Last season, Florida's special teams left some things to be desired, being a major factor in some of its losses along the way. The unit showed promise in Saturday’s loss to No. 19 Miami. Despite an overall underwhelming performance on the scoreboard, the special teams unit was the only one that played a clean game.
“Special teams was the bright spot,” Napier said. “I thought all six phases of the kicking game, the film was really impressive. Probably the best I've been around as a head coach, to be quite honest.”
This was a huge step forward for the group, which was hit with a penalty for having two people on the field wearing the same number in 2023. UF also had a costly penalty at the end of regulation in the Arkansas game last year. The flag resulted in a missed field goal off the foot of now junior kicker Trey Smack, allowing the Razorbacks to win the game in overtime.
Napier knew these issues could not continue. He brought in a new special teams coach before spring practice to go alongside gamechanger coordinator Chris Couch.
Napier hired former New England Patriots assistant coach Joe Houston to be a special teams analyst, and the players noticed a difference since he stepped on campus. In his three seasons with the Patriots, he coached the field goal kickers to an 85% conversion rate. For context, in 2023, Smack and Alex Mihalek combined for a conversion rate of 75% on field goals for UF.
In Florida’s loss to the Hurricanes, Smack drilled both extra point attempts as well as a 41-yard field goal to start off his season.
“He’s brought things from a professional level down to college, so it’s really helpful for us to break down the position as a kicker, a punter, and a snapper,” Smack said. “He will help me out with my mindset and things like that like how many kicks I should do before I go out there and kick the ball. Just the little things.”
One of the tools Houston installed with the special teams unit is referred to as the “launchpad”. It is a mat with ten spots on it to ensure everyone is where they need to be and is accounted for when it is time for the unit to get organized. This helps streamline the process of getting on the field and can help avoid illegal substitution penalties.
Senior punter Jeremy Crawshaw believes the “launchpad” will be huge for the organization and execution of special teams plays.
“We’ve worked a lot on organization,” Crawshaw said. “That sheet that we’re going to put down on the ground is really helpful during games because offense and defense is spread so far across the field that it’s hard to get everybody, and there’s people still on the field still as well, so that will really help us.”
Crawshaw has always had a big leg, but consistency was an issue at times in 2023. Nevertheless, he started off strong in 2024. Against the Hurricanes, Crawshaw pinned UM inside of its own 20-yard line three times, including a ball that was downed at the 3-yard line by senior wide receiver Chimere Dike and a punt that measured in at 61 yards. In all five of his punts, Crawshaw pinned Miami inside of its own 30-yard line.
According to Crawshaw, redshirt junior long-snapper Rocco Underwood is among the best snappers he could have imagined playing with.
“I can’t punt the ball without Rocco doing his job at such a high level,” Crawshaw said. “He’s always laser-focused, can snap the ball exactly where I want it, laser fast. He can also be that third gunner and he can also sit back and block.”
Underwood was responsible for one of the bigger hits the Gators put on the Hurricanes in Saturday’s game as a gunner.
The new-look Gators special teams along with a fresh set of coaches and organizational tools started as a success in Week 1. They’ll have another chance to display their skills against Samford Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at 7 p.m.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
