DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns to hire Mike Priefer as special teams coach

I disagree. Tabor was not underrated, he was correctly rated and found lacking. JMO.

I have no idea. I do know that he has been married for 14 years. Some people have a problem when it comes to discrimination. Maybe he is very passionate about it? Maybe he is just a fraud, I don't know.

Thanks lol. I'm reading these posts thinking "what was that one dude's name in Buffalo?"

Maybe "The Pierogi Prince of Parma" will still be available, his tenacity would be a step (back) in the right direction.

This is so true.

I made this post to Mourg, but I better clarify what I was saying because sharks are in the water.

Mourg, I agree w/you about Tabor. In fact, I was one of the very few who defended him year after year.

I was disagreeing w/the part about Amos sucking and guys were out of position all over the field.

So what was the problem with the ST's ? Obviously the Kicker missed important kicks... Was there sub par talent on the bottom end ?

I believe so. You can go back to page one and look at some of the exchanges we had in the bottom third of the page or so to see more information as to why I believe that.

Huh! Mike Priefer is a local boy. He was born in Parma, Ohio. His Dad was football, baseball, and basketball coach at Padua High School.


http://www.startribune.com/mike-priefer-out-as-vikings-special-teams-coordinator/504224202/


Mike Priefer leaves Vikings to be Browns special teams coordinator

*Priefer's contract expired on Tuesday, and he decided to start anew in Cleveland.*

By Ben Goessling and Mark Craig
Star Tribune
January 12, 2019

The Vikings will have a new special teams coordinator in 2019 as Mike Priefer is going home.

Priefer, the team’s special teams coordinator for the past eight seasons, will not return to the team in 2019. Instead, he will become special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns under new coach Freddie Kitchens.

Priefer’s deal with the Vikings expired after the 2018 season. He was offered a contract with the Vikings, but instead chose his native Cleveland.

Priefer was born April 21, 1966 in Parma, Ohio, just west of Cleveland. His father, Chuck, coached football, baseball and basketball at Parma’s Padua High School from 1963 until 1976.

Chuck Priefer was head football coach from 1972 until leaving for the college ranks as an assistant and Miami of Ohio in 1977. He moved on to North Carolina from 1978 to ’83 before the Packers hired him as their special teams coach in 1984, Mike’s senior year in high school.

After working as a graduate assistant at Navy, Mike Priefer’s first paid position was in Northeast Ohio as Youngstown State’s assistant in charge of offensive tackles, tight ends and special teams.

Mike Priefer, who had been with the team since the 2011 season, leaves after a tumultuous season for the Vikings’ special teams units.

The team released fifth-round pick Daniel Carlson after the rookie missed three field goals in a Week 2 tie against the Packers. The Vikings signed veteran Dan Bailey, who only missed one extra point but missed seven field goals (including one that was blocked against the Seahawks on Dec. 10). The team finished the year last in the league in field goal percentage, making just 68.8 percent of its attempts and hitting only five of its 12 attempts from 40-49 yards.

The Vikings also had kickoff coverage issues that began in the preseason and continued through the regular season. They ranked 20th in the league in kickoff coverage, though they finished the year fifth in punt coverage.

During Priefer’s tenure, the Vikings had some of the league’s most explosive return units with Percy Harvin and Cordarrelle Patterson.

Their issues with kickers and punters proved to be an ongoing problem, however, with former Pro Bowler Blair Walsh famously missing a 27-yard field goal in the team’s wild-card playoff loss to the Seahawks after the 2015 season. Walsh’s ongoing struggles led to his release midway through the 2016 season, when he missed four field goals and four extra points through nine games.

Priefer, 52, coached Vikings special teams from 2011-18. He was head coach for a game in 2016, a 17-15 Vikings loss to Dallas, when coach Mike Zimmer had eye surgery.

Okay I will do that.. I started off on page one..then I lost interest do to some talk about the comment he made.. I did read where his ST's ranked high... That's a nice thing to see...

Interesting.

I never understood how a ST coach gets blamed when kickers miss FGs and PATs.

Looks like this guy has a pretty good resume. I was also worried that the Vikes didn't want to keep him, but according to that article, it appears he may have just wanted to come to Cleveland.

Do the same players play on the Kick off and kick return or do they switch guys around...I absolutely don't remember how they do it...smh

I think quite a few are on both, but not all.

I want to add on to what I said earlier. I don't think schemes are very different for Special Teams, but a coach can help w/the timing and cohesion of the unit. Does that make sense?

I sometimes wonder why kickers or teams don't employ some kind of "swing coach", like professional golfers do. Just like a golfer, I'm sure kickers develop bad habits that might cause them to push, pull, or fail to elevate their kicks. Regarding missed kicks being blamed on the ST coach, I generally agree with you, except when the misses are blocks due to poor protection or bad snaps/holds. For example, I would think we could have found someone better to use as deep protection in punt formation. I remember one blocked punt where the guy (I think it was Peppers) flat out blocked the wrong guy. Or in years past, I recall Cameron Erving being bowled over backwards more than once, allowing pressure right up the gut. Those aren't scheme issues, they're personnel issues - but the ST coach is the one who put them out there. Special teams fails are almost always momentum-killing game-changers, which is probably why STC's are lightning rods for criticism.

