Aug
Special teams coach Reed on the hot seat in Sask
Courtesy Regina Leader Post:
Saskatchewan Roughriders special-teams co-ordinator Kavis Reed has been having some sleepless nights, but not because he is staying awake worrying about his job security.
“No,” Reed said plainly when asked Saturday at Regina International Airport if he was worried about his job. “I never played that way and I don’t coach that way. I know that (those in the Roughriders’ hierarchy) are getting my very best effort every single time.
“I know it’s not a schematic thing, so I can sleep well on that part. I don’t sleep because I want to make certain that I teach the guys the right way and teach them things that accelerate their learning. I never worry about my job.”
The Roughriders’ special teams have been an area of concern throughout the team’s first eight games this CFL season. The unit was a problem again Friday during a 34-25 loss to the host Montreal Alouettes.
Als returner Larry Taylor returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown and returned a kickoff 51 yards after a Saskatchewan touchdown to swing the momentum back in Montreal’s favour.
This season, opposing teams have returned 46 punts for 520 yards (an average of 11.3 yards) with two touchdowns. The Roughriders have returned 36 punts for 231 yards (6.4-yard average). Saskatchewan’s main returner, Eric Morris, is averaging 5.4 yards on 16 returns.
The longest return by an opponent is 75 yards. The Roughriders’ longest return is 30 yards.
The numbers aren’t much better on kickoffs.
Opponents have returned 38 kickoffs for 757 yards (19.9-yard average) with a long return of 51 yards. The Roughriders have 53 kickoff returns for 890 yards (16.8-yard average) with a long of 46.
Saskatchewan also has had four punts and one convert blocked. The Roughriders have blocked two punts.
“We’ve looked at everything scheme-wise and I can assure you that we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not scheme,” Reed said. “We’re making some mental mistakes and things are happening. We’ve made changes every week in terms of personnel, so we have to look at getting some continuity in some shape or form.”
Reed pointed to injuries that have racked the special teams, including knee injuries to linebackers Renauld Williams and Kye Stewart. Other perennial contributors on special teams have been missing due to injury (such as Neal Hughes and Leron Mitchell) or personal matters (Aaron Wagner).
“We’re not set with the guys in terms of the units that we started out this season when we were pretty efficient,” Reed said. “We have a lot of injuries and we have a lot of guys filling in and playing different positions at times.
“You expect mistakes, but you don’t expect them to the degree we’ve had them in the last few weeks.”
Said punter Jamie Boreham: “It’s a little frustrating, but probably more surprising than anything. There’s not much good reason for some of the mistakes we’ve made and the problems we’ve had.”
Reed said he planned to be at work this week — even though the players are enjoying a bye week — in the hopes of getting what he called “closure.”
“Beside sleepless nights, you just keep battling,” Reed said. “You keep looking at film, you keep trying to teach technique, you keep trying to teach them to understand the nuances of the game.
“If you look at the film and you dissect the film, all our mistakes are mental. All our mistakes are things where the decisions may not have been correct or the angles may not have been correct. Those are things you deal with as a coach, but those are things you also have to be patient with as a coach. You can’t get discouraged with the guys.”
“Maybe it’s just a matter of taking care of the little things better,” added Boreham. “All the little things, which is 12 people out there, add up to one big thing. If we take care of all the little things, we shouldn’t have problems.”
