Griz specialists honing their craft at fall camp
8/14/2019 8:58:00 PM | Football
In the grind of most fall football camps, one particular group can often be overlooked. But for Head Coach Bobby Hauck, they get more attention than perhaps any other school. The specialists - kickers, punters, and long-snappers - are heavily involved in fall camp. A special teams guru, Hauck makes sure that the kickers do more than just kick. He wants them to be complete football players.
And the players love having a head coach like Hauck that has expertise in their field. The pressure of playing for Hauck, who has high expectations of them, is nothing compared to the confidence he instills in them.
"It makes us appreciate our jobs for sure," punter and kickoff specialist Adam Wilson said. "Coach Hauck takes special teams very seriously, and he takes it with pride because he was a special teams coach at SDSU, and he was a hell of a good one. Coming here and bringing that expertise is really awesome."
Wilson and place-kicker Brandon Purdy have both been at Montana since Hauck arrived back at his alma mater. But they don't stay on the sideline all practice, instead getting involved in multiple different drills.
Gallery: (8/14/2019) FB:: Fall Camp Practice 8
"It's a little bit different than other programs you see. We are really hands-on with a lot of the things they do as far as tackling goes," Purdy said. "We want to be athletes. We're not just sitting on the sidelines kicking into a net all day. They want us to be able to tackle in case we need to on a kickoff and be able to cover on a punt — little things like that we pay a lot of attention to. Coach (Shann) Schillinger and Coach Hauck, they are really good at special teams, and they've proved that in the past. Having their professionalism and just the different little things they know about kickers, it helps a lot."
Long-snapper Matthew O'Donoghue has also been putting in good work during fall camp. He usually spends about 10 minutes a day snapping with the team and then practices on his own on the sideline.
"O.D." made a name for himself last year, showing hustle getting down the field on punt coverage and forcing a fumble at Cal Poly. He also caught a pass on a two-point conversion attempt at Western Illinois. If not for that, he would be a difficult guy to notice on the field, which is a good thing for a guy at his position.
"The best thing you can probably say is you don't notice him much because the ball is always in the right spots," Hauck said. "He's really consistent, and certainly we are fortunate that we don't have to worry too much about getting the ball to the punter or the holder."
"We're charting every kick, and we will see whoever has the best numbers in conjunction with us feeling good about their ability to perform, those are the guys that will get the first opportunity at the end of August. Those guys have been doing a nice job, I've been encouraged by the way we are snapping it, punting it and kicking it."
O'Donoghue echoed his coach's sentiment.
"If you get recognized as a long snapper it usually means you snapped it over the guys head, so when they're not talking about you it's a good thing," O'Donoghue said.
Coach Hauck said they are charting every kick and will go with the guy they feel most confident in when the first game rolls around at the end of August. Purdy and Wilson are joined by redshirt junior Gabe Peppenger and freshmen Carver Gilman and Brian Buschini.
Purdy looked impressive on Wednesday, knocking a couple of 50-plus yarders through the uprights. He said that as fall camp has gone on, he has felt better and better kicking the ball.
"I feel confident, finally. Confidence has been a hard thing, and sometimes we can be head cases, and that's one of the things we are working on, that same mentality of just focusing on the craft and don't get down on yourself," Purdy said. "Most of the time we have the ability as specialists at this level, but it's whether or not we can get it done in our head. We've hit hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of reps coming into fall camp, but just being able to trust your ability is what is important."
Wilson said that he is feeling confident not only in his own ability but also in the rest of his team's. That is another bonus you have when kicking for a team led by Hauck.
"It makes you confident knowing that he knows what he's talking about," Wilson said about his head coach. "It makes me confident knowing that even if I do kick a ball five to 10 yards short on a kickoff, my team is still going to stuff them on the 20 or 25 because our kickoff team is so good right now."
At practice eight of fall camp, the team mixed things up a bit at practice, running through some new situations in team play. They worked a lot on the red zone area and getting out from near their own goal line.
Samori Toure once again flashed his big-play ability, snagging a couple of touchdown passes after he outran his defenders. The defense stepped things up in a one-on-one drill, as multiple players won the battle and picked off a pass. Robby Hauck had the highlight of the day, rising up and pulling in a one-handed over-the-shoulder interception during the drill.
The team also ran through a lot more special teams, practicing kick and punt coverage. They practiced with just shoulder pads and helmets Wednesday, so the full talking drills were limited. The Grizzlies will return Thursday at 2:30 for the ninth practice of the fall as they have reached the midway point in camp.