I think the biggest thing a Special Teams coach can do is self-scout, look for weaknesses in your unit, and correct it. And vice-versa, look for weaknesses in the opposing team and exploit them.

I think Amos did a poor job at both of them. Opposing teams pretty much said as much.

I'm optimistic Priefer will do better.

j/c

I think being a ST coach must be one unbelievably thankless job. Do bad teams/rosters ever have good ST play? We had some decent STs over the bad years...but that seems like a time when we dedicated roster spots to ST-only-type guys...Sorenson...Ventrone...Bademosi. But that always seemed like an odd strategy to dedicate a spot for a ST-only guy when the rest of the roster was very lacking.

Recently and during the latest re-build we didn't keep the designated ST guys...I think because we were very lacking overall and wanted developmental shots over ST knowns.

For 2018...JD churned the roster looking for upgrades. Can't blame him for that...but that HAD to be a nightmare for the ST coach. Then guys like Vallejo and BBC and Gaines had to play from scrimmage and there went three of the few regular guys who also played STs.

I wouldn't be able to critique ST coaching anymore than I could OL coaching...but that cannot be an easy job. Repeated missed blocks (Chubb and Peppers) seem to me like dropped passes...a
coach cannot block for the guy or catch the pass.

Something tells me the ST play and coaching will start looking beter and better as JD fills out the roster going forward.

WSU, I have an on-going debate with a buddy at work on just this subject. He is in the camp of "Xs and Os mean nothing without the Billys and Joes." (an old saying he heard.) I'm in the camp of "A good coach can get any player to play/execute with the right scheme and coaching."

The truth, I'm sure lies somewhere in the middle.

The one thing that nags at me about the "gotta have the players" view, is that there are literally hundreds of guys you could pick up to play STs, so you will get the cream of the crop if you want. There's no way ALL these guys are sub-optimal players.

I think the key is that all players on ST's don't have to be "sub-optimal" players. It only actually takes a few to make the ST's flop. And what a player can do at his natural position verses what happens when he's moved out of position speaks volumes.

It's like using WR's on ST's coverage. They aren't natural tacklers. It isn't a part of their job description. So you're asking a player to do a job that he isn't accustomed to doing or well trained at.

I too think it all lies somewhere in the middle. Our very team just proved that this year. The Xs and Os performance appears to have dramatically improved with the coaching change...the Bakers (aka Billys and Joes) turned out to be a franchise-changer, so the player(s) the coaches had to work with got better...but not until after the coaching change that brought better Xs and Os.

aka The Middle.

Sounds like a class act.

I wonder how the punter factors in to this? I like Colquitt, but it would be interesting to see his stats, and not just yards.

I would like to see his hang time numbers and how often he placed his punts between the sideline and hash. Both of those have a big impact on overall ST performance.

A few 1/10's of a second allow the coverage to gain needed ground. Putting the return nearer the sideline gives him two options on where to run, straight or away from the sideline. If he hammers it between the hashmarks, the returner has 3 running options, thus making the coverage unit have to cover the whole field rather than 1/3 of the field.

See my sig.

I'm a fan of kickers that make the kick. (duh everyone is)

I think it's fair to blame every coach above the kicker, special teams, Head coaches, asistants,

if a field goal kicker is missing continuously on kicks.

(often, now not every time, but I feel, often,)

Often, the kicking of a field goal is the one thing where it's the kicking team vs the weather and the defense doesn't play any factor at all,

I mean they rush, to try to block, but often, (again not every time), it's a given that the kick is going to get off without interference from the defense.

If, the kicking team does it's job(s) to perfection because they are prepared and that preparation I put on the coaches.
Also, if a kicker is missing continuously in games, I put it on the coaches to have recognized this before it's during the game.
and and and and, Find Someone who can make Kicks!

For God's sakes it's 1%, what 5% of the snaps? Why are they worrying about Kickers, when there are so many other things to worry about, to win a football game

Because the kicks can be between 14% to 100% of your teams points. Out of the top 10 NFL All Time Points leaders .. Only George Blanda did not get all of his points off kicking, but Blanda, today, is still primarily known as a kicker.

A good, reliable kicker is important to have. A lot of NFL games come down to a conversion attempt here, a missed kick there (though you wouldn't be able to tell by the first three games this weekend.)

It's also nice to have a guy who can put it out of the back of the end zone on kickoffs. Field position matters, you save wear and tear on the coverage team, etc.

Just don't be one of those teams that uses a first or second round pick on a kicker.

I'm with you. Tabor's Special Teams units always seemed to be bad at something. Often they weren't very disciplined also.

Like one year, over and over again we had kicks blocked. Then the next year, no one can catch a punt.

And I feel like we had penalties all the time.


