I think we pretty well established what a disaster the kickoff situation was at Georgia for the past two years under Jon Fabris. If you're unclear, read this.
And amid all the problems -- from the LSU debacle last year to the out-of-bounds kickoffs in '08 to Mark Richt promising to go to Poland to find someone who could do the job -- the man who was actually doing the job wasn't allowed to talk about it.
But among the many reasons fans are going to love Warren Belin -- who replaced Fabris as kickoff coach this year -- is that the muzzle is finally off Georgia's kicker, who shared some wisdom on the situation with us Thursday. Here's what Blair Walsh had to say...
On working with Belin so far...
“He’s a great guy. He’s real positive about stuff and when you hit a good kick, he’ll let us know we hit a good kick. He’ll let us know when we hit a bad one, but he’s not very high on the whole negative thing. He’s a good guy, and I like his philosophy and what he wants us to do.”
On the directional kicking...
“It’s not like it was here the past two years directional-wise. It’s a lot more use of my talent I would say. I was fine doing what they wanted me to do. I’m a team player, and I can go along with it. But it’s a lot more use of my talent, and I’m happy about it. I don’t feel like there’s a restraint on me anymore. Without giving too much away, it’s different.”
On improving the kick coverage...
“From what little I know about football, I know we’re going down there and trying to bust helmets up. We’re literally just trying to beat the guy in front of us and go get the guy. It’s not a lot of schemes. It’s a lot of old-school football involved in our kickoff coverage. I know (Belin) doesn’t like me to talk too much about what we’re doing exactly, but as much as I can tell you, the best hint your going to get is that you’re going to see a lot of guys hustle, a lot of fast stuff.”
On his goal for touchbacks...
“I think I had 17 last year, and I sort of figured out that with the new philosophy, I’m thinking about 25, I’m hoping. It just depends on how things go and staying healthy throughout the season.”
So… music to your ears or what?
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4 comments:
This is music to my ears. I think we've all said that we need to get back to old-school coverage....run down, bust helmets, destroy the ball carrier.
It's about damn time!!!
I still can't wrap my head around why Fabris was such a freaking retard when it came to the kickoffs. It was clear that it didn't work, it was clear that it was KILLING the team, and yet he just kept ramming his head into the wall. It cost him his job. And I'm delighted that he's no longer coaching at the University of Georgia.
You mean, we won't have to worry about always starting around the 20 while the other team starts at midfield?
Shocking
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