This is the finale of a seven-part series breaking down the personnel in each area of the 2009 Bryant Hornets football team.
By Rob Patrick
Among the things that became clear for the Bryant Hornets coaching staff when the team scrimmaged the Pine Bluff Zebras on Monday, Aug. 24, was that some facets of the special teams needed some work.
The return game was fine. Tanner Tolbert punted well but there were some breakdowns on snaps for extra points and in the return coverage.[more]
“We saw some weaknesses,” acknowledged head coach Paul Calley. “Kickoff coverage has got to be better. I’ve switched some people around.”
Sophomore Jace Denker handles the placements and kickoffs.
“He consistently puts them at about the 10 yard line,” Calley said of the kickoffs. “That’s going to give us a decent chance to cover. We still want to hold people inside the 30.
“He’s also a very accurate kicker,” added the coach. “He can place the ball. So, we may use some strategic kickoffs like we did when we had Travis Cockerham and Todd Bryan, to try to put it in holes to give (the opponent) a tough time.
“Early on, I don’t think we’ll see the speed that we saw against Pine Bluff, so we’ll probably just kick it away but once we get into conference play, we’re going to strategically place a lot of balls.”
Regarding Tolbert and the punt team, Calley said, “He’s got a very strong leg. He doesn’t get to work on it as much as we would like so his drop has been inconsistent at times. But when he does hit it, he’s got a great leg. He turned two over in practice back-to-back the other day that probable went 55 yards.
“So, he can be a weapon for us,” Calley continued. “Plus, he can run and throw. So, we’ve got some tricks up our sleeve out of the punt game.”
Starting middle linebacker Hunter Mayall will handle the snapping chores.
Tolbert also returns kickoffs along with Logan Garland and Samille Watson. Against Pine Bluff, Tolbert nearly broke one all the way, taking a return deep into Zebra territory.
“I thought the kickoff return performed exceptionally well,” Calley commented. “That’s something we rely on heavily.”
Something else that’s been an asset for recent Hornets teams has been the ability to block punts. “That’s one of our strong points each year,” Calley agreed. “I feel like we’ll be able to get to some punts this year and hopefully change the momentum of a game when we do so.”
When the punts get away, he added, “We’re not really concerned about getting long punt returns, we just want to secure the ball, make sure it doesn’t hit the ground. When people start punting away from us, we want to make sure that we can get to it and, at least, fair catch it so we don’t get the hit and roll.”
Primarily, the return guys will be Garland and Brady Butler.
“Depending on who we’re playing and how they like to punt — we have them stacked right now with one of them kind of a protector. But if we get somebody that likes to kick it away to the sideline, we’ll split them.”
On extra points and field goals, Blake Heil has emerged as the snapper after a search throughout the fall including following the scrimmage.
“Our snapping has been inconsistent,” Calley allowed. “We think we’ve got it fixed with Blake.
“We’re probably bigger across the front on extra points and field goals than we’ve been in a number of years,” he added, “which should widen the corners and make them harder to block. And Brandon Parish is a very, very good holder.”