And the players love having a head coach like Hauck that has expertise in their field. The pressure of playing for Hauck, who has high expectations of them, is nothing compared to the confidence he instills in them.
"It makes us appreciate our jobs for sure," punter and kickoff specialist Adam Wilson said. "Coach Hauck takes special teams very seriously, and he takes it with pride because he was a special teams coach at SDSU, and he was a hell of a good one. Coming here and bringing that expertise is really awesome."
Wilson and place-kicker Brandon Purdy have both been at Montana since Hauck arrived back at his alma mater. But they don't stay on the sideline all practice, instead getting involved in multiple different drills.
"It's a little bit different than other programs you see. We are really hands-on with a lot of the things they do as far as tackling goes," Purdy said. "We want to be athletes. We're not just sitting on the sidelines kicking into a net all day. They want us to be able to tackle in case we need to on a kickoff and be able to cover on a punt — little things like that we pay a lot of attention to. Coach (Shann) Schillinger and Coach Hauck, they are really good at special teams, and they've proved that in the past. Having their professionalism and just the different little things they know about kickers, it helps a lot."
Long-snapper Matthew O'Donoghue has also been putting in good work during fall camp. He usually spends about 10 minutes a day snapping with the team and then practices on his own on the sideline.
"O.D." made a name for himself last year, showing hustle getting down the field on punt coverage and forcing a fumble at Cal Poly. He also caught a pass on a two-point conversion attempt at Western Illinois. If not for that, he would be a difficult guy to notice on the field, which is a good thing for a guy at his position.
"The best thing you can probably say is you don't notice him much because the ball is always in the right spots," Hauck said. "He's really consistent, and certainly we are fortunate that we don't have to worry too much about getting the ball to the punter or the holder."
"We're charting every kick, and we will see whoever has the best numbers in conjunction with us feeling good about their ability to perform, those are the guys that will get the first opportunity at the end of August. Those guys have been doing a nice job, I've been encouraged by the way we are snapping it, punting it and kicking it."
O'Donoghue echoed his coach's sentiment.
"If you get recognized as a long snapper it usually means you snapped it over the guys head, so when they're not talking about you it's a good thing," O'Donoghue said.
Coach Hauck said they are charting every kick and will go with the guy they feel most confident in when the first game rolls around at the end of August. Purdy and Wilson are joined by redshirt junior Gabe Peppenger and freshmen Carver Gilman and Brian Buschini.
Purdy looked impressive on Wednesday, knocking a couple of 50-plus yarders through the uprights. He said that as fall camp has gone on, he has felt better and better kicking the ball.
"I feel confident, finally. Confidence has been a hard thing, and sometimes we can be head cases, and that's one of the things we are working on, that same mentality of just focusing on the craft and don't get down on yourself," Purdy said. "Most of the time we have the ability as specialists at this level, but it's whether or not we can get it done in our head. We've hit hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of reps coming into fall camp, but just being able to trust your ability is what is important."
Wilson said that he is feeling confident not only in his own ability but also in the rest of his team's. That is another bonus you have when kicking for a team led by Hauck.
"It makes you confident knowing that he knows what he's talking about," Wilson said about his head coach. "It makes me confident knowing that even if I do kick a ball five to 10 yards short on a kickoff, my team is still going to stuff them on the 20 or 25 because our kickoff team is so good right now."
Get used to seeing 1️⃣1️⃣ ➡️ 8️⃣ for 6️⃣!#GoGriz #RTD #GrizCamp pic.twitter.com/dvI7r86DOA
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) August 14, 2019
At practice eight of fall camp, the team mixed things up a bit at practice, running through some new situations in team play. They worked a lot on the red zone area and getting out from near their own goal line.
Samori Toure once again flashed his big-play ability, snagging a couple of touchdown passes after he outran his defenders. The defense stepped things up in a one-on-one drill, as multiple players won the battle and picked off a pass. Robby Hauck had the highlight of the day, rising up and pulling in a one-handed over-the-shoulder interception during the drill.
The team also ran through a lot more special teams, practicing kick and punt coverage. They practiced with just shoulder pads and helmets Wednesday, so the full talking drills were limited. The Grizzlies will return Thursday at 2:30 for the ninth practice of the fall as they have reached the midway point in camp.
.@Coach_Hauck & the @VoiceoftheGriz catch up after practice #8 of #GrizCamp!#GoGriz #RTD #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/izrw4wFR5b
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) August 15, 2019
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