I Played Football for State from '09 - '13. Ask Me Anything.
- Thread starter Swede39
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Ya know it's something I kind of fell into. I always say I was just some skinny kid with a little bit of a talent but with a good work ethic. Growing up I just naturally had a strong leg. Kickball, football, etc. Everything started to come into play in 8th grade for me. I signed up for a kicking camp at Auburn that summer. Ended up winning it all. So from there I figured I may be on to something here.
As far as qualities, I'm of the opinion that it depends on your personality. Think in terms of different golfers. Dustin Johnson can hit it a country mile and is really good. But then you have someone like Jordan Spieth who is very well rounded and coincidentally has more majors under his belt. You also have to know thyself. I'll never be able to average 50-60 yards per punt. Just won't happen and that's due to my build. And that's ok. So that means in order to be successful, I had to perfect other aspects of the punting game. Hang time. Precision. Consistency. Get off time. I wasn't the type of punter that can just use strength to compensate for mistakes. I broke everything down from a scientific point of view. There was a reason for every little thing in all of my punting motion.
So here's how I broke everything down:
-How I stood - staggered with right foot back, hips already pointing to where I was punting to. This cut out any unnecessary movement. Arms slightly swinging. This kept me loose and not up tight.
-How I caught the ball - not with arms fully extended but also not against my body. This allowed me a split second to feel the laces and flip the ball around.
-How I held the ball - I practiced my drop literally thousands of times. All with different ways to hold the ball. I had more consistent results in holding it just under the white part of the ball with one finger above the side seam and the rest below.
-How much angle I gave the ball - I dropped the ball at 11 o clock because I would consistently hit the sweet spot at 11 as opposed to 12 or 10 o clock.
-How I stepped - you don't want too much crossover in your steps as that encourages your leg to swing more side to side rather than up and down.
-Point of impact - this depends on if you're pooching, driving, or just regularly punting the ball. So for pooch you want your impact point to be higher. For driving you want the impact point to be lower. etc.
-Follow through - being able to position your body that will allow your leg to swing through the ball. For me I had to be cognizant of not hunching my back too much as that would deter a good follow through.
I think handling pressure can be both natural and something learned. I was blessed with a calm disposition. I naturally handled pressure by focusing even harder. I improved upon that by understanding what I call "the field". If you've ever seen The Legend of Bagger Vance or For The Love of The Game, you know what I'm talking about. May same cliche or cheesy but I'm a believer in it. You train yourself to block out everything and see yourself being successful even before doing it.
For my personal methods - Go to YouTube and search Bagger Vance - The Field. I watched that clip before every single game. I also understood when it was time to get emotionally up for the game and when it wasn't. So Friday night and Saturday morning, I just distracted myself. I listened to bands like Explosions in the Sky. The only time I thought about the upcoming game at that point was when I was picturing myself being successful. Nothing else. I'd go back to watching TV, etc. Once we got on the bus, now it was time to start getting emotionally up. Que the pump up music. Start thinking about the opponent. The venue. The weather conditions. The wind. Other factors. Use warmup as a confidence builder. Go out and boom some 60 yarders. Try to hit the ESPN camera. Stand at the 50 and punt a few in the stands. The idea is when it's really time to go out and perform, it's just a reaction. Similar to hitting a baseball. My best punts happened when I simply reacted rather than trying to kill it.
I think the most successful coaches understand the personality of their punter and kicker first. Second, gameday is a time for positivity and confidence building. Not over thinking. The time to holler and "coach" is early in the week.
I think they've done a better job in recent years in getting someone that's been there to coach up our current players. I think we'll see that translate over into the games.
Oh for sure. Speaking in front of crowds? Nothing to it. A task that requires laser focus? Yep.
Great questions. Hopefully I didn't overload the answers.
Mythbusters debunked this one. Although it makes the ball lighter, it actually works against you. Think in terms of throwing a rock vs throwing a paper airplane.
Was Mullen pretty much a dud when it came to motivating you guys for a game? Every locker room speech I have ever seen him give just seemed kinda "meh", like he wasn't sure what to say and he repeated things quite a bit. Further, and perhaps along those same lines, why in the hell did he often have so many problems with "lesser" opponents? There were many games where they'd hang around the entire game and somehow Mullen would pull a squeaker out of his ***....or bomb completely like South Alabama in '16.
Last time I punted was warm up at the Liberty Bowl. I’d be scared of what would happen if I attempted one today lol.
I think I’d really enjoy helping out a high school or jr high on the side.
I think the golf cart is still around somewhere. Only to be brought out on special occasions.
His pregame speeches never really did it for me. Can’t quite put my finger on it as to why.
I don’t know for sure but it seems like we’d never really game planned enough for lesser opponents. I think the reasoning was to not show anything on film for the next opponent.
Thanks for doing this Swede!
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/3459007f-0a11-4a02-82cc-89927f5d44cf#H1O8tglBLQ.copy
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/3459007f-0a11-4a02-82cc-89927f5d44cf#H1O8tglBLQ.copy
Late to the thread but read it all eagerly. Thanks for doing it, but even more thanks for donning the Maroon and White. Your love of MSU is obvious. In the end we are all proud Alums who love MSU, you just were blessed with the talent and opportunity to do something the rest of us plebes could only dream about. Thank you. #HailState
It’s an interesting paradox as I’m a data guy professionally now. I’d venture to say that the sample size is too small to have enough to influence my opinion. I still think there’s a place for punting.
