FG kicker situation

[Dawg61]

sounds to me like Dan has no interest in giving any type of shit about our field goal kicker situation. Take a listen to him talk about them here (starts 4:10 mark)

https://twitter.com/HailStateFB/stat...63915117219840

[QuadrupleOption]

I didn't get that at all from his comments. He spent a couple of minutes talking about the kickers:
1) Not many field goals were attempted today, just extra points.
2) There's not a clear cut #1 at this point.
3) They won't decide on the final kicker until game week, probably late.
4) He doesn't consider the kicker to be as important from a leadership perspective as the QB or a LB.
5) They've both been doing pretty good in his eyes, and the team is more confident now in our kicking situation than they were in the spring.

[Dawg61]

I didn't get that at all from his comments. He spent a couple of minutes talking about the kickers:
1) Not many field goals were attempted today, just extra points.
2) There's not a clear cut #1 at this point.
3) They won't decide on the final kicker until game week, probably late.
4) He doesn't consider the kicker to be as important from a leadership perspective as the QB or a LB.
5) They've both been doing pretty good in his eyes, and the team is more confident now in our kicking situation than they were in the spring.

Talk about glass full. It took him 10 seconds before he could even remember if they attempted a single field goal. Which they didn't. Maybe just maybe you should attempt a couple ****ing field goals when you still have no clue who the kicker is going to be. His lack of give a **** is disturbing when it comes to kickers.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Talk about glass full. It took him 10 seconds before he could even remember if they attempted a single field goal. Which they didn't. Maybe just maybe you should attempt a couple ****ing field goals when you still have no clue who the kicker is going to be. His lack of give a **** is disturbing when it comes to kickers.

You're looking too deep into this 1. He talked in depth about the kicking battle. They also attempted a couple field goals tonight. The team is a lot more confident in Day & Lawless than any kickers since game 1 of last year.

[Dawg61]

You're looking too deep into this

I probably am but we haven't had an above average SEC kicker since Mullen arrived. It's fine if he wants nothing to do with it as long as he hires someone who does. Imagine if we had kickers like we have QBs. A great kicker is a weapon that shouldn't get overlooked every year.

[Todd4State]

I probably am but we haven't had an above average SEC kicker since Mullen arrived. It's fine if he wants nothing to do with it as long as he hires someone who does. Imagine if we had kickers like we have QBs. A great kicker is a weapon that shouldn't get overlooked every year.

I absolutely agree. I do think Chris Boniol is very good as a coach though- he has been a kicking coach in the NFL and was a successful kicker himself in the NFL.

[Really Clark?]

I probably am but we haven't had an above average SEC kicker since Mullen arrived. It's fine if he wants nothing to do with it as long as he hires someone who does. Imagine if we had kickers like we have QBs. A great kicker is a weapon that shouldn't get overlooked every year.

Sobesik was 3rd in the league in 2014 and Graves was 2nd in 2015

[KentuckyDawg13]

http://hailstate.com/coaches.aspx?rc=798&path=football

I probably am but we haven't had an above average SEC kicker since Mullen arrived. It's fine if he wants nothing to do with it as long as he hires someone who does. Imagine if we had kickers like we have QBs. A great kicker is a weapon that shouldn't get overlooked every year.

[CadaverDawg]

Talk about glass full. It took him 10 seconds before he could even remember if they attempted a single field goal. Which they didn't. Maybe just maybe you should attempt a couple ****ing field goals when you still have no clue who the kicker is going to be. His lack of give a **** is disturbing when it comes to kickers.

I must admit, when I watched that interview, I left most concerned with his comments on the kickers. He definitely acted like it was somewhat of an afterthought. He said he didn't really care if a guy separated himself early. Why not? Why would you not rather have a clear "guy" at kicker if you could? And I agree, his lack of knowing if they even kicked FG's tonight was concerning. He mentioned he didn't know if they would freak out first game since they're all young....so why in the hell wouldn't you be letting them get a lot of kicks in during scrimmages in the stadium so you can start to find out? He even said he may not know who the guy is until after pregame of game 1....so he clearly learned nothing from the USA game.

