Florida coaches from each phase of the game spoke with the media on Tuesday ahead of fall training camp. Special teams coordinator Joe Houston spoke at length about his unit, touching on the veteran front line and developing players behind them.
Florida returns the tandem of long snapper Rocco Underwood and kicker Trey Smack in the placekicking game. The two are among the best in the SEC, and Smack has an NFL leg. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw is now in the NFL, but Houston is more than impressed with his replacement, Michigan transfer Tommy Mace.
In the return game, several skill position players are competing for the job. Even first-teamers are looking to help out, which isn’t always the case.
Here’s everything Houston said ahead of fall training camp.
Experience at kicker
That’s the battery. The holder, kicker, snapper operation is really going to be helpful for us. It was a strength for us last year, and we look forward to it being a strength for us this year. That experience is what’s really impressive, how many games they’ve played collectively. But with a ton of experience comes a lot of expectation and performance, and they work really hard at what they do. They’re leaders in the locker room. I can’t say enough good things about those three.
On freshmen gaining experience
When we’re kind of going through this situation of having three senior specialists, I wanted to have three young freshmen in what I call a shadow program. So, those three, they do exactly what the vets do, what the seniors do. They lead by example, and it’s been really good for us.
Where do you want to take a big step (on special teams)?
We’re always looking to improve in every aspect. Whether it’s punt, probably our coverage. In the kickoff, our coverage. In the return game, single blocks. And on punt block, pressuring more.
On rule changes for special teams
The SEC officials are going to come during camp and explain all those. There’s a new rule. Essentially, in the NFL, the iron cross was a signal to take hits off of the blockers and coverage guys. At the time, the kickoff return play was the most violent play in football. High injuries, high-speed collisions, a lot of contact, and that was a rule in the NFL that trickled down to college to basically have a gentleman’s agreement that no one is going to hit anyone if the returner isn’t going to return the ball, because he’s signalling.
So, his toes are on the goal line, ball goes over his head, it’s a touchback. They go like this so that we don’t block and try. It’s player safety essentially is what it is. When you watch the Florida State game, in our first kickoff, the returner did it and we actually stopped playing and so did they. The ball ended up going short, and he returned it and Trikweze Bridges tackles him on the 20-yard line.
In the NFL, it’s a lot more predictable because the kickers are stronger. So there’s way more returns. And I know the NFL rule change. This was like you know more than two years ago. So basically, it has something to do with that the signal is no longer valid or some interpretation.
I still have to get some interpretation on that role myself because we do use it. You know, you’ll see Jaden Ball back there doing it just to try and take a head collision off of one of his teammates. So it’s just something that we were teaching to basically protect player safety and keep the head and neck from, basically, a pointless collision.
When did Olivier Rioux come into the mix?
I try to think outside the box. I’m trying to get creative, trying to find a way to create a big play in any aspect of any phase that I coach. No different than Coach Roberts, Coach Callaway and Coach Napier and Coach Miles. We are looking for every competitive advantage we can get. Period. There’s too much competition in this conference. The level of play in this conference, the coaching in this conference, the athleticism in this conference. You’re trying to do anything you can to create an edge.
The idea was really Coach Napier’s. It was a brief interaction. There’s not much steam to it. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I don’t see it going forward too much more.
On Mack Mulhern and Rocco Underwood’s relationship
Rocco is a really good leader, and Mac is very talented. He’s just young. So, Rocco has all this experience and talent, and then Mac has a lot of talent and not a lot of experience. So, Rocco will be critical to his development and Mack’s progression as he develops into the player he wants to be.
On special teams coaching changes
We hired Cason Bicknell and Collin Wood to join the staff as well. So yeah, we’ll have plenty of help. And then Alex Loytty he was a carryover from the staff.
On Tommy Mace replacing Jeremy Crawshaw at punter
Tommy has a lot of experience himself. He’s played in very critical games, won a national championship at Michigan. So, he has playoff experience. Tommy is very talented, a hard worker. He’ll play a long time in the NFL as well. Definitely big shoes to fill relative to Crawshaw, but Tommy’s made for this. He’s gone over and beyond any expectation I’ve had of him, and he’s actually improved tremendously from spring until now. He’s playing some of his best ball.
Coaching in New England for four years, the weather is a factor. And the tougher the weather, the tougher the conditions, it reduces and diminishes your stats. So, when I got word that Tommy was in the portal, we reached out and tried to see if there was mutual interest, and there was. He did an official visit, and we just hit it off.
I told him that I know how to develop NFL players. I know what it looks like. I know exactly the drills to do, the progression it takes, the technique, and Tommy has all the intangibles that Jeremy had as well.He has leadership. He’s a hard worker. I can’t say enough good things about Tommy. He’s blended in seamlessly throughout this transition.
On high expectations for kicker Trey Smack
I think that’s the balance you’re always trying to find with Rocco, Tommy and Trey. They’re all NFL players, and all NFL-caliber talent. But my big thing is this, number one, no one’s going to have higher expectations than the players and coaches in our locker room. And so how we manage that is by staying present.
