Hawkeye Punters Hoping Psychology Leads to Better Results

[okeefe4prez]

Myself if I'm a coach I want him talking to Brian and figuring the offense out, not worrying about punting and possibly getting steamrolled on the return.

With all due respect, O'Keefe is on the sideline and will do a better job of conveying adjustments than Brian. Notwithstanding that, I agree about getting steamrolled on a return. I'd hate to see Stanley back there as the safety on a long return or have him be on pace for another 300+ yard 5 TD game and then get earholed by some bastard looking to knock him out of the game. There are a lot of classless coaches in the conference who would try to make that happen.

 

[homes]

I can envision it now, upon Rastetter shanking a punt, he returns to the sidelines and we see this:

Who says Iowa isn't New Age/cutting edge? Now everybody, all at once: Ommmmmmm . . . . This will overtake the place of Back in Black.

 

[westender]

I would burn the 20 minutes or so watching a youtube vid of all the Iowa punts last fall if someone produced one. I know Purdue game was terrible but that is one of the windiest games I have ever been at and our offense could not move so it seemed like we punted 30 times into that wind that day.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I hope people are joking about finding someone off the street who can be a better punter than what's currently on the roster. There's no need to go overboard.

You may not find someone better than the 75th best punter in college football, but I bet your chances are decent finding one better than 106th with a 37 average.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Here's the problem, bud. Soccer is catching on in a major way and I guarantee you that there are kids on Iowa's campus from the west burbs of Chicago or the west burbs around Des Moines or even from near the packing plants up to Mason City who have been playing soccer bince they were 4 who, if they practiced the form and catching the snap for a few weeks would do materially better than 30 some yards per attempt. It is not unheard of for D-1 schools to do open tryouts and to find a guy who can absolutely hammer the rock. Hell, my buddy is married to a soccer player from Wake Forest and I'll bet some of her soccer friends (who have the body type of Sam Mills from the college lifting program) could average 40+. I've seen some of these chicks kick a soccer ball a country mile.

Funny you mention this as I was going to bring up the increase in soccer players in this country. I think they could learn to kick the oblong football.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Have you ever watched a college punter kick when they are just messing around, not worrying about snaps, rush, or coverage? They boom the hell out of every kick. That is not the hard part of their job. Add in the reception of an unpredictable snap, time-constraints, directional considerations, an oncoming rush, the need to cover, and tens of thousands of screaming fans, and things get much, much harder. Don't assume that because you know someone who can boot a ball 40 yards under completely stress-free conditions that it is an easy task.

I will guarantee you there are students walking around on campus who were formidable punters in high school that didn't get any kind of scholarship for any other position so resigned to the fact that their amateur football career was done.

Seriously, how hard is it to have on campus a 3 hour open tryout just to see what's out there. There's always that diamond in the rough.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

1) Doesn't have to be walking around on campus.

2) What's the downside of trying?[/QUOTE]


This. Exactly.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

You guys are funny. TK liked you post so you got that going for you. Smart minds think alike. Have a good one.

Hey, this is the kind of chit you get on the "free" side!!

 

[Hawknigh]

So, how are they doing in camp? You don't have to be on the sidelines to see if big punts are being made. Surely one of you guys is watching from afar and can give us a report.

 

[Hawk1960]

So, how are they doing in camp? You don't have to be on the sidelines to see if big punts are being made. Surely one of you guys is watching from afar and can give us a report.

They are booming punts so far that they actually shattered the webcam in the south end zone.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Dude, that was in my story. Did you read it?

Not sure a sports psychologist can give you a stronger leg. Some players just aren't that good.

While I get your ... you know it's not that far-fetched. Kickers have been plucked from outside rosters before. It's the one position where that's possible. When you have the worst punting game in the country... anything is worth consideration. If nothing else it puts pressure on the guys there to perform. But it would be very "un-Kirk" to do so.

 

[Hawknigh]

I'm assuming that each of these guys has shown at some point that he has the physical ability to kick long punts. The problem isn't in their legs! Dependence on a psychologist brings its own issues. Kickers are people with strange minds.

 

[atomicblue224]

It's only the stage fright.

 

[DDThompson]

Coach Lavar has improved whichever unit he has coached. I’d be surprised if there isn’t improvement to at least average. No worries.

More importantly .... What’s the phonetic spelling of Dr. Trebbe Priebe?

 

[Fryowa]

I'm assuming that each of these guys has shown at some point that he has the physical ability to kick long punts. The problem isn't in their legs! Dependence on a psychologist brings its own issues. Kickers are people with strange minds.

When I watch the highlight (or lowlight) video above of Rastetter, every single punt looks like he’s kicking inside a house and not trying to hit the ceiling or the walls. Super soft, like he’s not kicking hard. I have to assume that he can kick a football 50 yards if he’s unimpeded and given a bunch of time, so to me something’s in his head to the point that he can’t cut loose.

Whatever it is, he had an entire Big Ten schedule + a bowl game to work it out and he didn’t. Time to move on. I’m actually in favor of the rugby punts because it’s never a bad thing to give the other team a lame duck skidding down field. Might be shorther hangtime, but it negates a return in most cases and best case scenario they bobble it. Give Gersonde the rock.

 

[Fryowa]

More importantly .... What’s the phonetic spelling of Dr. Trebbe Priebe?

According to this video it’s “tebby preeb.”

It’s spelled Tebbe Priebe I guess, no “r.”

 

[Hawk1960]

When I watch the highlight (or lowlight) video above of Rastetter, every single punt looks like he’s kicking inside a house and not trying to hit the ceiling or the walls. Super soft, like he’s not kicking hard. I have to assume that he can kick a football 50 yards if he’s unimpeded and given a bunch of time, so to me something’s in his head to the point that he can’t cut loose.

Whatever it is, he had an entire Big Ten schedule + a bowl game to work it out and he didn’t. Time to move on. I’m actually in favor of the rugby punts because it’s never a bad thing to give the other team a lame duck skidding down field. Might be shorther hamgtime, but it negates a return in most cases and best case scenario they bobble it. Give Gersonde the rock.

Agree. The more rugby style punters I see the more I like it. Tougher to catch and better in to the wind. Hang time is overrated.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Reminds me a of a Lou Holtz story (yes, he had a few good ones).

The ND kicker was missing a lot of kicks at practice. Holtz asked him what was going on.

Kid says, "Coach, I was making them until you walked over. I get nervous when you watch."

Holtz replies, "That could be a problem son, I plan on being at all the games."

 

[DeereHawk75]

I'm assuming that each of these guys has shown at some point that he has the physical ability to kick long punts. The problem isn't in their legs! Dependence on a psychologist brings its own issues. Kickers are people with strange minds.

To me, punting is all about good mechanics. The best punters are very consistent with this. Ryan Donahue had excellent mechanics and was very consistent and thus was a great punter. Connor Kornbrath had a very powerful leg, but was very poor with his mechanics. I assume they were both coached by the same guy. Wish they could get Donahue to come in and work with these guys.

I'm assuming that each of these guys has shown at some point that he has the physical ability to kick long punts. The problem isn't in their legs! Dependence on a psychologist brings its own issues. Kickers are people with strange minds.

 

[CP87]

Agree. The more rugby style punters I see the more I like it. Tougher to catch and better in to the wind. Hang time is overrated.

I was thinking Rastetter was more the rugby-style guy, do I have that backwards?