I'm not freaking out about it, I just think as shitty as our kickers have been the last several years, he could at least pretend to make it a heavy focal point. But at the end of the day, I just want him to run the best guy out there, and I hope whoever it is makes the kicks

[Todd4State]

I must admit, when I watched that interview, I left most concerned with his comments on the kickers. He definitely acted like it was somewhat of an afterthought. He said he didn't really care if a guy separated himself early. Why not? Why would you not rather have a clear "guy" at kicker if you could? And I agree, his lack of knowing if they even kicked FG's tonight was concerning. He mentioned he didn't know if they would freak out first game since they're all young....so why in the hell wouldn't you be letting them get a lot of kicks in during scrimmages in the stadium so you can start to find out? He even said he may not know who the guy is until after pregame of game 1....so he clearly learned nothing from the USA game.

I'm not freaking out about it, I just think as shitty as our kickers have been the last several years, he could at least pretend to make it a heavy focal point. But at the end of the day, I just want him to run the best guy out there, and I hope whoever it is makes the kicks

It could also mean that Dan isn't meddling with special teams. And if that's the case, I won't complain. I do think that with Boniol the kicking game will eventually improve- Army AA punter in the last class and an Under Armour AA at kicker in our current class. The problem is we may not see the fruits of that this year. Much like WR recruiting.

[Todd4State]

If Tucker Day is supposed to be our punter next year, I would rather us if at all possible redshirt him and then go with Lawless or Mills. Of course if Lawless and Mills are both terrible we may not have a choice.

[War Machine Dawg]

If Tucker Day is supposed to be our punter next year, I would rather us if at all possible redshirt him and then go with Lawless or Mills. Of course if Lawless and Mills are both terrible we may not have a choice.

39 that. If Day is the best FG kicker we have, put his ass out there. A good kicker is the difference in at least 1-2 Ws per year, sometimes more. We can find another punter. We haven't had a FG worth a damn in going on close to a decade or more.

[Coach007]

39 that. If Day is the best FG kicker we have, put his ass out there. A good kicker is the difference in at least 1-2 Ws per year, sometimes more. We can find another punter. We haven't had a FG worth a damn in going on close to a decade or more.

Yeah, we can not afford to have a poor kicking game this year.

Best man plays

[Bothrops]

Well, Mullen just negates the threat of our opponents making field goals. We'll just block 'em all....see, no need for us to worry so much.

[whosyourdawgy]

And we find out 3/4 thru the season that he has a back injury that I think required surgery after the season. He didn't come back and hung em up when he could've played another year if I'm not mistaken. He did miss a fg that would've won the USA game but having to make a game winning fg vs them was not nearly the only reason we lost that game. Aeries and Fitz play that entire game instead of the Mullen playing the older guys bullshit he does to start the year has more to do with that loss than a fg in my opinion

[Mimi's Babies]

We have a walk on from SHS. Cannot remember his name.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

09 - Depasquale 10/12 Long 48

10 - Depasquale 10/12 Long 43

11 - Depasquale 12/18 Long 42

12 - Bell 14/21 Long 47

13 - Bell 6/14 Long 40

14 - Sobiesk 12/14 Long 45

15 - Graves 15/18 Long 44

16 - Graves 11/19 Long 48

Like the previous poster said we may not have had the All SEC kicker but to say our kickers have always sucked is another myth. We've been bad 2 yrs 2013 & 2016. The problem is we don't have that last second FG to remember like Westerfield or Hazelwood to forget all the other misses they had. Kicking can be better but we haven't consistently trotted out guys that's missing FG's left & right either.

[Homedawg]

09 - Depasquale 10/12 Long 48

10 - Depasquale 10/12 Long 43

11 - Depasquale 12/18 Long 42

12 - Bell 14/21 Long 47

13 - Bell 6/14 Long 40

14 - Sobiesk 12/14 Long 45

15 - Graves 15/18 Long 44

16 - Graves 11/19 Long 48

Like the previous poster said we may not have had the All SEC kicker but to say our kickers have always sucked is another myth. We've been bad 2 yrs 2013 & 2016. The problem is we don't have that last second FG to remember like Westerfield or Hazelwood to forget all the other misses they had. Kicking can be better but we haven't consistently trotted out guys that's missing FG's left & right either.

Please don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.