Our special teams this year improved throughout the season, but in the beginning, it seemed like we got hit with a penalty every time we received a punt or kickoff. I was extremely unimpressed with Jones. But Teflon Tabor had to go.

I liked Brad Seely's Special Teams Units, maybe I was spoiled, but they made plays on coverage and usually didn't have penalties ruining returns.


I certainly welcome the addition of Priefer. I'd give Tabor a 5. I'd give Jones a 2. We're looking for a 7 or better

In defense of Tabor, as we tore down the team to re-boot, the bottom of the roster wasn't very good.

That said, Amos wasn't very good and I am looking forward to seeing what Priefer can bring.

Who was the ST coach when we had Dawson & Gardocki?

Whomever that was, let's go get him back!

Back when he was in Cleveland, the kicker was involved in a fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown. Holder Chris Gardocki pitched the ball to Dawson, who ran it in behind some great blocking. The most intriguing thing about this is that it was the first rushing touchdown in the history of the new Cleveland Browns.

But what’s better about it was the celebration. You can watch it below, but it features Dawson tossing the ball back to Gardocki who kicks it in mid-air. I can all but guarantee that would result in a flag today, maybe even multiple flags. I don’t think you can kick the ball away after a touchdown, and I don’t think group celebrations are allowed. Phil Dawson is a rebel!

https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/10/15/...gardocki-browns

2003 Fake by the lake: Browns' field goal trickery keys win

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/pro/2...es/200310130043

CLEVELAND - Browns' kicker Phil Dawson was licking his chops when Cleveland's coaches called the play yesterday. He just had to remember not to lick his fingers.

The Browns ran a fake field goal for the first time in four years and it proved to be the game's key play during a 13-7 win over Oakland at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The last time Cleveland ran that fake was in a game here against Cincinnati in 1999 and Dawson remembers licking his fingers before the snap and immediately hearing a Bengals defender yell, “Fake.”

Of course, the Bengals being the Bengals, it didn't prevent the play from going for a touchdown.

“I licked my fingers and that sort of tipped it off,” Dawson said. “So I remembered this time not to do it. “

This time, on fourth-and-six from the Oakland 19 in the waning seconds of the third quarter, the play went for a 14-yard gain and, on the next snap, William Green carried five yards for the touchdown that pulled the Browns out of a 7-3 hole.

They were never again headed, getting ball control down the stretch, courtesy of a 145-yard rushing day by William Green, and a solid defensive effort that included a game-ending stand after Oakland had driven inside the Browns 25-yard line.

But on a day that the offense was something less than crisp, the Browns went to their bag of tricks and came up big.

Cleveland's first points came on a 52-yard field goal by Dawson early in the second quarter and the Browns saw the same thing from Oakland's kick defense then that they had seen earlier last week while studying Raider game films.

“Everybody on [the right] side of their line was in a three-point stance coming for the block,” said Cleveland punter Chris Gardocki, who holds on Dawson's field goal and extra-point attempts.

“They come hard off that corner and there's nobody left over there,” Dawson said. “I knew the way Oakland had rushed the first field goal that it would work.”

The Raiders lined up for the next one the same way. Gardocki, down on one knee, glanced up at Dawson and received the slightest of nods. Gardocki took the snap, set the ball on the ground for a split second, and then pitched the ball to Dawson, who took off running to the left.

“It was the perfect situation,” Gardocki said. “It was a manageable distance to get the first down even if Oakland had sniffed it out.”

Added Dawson: “Really, there's not all that much to it. It's just the timing of the pitch. Chris did a great job of getting it to me. I just had to find the [yard] markers and make sure I got there. It was a perfect call because it worked. And it was really perfect because we scored on the next play.”

Green did the honors, as was the case on 26 plays en route to his second triple-figure rushing performance in as many weeks.

“With this offensive line, I feel the sky's the limit,” Green said after the Browns evened their record at 3-3.

The same could be said for the suddenly-stingy Browns defense, which allowed 254 total yards but held Oakland receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown in check. They had a combined four catches for 33 yards.

“The defense did a great job all day,” Cleveland coach Butch Davis said. “They pitched a shutout after a turnover inside the 30 yard line.”

Green's only mistake was a fumble on the fourth play of the game that gave Oakland the ball at the Browns 24. Teyo Johnson made a nifty catch of a Rich Gannon pass from 10 yards out for a 7-0 Raider lead.

But Oakland (2-4, 0-4 on the road) would not score again, in part because of the Cleveland defense, in large part because of the Browns' ability to control the ball and run the clock. That was especially big in the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that took 51/2 minutes and was capped by a 32-yard Dawson field goal into a rather difficult breeze.

“There will be days like this when you don't light it up with the passing game,” said Browns quarterback Tim Couch, who was 16 of 26 for 127 yards. “Oakland took some of our passing game away, but William killed 'em on the ground instead. Our offensive line is doing a much better job and Will is hitting the holes quick and breaking tackles.

“We might not have played a great offensive game, but we took what they gave us and did what we had to do to win. We took care of business.”