I appreciate that. It was an amazing experience with ups and downs and everything in between. I had no idea anybody would find this thread so interesting.
I’m way late here, completely missed this thread due to traveling the last two days.
If I’m remembering correctly, for most of 2012 we held opponents to negative punt return yards and finished the season with just a few yards given up - I think that was due to only one legitimate return by Alabama. That’s one hell of an impressive stat, and obviously you deserve a lot of credit for that. Thanks for your time in the maroon & white. Screw Mullen for being too dumb to realize just how good you were.
If I’m remembering correctly, for most of 2012 we held opponents to negative punt return yards and finished the season with just a few yards given up - I think that was due to only one legitimate return by Alabama. That’s one hell of an impressive stat, and obviously you deserve a lot of credit for that. Thanks for your time in the maroon & white. Screw Mullen for being too dumb to realize just how good you were.
Man thanks for doing this. I’m sorry that happened to you. I despise him even more now than I did and greatful his *** is gone. 17 that goofy, hunchback 17er. I didn’t like him mainly due to the fact after Nutt left he took it on the chin to Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss. He was really dead to me after the 2017 Egg Bowl. I had no idea the 17er was gone but I was ready to help him pack his **** that night.
Oh look...it's the clueless dumbass hypocrite again not realizing he's the one perpetuating an argument by attempting to ridicule another poster for allegedly perpetuating an argument.
Takes a true imbecile such as this to by so utterly devoid of self awareness.
Hey *******..we didn't give him the job, and so far neither has anyone else. You were wrong. Maybe it's time you got over it.
This is more of a DB question but you're a football mind. Why don't the defensive backs when the ball is snapped just pancake the receiver or drive him back? If you're allowed to make contact within 5 yards of the LOS why not put the WR on his back and totally screw up the timing of the play or blow it up completely?
Might be too late but just in case you check this thread again
What do you think about rugby style punting vs "regular" style. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
What do you think about rugby style punting vs "regular" style. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
1. Who were the best 3 or 4 athletes in your time there? Was there anyone that would surprise us... maybe someone who didn't really play, but was awesome in workouts & drills?
2. Maybe you can't really answer this since you only grayshirted for Croom, but what did the players think of him vs. Mullen? Did players view Croom differently than us fans? I'd say most fans considered him lazy & incompetent as a head coach.
2. Maybe you can't really answer this since you only grayshirted for Croom, but what did the players think of him vs. Mullen? Did players view Croom differently than us fans? I'd say most fans considered him lazy & incompetent as a head coach.
Great thread, I have enjoyed reading it and I appreciate you wearing the maroon and white. It's really cool to get an inside look at Mullen's personality and coaching style, thanks for giving us normal folks a peek inside an SEC program.
If you're still answering questions, I have a few more...
What was the most frustrating boneheaded call or series of calls that Mullen made in a big time game in your opinion? Was there any big game losses that the players felt Mullen cost you guys a game you should have won by playing conservative instead of going for the win with an aggressive call or set of calls?
If you're still answering questions, I have a few more...
What was the most frustrating boneheaded call or series of calls that Mullen made in a big time game in your opinion? Was there any big game losses that the players felt Mullen cost you guys a game you should have won by playing conservative instead of going for the win with an aggressive call or set of calls?
I’m no expert so I’m just speculating here. I’d venture to guess that it’s a risk/return thing. If that DB misses or the WR jukes and causes him to miss, essentially that WR would be wide open for a second or two before a safety could come help over the top. That’s my educated guess though.
I think the rugby style can be useful.
Advantages would be you may get a longer punt out of the deal. I think it’s the way to go for a pooch.
The problem is the second the punter rolls out to punt, he’s fair game to get tackled. Another issue would be if the returner ran up and caught it before it bounces much, he is usually past the gunners. You also run the risk of it hitting your own players. It can be a little more challenging punting the ball consistently on a rugby style if you’re rolling out, being that you’re trying to hit a moving target with your foot.
I served as a GA who checked with professors about athletes attendance and grades for Athletic Academics during the Sherrill years. I learned alot about rejection during those years. A lot.
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Dak for sure. No surprise there. Ladarius Perkins always wowed me at practice. That dude has so much quickness. Mark Lynn was a walk on line backer but that dude hit harder than anyone else I've seen. Believe it or not, there were multiple occasions where Dylan Favre made our defense look like a junior high defense. He was fun to watch in practice.
I didn't really see or hear much on the Croom side but I will say that the players I talked to all seemed to want to tear down buildings for Croom. With Mullen you were more playing out of spite.
Honestly I don't really remember. During the games I was always laser focused on my task and how I went about it. So much to the point where if we scored or something, I was immediately focusing on my next task. I took my job extremely serious and part of that was to keep my emotions in check. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to win more than anyone else. But I never got overly emotional during the game. Point being is because of all that focus, it is hard remembering when there were plays called that I disagreed.
Bless you.
Being a GA is a tough gig. You work insane hours and get zero credit. Props to you my friend.
Exactly.
I was at that game as a fan. My feet were frozen to numbness. It was all worth it thanks to Pegues.
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