[CadaverDawg]

Look, y'all can bring up those stats if you want, and I get it, the stats were good for a few. But how many times were we forced to abort a potential big FG bc we had no confidence our kicker could make it or even get it to the end zone due to no leg strength? Yall didn't expand on Devon Bell's % when he was brought in to kick anything deeper than 40 yards that one year, and he couldn't even keep it in the stadium. We had to bring in an inconsistent power leg, bc our main K couldn't kick a 40+ yarder...let that sink in. In the SEC.

Stats can be misleading. We've had some decent kickers that can make a decent percentage OF THE KICKS THEYRE ALLOWED TO TRY....but it has been quite a while since we trotted a guy out there that we felt super confident he was going to make everything under 40 yards. And in this league, and the teams we're needing every advantage against to pull an upset....we need to be pretty automatic inside 40, and have a guy with the leg strength to at least attempt a 50+ yarder with a chance to get the ball to the goal post.

I know that isn't sunshiny enough for some....If y'all want to use stats to hide the fact that y'all closed your eyes every time a kicker came out in a big spot the last several years, that's your choice.


And again, when year 7-8 features a K that can't make an extra point....does it actually matter what years 1-6 featured? It's an issue either way. Not sure why we need to sugar coat it. The best coaches in the country demand excellence & fix key issues....Mullen should have this issue fixed by now, and the fact that he doesn't seem more focused, serious, or concerned about it should be concerning to us as fans imo. You think Saban would have that response to a kicker question if his guy had missed a chip shot to lose to USA last year? Mullen is a good coach, and I just want to see him demand excellence so we can take that next step....our kicking game could be the difference in 7 & 9 wins this year....or hell even 8 & 10 or 9 & 11. Yall may be cool with that, but it pisses me off bc it's one guy so it should be relatively an easy fix. Trade our K out with any other SEC kicker last year, and we likely win 8 games....that's a problem.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Look, y'all can bring up those stats if you want, and I get it, the stats were good for a few. But how many times were we forced to abort a potential big FG bc we had no confidence our kicker could make it or even get it to the end zone due to no leg strength? Yall didn't expand on Devon Bell's % when he was brought in to kick anything deeper than 40 yards that one year, and he couldn't even keep it in the stadium. We had to bring in an inconsistent power leg, bc our main K couldn't kick a 40+ yarder...let that sink in. In the SEC.

Stats can be misleading. We've had some decent kickers that can make a decent percentage OF THE KICKS THEYRE ALLOWED TO TRY....but it has been quite a while since we trotted a guy out there that we felt super confident he was going to make everything under 40 yards. And in this league, and the teams we're needing every advantage against to pull an upset....we need to be pretty automatic inside 40, and have a guy with the leg strength to at least attempt a 50+ yarder with a chance to get the ball to the goal post.

I know that isn't sunshiny enough for some....If y'all want to use stats to hide the fact that y'all closed your eyes every time a kicker came out in a big spot the last several years, that's your choice.


And again, when year 7-8 features a K that can't make an extra point....does it actually matter what years 1-6 featured? It's an issue either way. Not sure why we need to sugar coat it. The best coaches in the country demand excellence & fix key issues....Mullen should have this issue fixed by now, and the fact that he doesn't seem more focused, serious, or concerned about it should be concerning to us as fans imo. You think Saban would have that response to a kicker question if his guy had missed a chip shot to lose to USA last year? Mullen is a good coach, and I just want to see him demand excellence so we can take that next step....our kicking game could be the difference in 7 & 9 wins this year....or hell even 8 & 10 or 9 & 11. Yall may be cool with that, but it pisses me off bc it's one guy so it should be relatively an easy fix. Trade our K out with any other SEC kicker last year, and we likely win 8 games....that's a problem.

Nobody is trying to use stats to hide behind anything. Even Brunswick acknowledge that those kickers didn't have the biggest legs. On the flipside we could say the same thing about you guys letting those few big kicks that the dawgs of yester year made block out those short kicks they missed. Maybe if they make that 38yd late in the 3rd qtr then he doesn't have to attempt that long game winner. Again no one has said our kicking has been lights out or even great but to act like it has flat out sucked is wrong too. All we ever hear is if we can get a consistent kicker inside 40-45yds I'd be happy. Well those stats that you're dismissing is saying for most of the time Mullen has been here that's exactly what we've had. Yea of course I want an accurate kicker who can also hit that kick from 55 but shit the majority of college football wants that.