ST dept. : jets building faster, more aggressive special teams in 2016 ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

New Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer really doesn’t know much about the Jets special teams last year.

He’s ignorant to how anemic their return game was. Has no clue about how bad their kick and punt coverage was. He’s not even really sure how things were run.And there’s a reason for that: He doesn’t care how things were or what happened in the past. His focus is the future. Not what the Jets looked like, but what they will look like.

“Part of my philosophy is 500 miles per hour all the time,” Boyer said last week. “We’re gonna play snap-to-whistle. And we’re gonna punch first.”

Formerly a sixth-round pick in the 1994 NFL draft, Boyer had quite the successful career in the NFL. Playing for the Dolphins, Jaguars and Browns, Boyer established himself as one of the game’s best special teamers until his retirement in 2003.The Arizona product had a never-ending motor, a ferocious mentality and had no issue doing the little things. When he transitioned from player, to coach, he took that mindset with him.“What we’re gonna do is revolve around making good decisions,” Boyer said. “People not making mistakes and not beating yourself. Everything we’re gonna talk about, and everything we’re gonna do in this building, is based around drive starts because that’s what leads to championships.

“Where our offense starts, where our defense starts? That gives you the best chance to win.”And the players helping the Jets with those drive starts? Well, there are a few new faces.Long-time Jets punter Ryan Quigley is gone. In his place, the team drafted Lac Edwards in the seventh round, then signed Tom Hackett as an undrafted free agent. While Edwards brings a cannon leg to the table, Hackett is a bit of a directional specialist.As for the returners, at OTAs last week, Jalin Marshall, Titus Davis, Chandler Worthy, Jeremy Ross, Robby Anderson, Romar Morris and Dominique Williams all got reps returning kicks and punts. All are newly-signed players.

At this point, no one’s ahead of anybody at any position, according to Boyer. Every spot is open. And competition, he says, is going to decide who takes the field.“Everybody looks great in shorts. But it’s one of those things where you never know until they get in pads,” Boyer said. “They get in the pressure of a game. A lot of people look great running around in t-shirts and things like that. But when the pads come on, can people think?”And that’s why Boyer is looking for a specific type of player. One that, in a way, reminds him of himself.

That ferocious nature? Willingness to do anything? All of the traits that made him so good at his craft is what he’s trying to find in several on New York’s roster.And once he does? Well, that’s when the team’s special team woes will come to an end.“You gotta have guys that buy in,” Boyer said. “Have leaders that step up. Older guys, veteran guys, that step up and establish how to practice and play and get after people when they need to get after people.

“I’m not concerned about what they did last year, I’m concerned about what I’m installing here. You need a kind of pride, a kind of attitude that needs to be taken in that room.

>      http://jetswire.usatoday.com/2016/05/29/jets-new-look-special-teams-faster-more-aggressive-than-2015/

[kelly]

This is Brant Boyer's first season as a lead special-teams coordinator, so there's no guarantee he will be the savior of the New York Jets' sorry special teams. But this much appears certain: He will try to change the culture."Part of my philosophy is 500 miles per hour all the time," Boyer said last week in his first interview since being hired away from the Indianapolis Colts in February. "We're going to play snap to whistle and we're going to punch first. That's how I'm going to coach."Boyer brings intensity to the job, and you can see it -- and hear it -- on the practice field. When he spotted a few young players jogging on the kickoff unit in practice on Wednesday, he made sure they heard about it.

Attitude is such an important part of special teams. You need selfless players willing to turn their bodies into heat-seeking missiles for the good of the team. You need a unit that plays with pride and establishes an identity. Years ago, the Jets had that mentality, but they've been mediocre (at best) since 2012, falling to the bottom of the rankings last season.Boyer is their fifth special-teams coordinator in five years. His predecessor, Bobby April, 63, near the end of a distinguished career, was an upbeat coach with a grandfatherly demeanor. He was fired after only one season. Boyer, 44, is young and fiery, a former NFL player who has captured the attention of the locker room.

A few takeaways from Boyer's first session with the media :

• He believes the most revealing statistic for special-teams efficiency is average drive start, which illustrates whether a team is winning the field-position battle. Based on that, the Jets weren't so bad last season. Their offense ranked ninth (29.2 yard line) and their defense was 19th (27.8). Hard to believe, right?

• Boyer is looking for a few good men to help instill "attitude and pride" in the unit. He identified three such players, calling them his "Energizer bunnies" --Erin Henderson, Rontez Miles and Trevor Reilly.

• He's not a huge fan of the rules that limit contact. "We can't practice in pads," he said. "Even when we do put on pads, you can't have 'em just yard-sale into each other and get people hurt. I mean, it's a joke, so ... especially with the new rules right now, we can't hardly touch each other."

• He's high on rookie punter Lachlan Edwards, a seventh-round pick. "He was one of my favorites in the draft," Boyer said. "He has a big leg and a lot of talent." Edwards is competing against fellow Aussie Tom Hackett, an undrafted rookie, for the punting job.

• Boyer, who spent four seasons as the Colts' assistant special-teams coordinator, spoke glowingly of Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, 43, a potential Hall of Famer. "His body maintenance is unbelievable," Boyer said. "I don't know if I've ever seen a guy get that many massages, knowing when to kick, knowing when not to kick, getting acupuncture, flying people in to take care of him, watching his diet, knowing exactly what to lift and what not to lift." Boyer hopes to impart some of Vinatieri's longevity secrets to Jets kicker Nick Folk.

>     http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/60623/jets-new-special-teams-coach-comes-from-indy-with-a-500-attitude