UGA Football 2011: Help Wanted: Immediate Opening for Special Teams Coach

October 29, 2011: Georgia Bulldogs in immediate need of a full-time, dedicated special teams coach. Candidates must be able to start right away and hit the ground running.

Job Requirements:

- Teach coverage teams to shed blocks and stay in lanes.

- Teach coverage and kick block teams that fakes exist and may be called at any time.

- Knock the shanks out of an All-SEC field goal kicker.

Okay, all kidding aside, it is painfully obvious that Georgia needs a coach dedicated solely to special teams.

Special teams were supposed to be a big strength for Georgia this season with All-SEC place kicker Blair Walsh and All-American punter Drew Butler. Instead, the special teams units have been a thorn in the side of the Bulldogs for the entire season.

Covering kickoffs has seemed a near-impossible task for the Bulldogs this season. According to CFBStats.com, Georgia is 108th in the nation with opponents averaging 25.03 yards per return.

Frankly it’s remarkable that the Bulldogs have only given up two touchdowns on kickoffs as they have  allowed 13 returns for 50+ yards, four of those going for 80+ yards each.

Kickoff coverage was bad for Georgia before the Florida game, and with the bye week most Bulldogs supporters, this writer included, expected this issue to get ironed out.

Wrong. UGA gave up a huge return to Chris Rainey to begin the game that was fortunately called back on a hold that Rainey really didn’t even need. Then in the second quarter, a not-100-percent Jeff Demps took a kickoff 99 yards for a score.

Falling for fakes. Look up gullible on Wikipedia and you may find an addendum that includes Georgia’s special teams this season. The Bulldogs have been fooled on nearly every trickeration thrown at them on special teams.

Probably the worst example of this came against South Carolina with Melvin Ingram taking a fake field goal 68 yards to the house…immediately after a UGA timeout in which the possibility of a fake was apparently either not discussed or fell on deaf ears.

Either way, this lack of discipline is inexcusable and it’s a wonder more teams have not tried more fakes against the Dawgs in recent weeks.

Then there is Blair Walsh, or possibly the pod person masquerading as Walsh. After going 40 for 45 in the last two seasons, Walsh is barely above 50 percent in 2011, hitting only 13 of 23 attempts on the season. Most likely this is a psychological problem that could be theoretically fixed at any time, but how long can the Bulldogs afford to let Walsh keep trying to work it out before a change needs to be made?

Drew Butler has been the only bright spot for the Bulldogs’ special teams. But even Butler seems to be infected by the diseased Georgia special teams as he had his worst game of the season last week against Florida. Butler had six punts total, averaging only 34.2 yards, well below his season average, with two punts under 20 yards each.

An argument can be made that missed field goals cost Georgia the South Carolina game, but it’s been nothing short of miraculous that that’s the only game special teams has cost the Bulldogs so far in 2011.

So, who is to blame for the debacle that is Georgia’s special teams? Truth be told, I don’t know. Look on the official University of Georgia website under the coaching staff and you’ll find someone listed in charge of everything under the sun except special teams. As always, the buck stops with the head coach and it's Mark Richt's job now to get this under control.

The Bulldogs MUST address the poor performance on special teams immediately and the best way is almost assuredly to get some new coaching blood on the staff that can focus solely on these issues and get things turned around as quickly as possible.

With Auburn and Georgia Tech still on their schedule, the Georgia cannot afford to give away points on special teams, whether it be from giving up big returns or missing field goals.

The defense has picked the Bulldogs up and bailed out special teams countless times already but it’s time for the special teams to start pulling their weight and making some plays if Georgia wants to keep riding this win streak.