Ask most youth and high school rosters who plays special teams, and you’ll usually get the same honest answer: whoever’s left over. That’s exactly backwards, and it’s probably costing your team more hidden yards than any single offensive or defensive mistake all season.
Best players, every unit, no exceptions
Special teams is not a landing spot for backups. Establish that explicitly in week one and enforce it all season — film grade effort on special teams the same way you grade technique on offense and defense. Players who don’t give full effort on a kickoff or punt team simply don’t play there. The teams that win championships usually have the best special teams culture, not necessarily the most special teams talent.
Do the math out loud with your team
Walk through the actual field-position impact of great versus poor special teams across a full game. It’s abstract until you make it concrete — pull last week’s special teams plays and calculate exactly how many yards each one gained or cost your offense. The numbers get people’s attention in a way “special teams matters” never does on its own.
Track four numbers, every week
Pin percentage — the share of punts downed inside the opponent’s 20. Return average allowed. Return average gained. Operation time, snap to kick. Post all four in your meeting room every week. Players grade themselves differently when they can see the numbers instead of just hearing a general sense of how it went.
Lane discipline wins every kickoff coverage rep
Every coverage player has an assigned lane, and the team that wins the lane discipline battle wins the matchup regardless of individual athleticism. When you see a big return on film, find where the lane was vacated — it’s almost always there. Sprint from the line at full speed the moment the kicker’s foot hits the ball, and grade that first step specifically, not just the eventual tackle.
These four ideas are part of the 8-section NRF Special Teams Coaching Package, covering all five units — kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return, and kicking/snapping — with the install schedule and drills to run them right. The ST Player Self-Study Guide covers the same material for players.
— Coach Fern