In Position: Perry Building From the Base Up

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Sep 5

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vs Southern Utah

Sep 19

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vs BYU

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at UTSA

Oct 3

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vs Oregon State

Special Teams

Who's back: Paddy Turner, Henry Katleman, Bryan Hansen, Cody Pettitt.

Who's new: Jordan Noyes, Ashton Wolff, Will Hutchison, Jake Dennis, Morgan Tribbett.

Key Number: Paddy Turner improved his average punt distance from 36.6 yards in his first seven games to 42.6 in his last five games. In that final stretch, he pinned seven punts inside the 20, including two games where he did it three times.

What Happened: The early struggles and quick improvement make sense for the first-year punter, as many of them follow a similar path. But it's especially impressive for someone who only started punting American footballs in college last year. Cody Pettit handled longsnapping duties the final four games of the season, but there will be a battle for who is kicking extra points and field goals.

From the Top: Special teams coach Tommy Perry is bringing it back to basics for fall camp this year. It helps that head coach Jay Norvell has put an emphasis on the group, "this year more than most," according to Perry.

After all, special teams can swing momentum for either side of the ball. Good positioning and sound blocking on kick returns can set up good field position. Protecting the punter and limiting running lanes for a returner can result in tough field position for the opponent.

Because of those things, Perry has gotten the special teamers to buy into the importance of their position, and the work habits are following.

"They know they can't progress until they get this basic stuff down, but the effort is unbelievable," Perry said. "The athleticism is so much better than what we had last year just as a whole. We just have to actually do the technique when the live bullets are flying."

Norvell and Perry undoubtedly have an influence on the special teams group, but they also have the presence of a team captain in Turner. There's reasons the first-year punter was given that title last season: the maturity and the voice.

"Paddy's gonna make things happen, he's gonna demand it," Perry said. "He's going to make sure everybody does what he needs them to do. He's going to admit when he makes mistakes, but he's grown so much as a leader, you know, that he will stop a drill and say 'hey, this isn't good enough.'"

For Perry, Turner's maturity is a great help in team meetings. It's one thing to have one leader in a room, but Perry has three mature, older guys in Turner, 31 year-old kicker Jordan Noyes and 23 year-old kicker Henry Katleman. Oftentimes, it's those three who lead team meetings while Perry holds the remote.

Sure, Perry has had individual leaders that have done just as much for a team as Turner does for Colorado State, but he's never had three taking the reins of the same room. The wisdom of those three has created a trickle-down effect of special teams maturity that can last for many years.

"I've had guys, but I've never had three guys that were older, mature," Perry said. "I mean, Jordan goes home after a full day of practice, he's got three kids he's gotta take care of, you know, and he's hanging out with his wife. He's dealing with grown-man stuff.

"It's awesome, it's so mature, just a bunch of adults in the room. So, the young guys, they don't know any different, they just start acting like mature men. It's important and it's really healthy."

From the Room: As Turner has focused on punting basics like hand placement on the ball and body mechanics throughout the punt, the learning curve has only gotten steeper. But as the specialists work on their craft on the field, the off-field relationships have grown just as much.

Turner said that most of the specialists live within a block of each other, and consequently find themselves spending a lot of time together. There's even a running joke from tight end Dallin Holker that if he sees one specialist, he's going to see all of them.

One of the main themes of fall camp this year is the abundance of new faces around the team. In total, Colorado State has welcomed more than 50 new players, so naturally there's an influx of competition to get on the field because of it. The same goes for the specialists.

From experienced transfers to eager freshmen, a lot of spots are there for the taking at every position. For the specialists, the competition has helped everyone grow at their spot and as a close-knit group of teammates.

"Our cohesion's great," Turner said. "It's a fair battle in the kicking department, and the competitiveness is good. It's strong, it's a good competition, but it's also a healthy competition. Everyone's pushing each other to get to that next level."

While fundamentals and mechanics are at the core of what needs to happen for special teams over the course of fall camp, competition, friendship and growth are just as important. Just master the basics of it all and take it from there.

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