Practicing the Punting Game
During the regular scheduled practices, we work on our defensive kicking game at least one period two days a week, and sometimes three days a week. These periods never have a time limit, and they are our last drill. Our reasoning is two-fold. First, the boys are tired and in order to get proper execution and coverage we insist they give that “little extra,” which I feel is so important in order to build a winner. Secondly, the boys know there is no time limit and we are going to work on this phase of our football program until we do it to my satisfaction. Therefore, they strive extra hard to get perfect execution and coverage so we can end practice. We feel if the boys can learn to execute the kicking game perfectly while they are tired, they will do it perfectly during the actual game.
OUR SPREAD PUNT FORMATION
Before discussing the techniques of our spread punt, I would like to tell you how we adopted it. I related previously that Tennessee defeated my 1946 Kentucky team with a punt return. In 1947 a number of teams hurt us badly by returning our punts. In 1948 the University of Mississippi ran back punts for 258 yards and two touchdowns.
Our Mississippi game bothered me a great deal. At the time we were using only the tight punt formation. I was searching for another type of formation which would give us better coverage. I had never used the spread punt, but we had played against Tulane and Vanderbilt, both of whom had employed spread punt. Woody Woodard, while at Southern Methodist University, had an exceptionally fine punting game, and I was considering changing to his system. However, while coming back from Chicago one weekend with “Scrappy” Moore of the University of Chattanooga, he sold me on trying the spread punt. He gave me his spread punt blocking rules. I adopted them, and since 1949 we have used the spread punt formation. The results have been very favorable as far as we are concerned. As an illustration, we made a study of our punting game and we found that during the season we went for eight games without having our punts returned one inch. For the entire season our punts were returned only one and four-tenths yards. During our 1950 season, the average yards returned per game from our punts was four-tenths of a yard, and we recovered five mishandled punts. The following season our opponents returned our punts for an average of one and four-tenths yards per punt, and we recovered three mishandled punts. Since we tie our kicking game in with our defensive game very closely, you can see that spread punt coverage has been much more satisfactory for us than the tight punt formation and coverage which we employed prior to 1949. I shall discuss our spread punt coverage shortly.
Spread Punt Line Splits
The main advantage of using spread punt formation is that the defensive team has a difficult time holding up your coverage. A team can cover its punt much wider. If a team can spread its men across the field as they are covering a kick, it is very hard for the receiving team to return the ball for a sizeable gain.
The splits in our offensive line are determined largely by the size of the men. We want our guards to be split about one and one-half yards from the center. These splits also will be determined by the physical size of our backfield men whom we place in the gaps to each side of the center, two yards deep. If the back is a small man, then the guard will cut down his split to approximately one yard. Conversely, if the back is a large person, the guard can widen his split to approximately one and one-half yards. Our tackles will split from their guards one and one-half to two yards. Each tackle must be able to block the second man outside of his guard. Our ends can split out as far as they wish, providing they can block back all the way to the tackle if a situation arises warranting it. The ends usually split out about two yards, as illustrated in [Figure 85].
Our up-backs line up in the seams between the guard and center, about two yards deep, as was explained previously. The personal protector will line up five yards deep, and will be on the right side for a right-footed kicker, and on the left side for a left-footed kicker. His depth will be 13 yards. The type of spread punt we employ is illustrated in [Figure 85].
