| FTBL Punter?

[UAgrad93]

@BamaFan334, do those 7 and 9 year olds drop the ball consistently every kick? Likely not! The drop on a punt can be and is often the key. Short arm it, off to the side, contact too low or too high and you get shitty punts. I used a golfer strictly based on his mechanics like a punter. DeLong isn't a very muscular guy to begin with, much like JK Scott. JK simply had outstanding mechanics. I say DeLong is in his own head because, I see him drop the ball 8-9 different ways in warmups and his punts are all over the place!! If he is trying new shit on GAMEDAY, send his ass home!! Kickers are strange birds!!! Place kickers and punters!!!

 

[OldPlayer]

I still don't see how a punter can get in his own head. I can understand a place kicker having issues having to work with a goal post, but good lord, just kick the damn ball. I punted in high school, so I am well aware of the mechanics yadda yadda, but even as a half ass punter, I was booting it 45 yards, in high school! As a college athlete, this guy outta have big leg muscles and if anything, muscle one out there 45-50 yards. If there are directional punts being sent in, the coaching staff needs to shut that crap down and just have him kick the damn ball as far as he can wherever and let the athletes we have make a play.

I'll call BS. If you were booting it 45 yards (average) you would've had a scholarship somewhere. Were you counting from the line of scimmage (official measuring point) or from where you kicked it?

 

[94 Grad]

I'm going to guess 45 yards on a line drive with a roll...

I'll call BS. If you were booting it 45 yards (average) you would've had a scholarship somewhere. Were you counting from the line of scimmage (official measuring point) or from where you kicked it?

 

[BamaFan334]

@BamaFan334, do those 7 and 9 year olds drop the ball consistently every kick? Likely not! The drop on a punt can be and is often the key. Short arm it, off to the side, contact too low or too high and you get shitty punts. I used a golfer strictly based on his mechanics like a punter. DeLong isn't a very muscular guy to begin with, much like JK Scott. JK simply had outstanding mechanics. I say DeLong is in his own head because, I see him drop the ball 8-9 different ways in warmups and his punts are all over the place!! If he is trying new shit on GAMEDAY, send his ass home!! Kickers are strange birds!!! Place kickers and punters!!!

Well at what point do you stop dropping the ball if it's making you kick the ball 30-35 yards? My entire point that as a D-1 athlete for the best team in the country you should be able to kick the ball further than a nine year old and tinker with your mechanics if one way isn't working. JK was unbelievable because he was 6'5 and had amazing flexibility. Mechanics were strong too, but they are not everything. The nine year old remark was that if they can figure it out and kick it that far that maybe he should just try something different. He would get embarrassed by 95% of the field at a Punt, Pass, and Kick competition.

 

[BamaFan334]

I'll call BS. If you were booting it 45 yards (average) you would've had a scholarship somewhere. Were you counting from the line of scimmage (official measuring point) or from where you kicked it?

Call BS all you want, but no one was knocking down the door of a kid that weighed 125 pounds when he graduated and was only 5'7. Our team was awful and my parents knew zero about recruiting. I did my own recruiting for baseball and made my way to Georgia Southern as a walk on. Why would I lie about being able to punt a football 45 yards? Don't you think if I was going to lie I would say I could throw it 60 yards or something like that? And I'm counting line of scrimmage. I'll see if I can find any old stats. My momma kept all that stuff,so next time I'm at her place I'll see if I can find it. We had a guy named Doc Spurgeon come coach us my senior year. He came from Marist and won National Championships with Jim Tressell at Youngstown State. He taught me how to kick a spiral and how to kick the inside quarter of the ball to hit a good one. I did not drop the ball, I simply kicked it out of my hand basically. I was far from polished, but I was strong as an ox and could muscle it.

 

[Bamabww]

Punting definitely needs improvement no doubt. @UAgrad93, I remember Coach Stallings telling this story about one of his kickers, don’t know which one. The kicker was having a hard time kicking FG’s or punting or whatever in practice and Coach Stallings asked him what was wrong. The kicker replied, “I get nervous when you're watching me. “ Coach Stallings replied, “Well, I plan on being at every game.”
Do you remember that story?

 

[OldPlayer]

Call BS all you want, but no one was knocking down the door of a kid that weighed 125 pounds when he graduated and was only 5'7. Our team was awful and my parents knew zero about recruiting. I did my own recruiting for baseball and made my way to Georgia Southern as a walk on. Why would I lie about being able to punt a football 45 yards? Don't you think if I was going to lie I would say I could throw it 60 yards or something like that? And I'm counting line of scrimmage. I'll see if I can find any old stats. My momma kept all that stuff,so next time I'm at her place I'll see if I can find it. We had a guy named Doc Spurgeon come coach us my senior year. He came from Marist and won National Championships with Jim Tressell at Youngstown State. He taught me how to kick a spiral and how to kick the inside quarter of the ball to hit a good one. I did not drop the ball, I simply kicked it out of my hand basically. I was far from polished, but I was strong as an ox and could muscle it.

FCS and D2 schools give scholarships too. I never called you a liar. I'm sure you misremembered. Let's look at the stats and go from there.

 

[jdpas29]

I can kick a youth nerf ball clear over the magnolia in my front yard... basically to the moon. And I have no formal training as a punter.

Coulda went state...

 

[TerryP]

I can kick a youth nerf ball clear over the magnolia in my front yard

 

[UAgrad93]

Well at what point do you stop dropping the ball if it's making you kick the ball 30-35 yards

That's just it! He is so deep in his head that he either doesn't realize it is a bad drop or he over compensates and makes it worse. I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to explain that the kid may be a damn head case and most likely is one!!!

 

[UAgrad93]

Punting definitely needs improvement no doubt. @UAgrad93, I remember Coach Stallings telling this story about one of his kickers, don’t know which one. The kicker was having a hard time kicking FG’s or punting or whatever in practice and Coach Stallings asked him what was wrong. The kicker replied, “I get nervous when you're watching me. “ Coach Stallings replied, “Well, I plan on being at every game.”
Do you remember that story?

It wasn't Doyle, he had ice water in his veins. It was either the first guy to follow him or one of our punters. We struggled in the punting game in '90 as well. Tank Williamson punted at one time. Great guy, but a lot of people around called him Shank! Coach Stallings had that presence about him and so does Saban. I've seen him standing right beside the punters in the last 2 scrimmages I went to. I imagine you couldn't drive a ten penny nail in that ass!!!

 

[BamaFan334]

FCS and D2 schools give scholarships too. I never called you a liar. I'm sure you misremembered. Let's look at the stats and go from there.

Do they? Didn't realize that.. Do you sit back and realize just how many talented kids don't get a look anywhere? As a team that wins 2-4 games each year during my tenure and got drilled by inner city schools in Atlanta 55-0, not even the small schools showed up to see a team with little talent. I'm not "misremembering" or lying. I also had 47 tackles my senior year at strong safety. Some things you just don't forget.

 

[BamaFan334]

I can kick a youth nerf ball clear over the magnolia in my front yard... basically to the moon. And I have no formal training as a punter.

Coulda went state...

Wonder if that was DeLong's pitch to Saban?

 

[jdpas29]

i guess I'll have to post a video for you, Terry.