper as he snaps the ball 15 yards looking backwards and upside down. Tossing a spiral by the way.
The return game needs a good punt and kickoff returner, plus able bodies up front to block and make alleyways for the speed of the return man to gain yardage and improve field position.
And it is imperative to employ a great punter.
Coach Bubba Ventrone is one of the best special teams coordinators in the league. He was brought over from the Indianapolis Colts after he developed their units into Top-5 groups. His official title is “Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator,” so he is considered more than just a guy who finds players who can tackle a kick returner.
Coach Ventrone was a special teams demon as a player with the Browns from 2009-2012 and inked a three-year deal worth $2.2 million in 2010. That year he was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate, where he led the #1-ranked special teams unit in the NFL. He was voted special teams Captain in both 2011 and 2012.
When he signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, they brought him in specifically to reconstruct their special teams groups and named him Captain in 2013 and also 2014. He was then voted “Special Teams Player of the Year” by his teammates and coaches.
After he hung up his cleats, he was hired as a special teams assistant coach under Joe Judge with the New England Patriots, whose head coach was Bill Belichick. When Belichick was first hired into the league, his first job was special teams coach of the New York Football Giants, so like Stefanski, Belichick has always emphasized...
