PROVO — BYU assistant coach Paul Tidwell doesn't mince words when he talks about the Cougars' special teams play last season.

"Every phase was poor," he said. "Not average. It was poor."

Poor kickoff coverage allowed a 100-yard return for a touchdown against TCU; a poor snap on an extra point attempt in overtime led to a loss in that same game against the Horned Frogs. Poor performances by the kickoff and punt teams played a role in the Cougars' defeat to Cal in the Las Vegas Bowl.

That's why BYU has placed a special emphasis on special teams during spring ball. Every practice, the Cougars spend 10 minutes working on the various elements of special teams.

With a defense ravaged by injuries last year, the Cougars ended up having third-team players contributing to special teams. But Tidwell is not using that as an excuse. "You can go back and find a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is, we weren't very good on special teams," he said.

After the season, the entire coaching staff dissected the problem together. While Patrick Higgins continues in his role as the special teams coordinator, each coach oversees a phase of special teams.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall decided to involve his players more with special teams by having them vote for a punt team captain, a punt return team captain, a kickoff team captain and a kickoff return team captain.

"We have a team member who is taking a vested interest and ownership in that unit," said Tidwell, who oversees the placekickers and punters. "It's been awesome. They'll get in front of the punt team and run that unit for two or three minutes before turning it over to the coach and get (the players) fired up and make them accountable. Sometimes they'll single out a guy and say, 'This is the way you're supposed to do it.' It's been great to have the kids feel more invested in it."

As a result, Tidwell added, "(Special teams) look a lot better. It's something that we want to fix. None of us was happy with the way we finished last year."

Mendenhall is pleased with the results, so far.

View Comments

"We've placed tremendous emphasis on special teams this spring," he said. "I think it's showing an attitude and an ownership that our players are claiming over that, knowing all of the close games we played last year clearly could have been determined by any single play. Special teams was part of that.

"Their understanding of that is much different than it was a year ago. The emphasis that our coaching staff is placing on it this year is more appropriate than we did last year. Not saying it wasn't emphasized last year, but we got the results in relation to the priority and emphasis we placed on it. To meet the expectations that are out there, we're going to have to play well in all three phases of the game."

BYU's emphasis on special teams was evidenced last week when the Cougars announced the signing of deep snapper Matthew Johnson, a 6-foot, 245-pound transfer from Citrus Junior College. Johnson will join the program in August in time for fall camp. While he was a two-time all-conference defensive lineman and was voted Citrus JC's most outstanding defensive player, his sole responsibility at BYU will be deep snapping, Tidwell said.


E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.