Special Teams Coordinator Byron Storer (10.8.26)
Start with the field goal. What was going through your mind? Were you as confident about it as he was hitting that?
“Oh, yeah. I mean, here’s the deal. Before the game, we always talk about, what’s the line, what’s the got to-have-it line? And believe it or not, going that direction, it was the 38-yard line. And I know we adjusted it later in the half. We thought we could make it from 42, but we got to the 38. I felt really good about it. And that was the line the whole game. And he went out there and executed. I think you have to remember these kickers, we try to simulate these situations especially on Fridays, we do a mock game, we simulate these situations, and they practice it and they get themselves in the mindset, and then here’s the moment. So, it’s just like any other player. They go out there and they get a chance to execute on the biggest stage. And Andre (Szmyt) went out there and made the kick, and I was really excited for him.”
What about the kickoff after that? What happened?
“Okay, yes, we would prefer not to kick a touchback in that situation, but the deal is this, it’s a learning experience for me and Andre as well. You have to put yourself in Andre’s shoes and understand he just made a 56-yard field goal, presumably to win the game with 10 seconds left to go in the game. So, his adrenaline, all of his teammates were around him, too. I mean, we’re saying, ‘hey, get to the kickoff huddle, get to the kickoff huddle.’ And he knew what he had to do. And I’ll back up for one second. The great thing that happened was, in the beginning of the game, they won the toss. They deferred and we got a chance to choose the direction in the fourth quarter. We wanted to go that direction. That was the preferred direction to go at the end of the game in the fourth quarter. And so, in that same breath, you have the wind with you in that situation, and going that whole game going that direction, if Andre kicked it pure, it went long, he had a touchback. Yeah, I think he had one touchback before that. And then he said if he hit it, he tried to just baby it and get it down there. That’s when he felt like… so, long story short, that 20-yard window for the landing zone, it shortens when you have a ton of adrenaline, you’ve got the wind at your back, and you’re also thinking to yourself, I don’t want to hit it too short because my guy’s got to cover this kick as well. You know what I’m saying? We don’t want to give up a return in that situation. So, it’s just me and Andre talked about it, and I said, ‘how can we better handle this situation in the future?’ And really, I think it’s taking a couple deep breaths, as simple as that sounds, to take a couple deep breaths, get yourself centered for this next play, and then go on and execute that one. So, me and Andre both, I’ve got to be a better communicator with him and try to calm him down in that moment so that he can perform at a higher level. And he learned from that.”
So, kick it in the landing zone?
“Yes, absolutely. We want to kick into the landing zone and force a return in that situation. So that was an error on our part.”
Malachi (Corley) was talking about the attention to detail you guys have in practice in terms of the coverage units. Can you just expand a little bit on what you guys do in that regard, and how have those groups performed over the first four games?
“I think, coming from a system with Rich Bisaccia, we’ve always been a coverage-based system. So, in terms of philosophy, we always go over philosophy, who we want to be, and then the very next thing is coverage concepts. And so that is install one for us. And then what happens if it’s install one, then you go out on the practice field and it’s the first drills that you put these guys through. The first drills these guys went through in the spring were shuffle, shoot. It’s a downhill shuffle to go on to make a tackle. And so really, and what we believe now in its simplest form, is that football is about blocking and tackling, the most basic form of it. And so that’s where we start, is with tackling. You either choose blocking or you choose tackling. We always start with tackling first. And really for us, it’s making sure that we have landmarks on the field, we expand our coverage, and we have multiple levels of coverage. So, it’s just a constant emphasis from day one until this week, it’s just making sure that we have the correct lane distribution and we have levels of coverage. And if we do that, we feel like we have a good chance of handling any kind of return that we encounter.”
I know you’ve guys had a few penalties on your return team. I mean, along with that attention to detail, what do you say in the aftermath of those things as they’re happening?
“That’s been a big point of emphasis this week with us. The holding penalties are unacceptable. I mean, we’re getting to the 30, 31-yard line and then we get a holding penalty. That brings us to the minus 16. We had two drive starts inside the 20. And for us it’s really understanding, now you’re getting yourself in this position, now you’re trying to get into your fit position, that’s what we call it, and you’re trying to fight pressure with strength. So, he’s trying to work to the ball, I’m trying to prevent him from getting there. But once your feet get beat and you lose him, now you have to make a decision. Am I going to hold this guy or am I going to let him go? All football players think, I’m going to get him. No, you have to let him go and work next level. So, we did a drill today in our kickoff return drill, and we got in that fit position, and we got him in that position where now this is decision time now. You have to end up letting him go and work to the next level. So, it really is a decision in that moment when you’re beat, you have to let him go and work the next level.”
