SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR MARTY BIAGI
Post-practice Aug. 29, 2023
Spencer Shrader was great on kickoffs, but misses his only field goal attempt. What's the messaging?
“He’s a vet. We’re always going to assess to make sure. So many times people jump the gun: how was the snap? How was the hold? We talked through the situation, and then like coach says, ‘One play, one life.’ Then we try to get ready to go again. So, we don’t try to overthink it, over-diagnose it. Just like everybody else, come back, watch some film, and learn from it.”
What are some of the things your kickoff return unit players did to win that job?
“I would say they took a ton of pride in fall camp. I think often people think of special teams as ‘Defense. Defensive player.’ We challenged them with the understanding that there’s going to be a role for you. Kickoff return, what do you do? You block. Well what do you do on screens? You block. What do you do in the run game? You block.
“The great part is we have great buy-in from our staff, and [wide receivers] coach [Chansi] Stuckey challenged them like I did. It’s great that you have those big bodies out there that want to get in there and block, and they showed up.”
How do you combat the directional kickoff to your up-back/other kick return like Navy did with Gi’Bran Payne?
“You don’t really know until you get to the game plan, but it was one of those things we didn’t know, because it was a new [special teams] coordinator. It’s something you have to be ready and adjust for. It’s my job to make sure we get our best guys the ball but with Payne. As you could tell, we made an adjustment at the half, and what was great to see was — we always want to hit the home run — but seeing our guys at half make an adjustment that isn’t going to show up on the staff. Instead of getting tackled on the 18 on the second one, he got out to the 27 or 28. It’s a 10-yard difference, and that’s encouraging.”
And that 10-yard difference changes the offense’s approach at times?
“No question. You look at it the same way (defensively). When we kicked off and they had the block in the back when we were covering, they were at the minus-8 or 12. So, we were able to create a short field, defense held them, they punt, and CT [Chris Tyree] is returning the ball and it gives coach [Gerad] Parker the ball on the Plus-50.
“Although we didn’t have a lot of great opportunities, it was a great way to show all three phases of offense, defense, special teams worked together. Kickoff: Keep them to the 12 after the penalty. Defense holds — actually backs them up more — and we get the ball with CT and a good 10-plus yard return and offense goes down and scores. Those are the things you’re trying to show the team that it’s not going to be this amazing home run, but guys, look at the impact in these scenarios.”
Spencer Shrader on kickoffs — team-specific to hang one high versus boot it out of the end zone?
“I think it’s a game plan each week. Based on the returner, the return scheme, wind elements. But it’s definitely a weapon and a blessing to know that, ‘OK, he can do this.’
“If you go back to when they brought it out from 1-yard deep, and I think the hang was 4.5 seconds. Our whole thing is, when you pause it, when the ball is caught, where’s our front line running down the field? I think every single guy was running down past the 25-yard line. That’s the attention to detail that we’re going to take every rep seriously whether — we never assume it’s a touchback.”
Can you assess Dylan Devezin’s first game as the holder?
I thought he was really composed, his first time playing in a big game. We even practiced the wet-ball drill all throughout the week. Just something that would go unnoticed until the bad thing happened. But he takes a lot of pride in it. You think, ‘Oh well how hard is it?’ Until you get out there …
“It’s real exciting to see. He knows his role. He just wants to be the best holder he can for Spencer and for the team.”
Punter Bryce McFerson OK not playing [the Irish never punted in the game?
“I told him, that’s got to be frustrating going all the way over to another country and then not getting to play like that. He was ready. He actually had a really good warm-up and [said], ‘I’ll be OK if we don’t punt.’”
As far as kickoff coverage, who stood out?
“We were able to get a lot of people in. which is great, in Week1. Ramon Henderson was one of the fastest people — we’re always grading who’s the fastest to the 30-yard line. Just to show the standard of competition whether it’s a touchback or not. Ramon was super fast down the field. [Jaylen] Sneed was fast down the field. Marty Auer came in for four reps and got down the field fast. We’ve got a lot of people in, in that short time. It was great to get Chase Ketterer in. He had been the scout team quarterback, and he has plenty of speed, so it was good to get him in for some reps.
“Just to get a chance for some guys that may not normally be in a chance and say, ‘OK, let’s see what you can do?’ Really only had one return, and after the penalty held them to the 12-yard line. We were encouraged by that, but still have to clean up a few things.”
Punt team debut this week? Or are you going to hold off again?
“That’s up to the head coach and coach Parker. Coach Parker keeps doing his thing.”
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