You can’t focus on the past. You can’t focus on the future. You just have to be where your feet are, and you’ve got to maximize and cherish and value every day. And you come to work every day, just like no different than any other player on our roster. You get blue collar and you do the hard work, and then let everything else, let the results come.
Like we need to be process-oriented and process-driven. That allows us to stay in the present and focus on the task we have now and then. There will come a time when he’ll be ready for the NFL. But yeah, relative to his talent, you know, he’s definitely NFL talent. He only missed three kicks last year, and they were all three field goals.
He’s kicking off at a high level. He’ll definitely be one of the top kickers in this class. But the main thing is just managing those expectations by staying present in the now.
On Smack’s range
It’s always a campaign for Trey and pre-game, because he’s like, Coach, I can hit from 43 (yard line) and he can. But you also, as a coach, want to put him in a position for success. And he’s proven that we need a back that kick lineup.
On adjusting from NFL to the college game, a la Bill Belichick
The ones that come to the top of my mind is, you know, these are student athletes, so they’re in class a lot. You get to meet with the NFL players for eight hours of the day, and then here, there’s just such a small window of time you actually get to meet with them because they’re in class all morning. So I would say meeting time would be the first of the biggest differences between the two.
The second is the maturity of the kid on and off the field. So, the player on the field, he doesn’t have as much experience. He’s not as talented relative to the technique. Just like repetition, the more times you do something, the better you’re going to be. And those guys in the NFL are so seasoned and crafted and veteran where here there’s a developmental piece in even just seniors. Like you watch Tommy, Trey and Rocco. They’ve all taken a step from last year. So they’re still ironing out their kinks and their small techniques.
But I would say the biggest difference is that the player, just relative to the experience and the football IQ and all that, and then the meeting time, which is much less in college.
On freshman WR Vernell Brown III as a punt returner
I’ll just say this, similar to Crawshaw, filling in Chimere Dike’s role as punt returner will be a huge emphasis in our competition. You know, Vernell Brown III has done an outstanding job along with multiple players.
Tre Wilson will be in the hunt Jadan Baugh, Treyaun Webb, Tank Hawkins, Jacoby Jackson, J. Michael Sturdivant, Naeshaun Montgomery, Dallas Wilson, Byron Louis, J’Vari Flowers and DeBraun Hampton are all going to compete for that role, and we’re going to play the player that we trust the most.
Obviously, they are all very talented. They’re extremely fast, they’re quick, they have good ball skills. They can track the ball. Really it’s going to come down to the decision-making piece of it. Chim did an outstanding job of when to return, when to fair catch, the intricacies of being a returner, the communication piece of it, the make-you-miss ability. So all of those guys have the talent to do it. It’s going to come down to the consistency piece of it relative to training camp.
The nice thing is they’re catching NFL punts from Tommy. So they’re getting tough punts to field in practice every day. And we really look forward to that competition. You know, really for kick returner and punt returner.
On replacing Dike and Ja’Markis Weston at gunner
Those guys are the penetrators of the punt team. They’re the first ones down, first-level defense. You have to have an elite mindset to play that position at a high level. We’re going to miss Ja’Markis and we’re going to miss Chimere Dike. But it provides an opportunity for others to fill that void, similar to any of the other phases that seniors have graduated from.
On starters willing to return, impact on culture
I touched on this last year, but outside of the specialists, no one came to Florida to play in the kicking game. And I’m really proud. We played over 70 players last year, so 70 players contributed to our special teams. And we took a lot of pride in that. we had a saying around here: the more you can do, the better you’re going to be, right?
The more jobs you can do. There’s no job that’s so insignificant it’s not important. Every job on the football field is important. There’s only 11 of us that get to represent the Gators at one time on the field, and it’s precious time. And, our players took a lot of great pride in being unselfish. And guys like Taylor Spierto, Ja’Kobi Jackson, those guys all were selfless and wanted to be on the field.
On Mace potentially competing for kickoffs
We’re going to go with Trey for now. But having value as a kickoff specialist — I told Tommy this — he’ll have opportunities to kick in games and provide that backup to add value to him in his NFL.
Does Crawshaw being drafted motivate special teamers?
There’s multiple Florida specialists that have been drafted, you know, really in the last decade. There’s a long lineage of really good specialists play at the University of Florida, and those three guys take a ton of pride in that. And it is enlightening that they can watch someone who they’ve shared the locker room with for the last 3 or 4 years with Jeremy, and seeing him being the first punter taken and going through pro day and going to the combine and seeing that experience firsthand is priceless.
We wish Jeremy all the best. We’re definitely going to miss him, but we’re excited about the players that we have.
On Jeremy Crawshaw
He loves it (in Denver). He loves the elevation. It’s like a specialist’s dream. I told him, you’d better be ready for the winter. There will be some cold games in Denver in January, but he’s really enjoying it. He’s doing really well. Yeah.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football special teams coordinator Joe Houston fall quotes