Malachi was also talking about the buy in that the special teams group has, particularly what you’re implementing within that group. From some of the big plays like Corey’s (Bojorquez) punt and Malachi pinning it at the one, just the execution. What do you think it is about your approach that has these guys so bought in and has had so much success early, stepping back from the preseason, when you guys would call the most ‘game ready’ unit of the team?
“As much as I would love to take credit for it, I’ve been really fortunate to have the guys in the room that I have, and from day one they have accepted me and they’ve tried to do everything I’ve asked them to do, and I haven’t been 100% perfect throughout the entire process. So, I try to be authentically myself and I try to encourage them to be authentically themselves, and then provide a structure and make it fun, enjoyable. I mean, they work their tails off, but at the same time, you should have fun playing with your teammates out there. And so, we just try to encourage a very like team environment. And on top of that, they’ve accepted my message and they’ve really taken it to the next level, and now they’ve just taken and ran with it now. So, it’s really the guys in the room. At the end of the day, it’s about the guys in the room and their willingness to take the coaching and then take what I kind of gave them, a basic structure and they’ve started to run with it. And so that’s really exciting for me to see that we’ve developed a culture together, and it really has to do with them.”
KC Concepcion (Jr.) said punters have told him, ‘we’re not kicking to you.’ Is that the case? And how do you get them to kick to him?
“Okay, well, they’re going to have to punt. So, we know that for sure. But as a special teams coordinator, think about how do we get opportunities for KC to get the ball. It starts with gunners on the outside. You have to eliminate their first level of coverage, which is their gunners. So, it starts for us to be able to handle those gunners outside, whether it’s in a single press or it’s in a vise outside. So that is step one. All right, now they’re going to hang the ball up in the air and maybe they’re happy with a 40 to 45-yard punt. That makes it difficult, but it starts with eliminating that level of coverage first and then trying to get him opportunities whenever possible. At some point he’ll get an opportunity. We’re just waiting patiently and preparing, and so hopefully we can take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.”
I know you obviously weren’t here last year. A lot of new faces, new players, all that. But last year, the Jets game that the Browns played, that game really flipped because of some special teams plays that the Jets made. So, I guess from your standpoint, is that anything that you can lean into as a teachable thing for the group going into this game, and just how impactful those units can be, both for you and against you, if you’re not on your Ps and Qs?
“Yeah, I mean, I think everybody understands that the Jets last year were a top 10 unit, I think maybe top five unit. They were one of the best in the league for sure. They’re a great unit. They’ve got good returners, they’ve got good coaching. And so, when we talk about handling a team like the Jets, their special teams, their returners, again, it goes back to the spring. It’s the way that, when I took this job, looking at the things that we need to focus on the most, that’s how you build your install, and make sure that you’re addressing some of the issues that occurred last year so that they don’t reoccur this year. So, I just think that we’re ready to handle this situation. We’re prepared. It’s going to be a challenge. They’re a good unit, and it’s an opportunity for us to go out there just like any other week and execute.”
About the touchback. The decision to not want a touchback, is that something you guys talk about during the week? Do you talk about it then? Because obviously you leave yourself open to the possibility of a big return if you try.
“Our mindset in that situation was we’re going to force a return. That was the mindset. There was no hesitation, no discussion about it. That was what we were going to do.”
And take time off the clock?
“Take time off the clock. Potentially just give them one play.”
Games have had so much appropriate fear of KC. How could that in and of itself be a field position advantage for you guys given that punters are intentionally kicking the ball shorter?
“Yeah, I mean, you end up getting a net average somewhere between 45 and 40 yards. It’s not glamorous by any stretch, but they are giving you a certain amount of yards. Whereas if you’re going to go out there, a punter hits a 60-yard or 55-yard punt and potentially gives up a return, it factors in, I think. But we haven’t had a return this season yet, really, a long one. So, I think there’s a chance that we’ll get more opportunities.”
There was a punt that Pittsburgh had, I think it was around six minutes left that was right around the border of the 10-yard line and it ended up taking a really nice bounce for them. What is your rule of thumb for when to let that bounce? When to fair catch it? And was that the right call there to let it bounce?
“Yeah, we’d love to catch that. Whenever possible, above the 10-yard line, really heels it nine yards, above the 10-yard line, we want to catch the ball if at all possible. At all possible, we want to catch the ball in that situation. But KC has been doing this a long time at punt returner. He has to use his best judgment. Now, if he feels like he can’t get there and make a clean catch, then he’s got to let it go.”
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