Knights never let up on returns
“Strong special teams is as important to me as anything.” UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander
UCF special teams coach Jovan Dewitt has one mandate that every player on his unit must follow: “Run to the end zone on every play; run past the ball carrier on every play.”
During every game, no matter how far out of bounds a kick may land or how short down the field a fair catch is called, 11 special teams players will continue to run down the field until they reach the back of the end zone.
Dewitt said there’s a reason for his non-negotiable policy. The best example came during the Knights’ win over East Carolina.
“There was one kick, where it was obviously going to be a down situation,” Dewitt said. “[The returner] was going to catch it in the end zone. So most kids would have seen the ball in the end zone and they would have stopped. But he fumbled it and it fell out of the end zone and now he has to advance the ball and we stopped him at around the 12-yard line. So it worked to our advantage.”
Dewitt, who also coaches the Knights’ linebackers, said the play was possible because the UCF special teams unit never let up.
“You have to teach your guys that every time a football is kicked, depending upon where it goes or where the play ends, their [opponents’] percentage of scoring a touchdown either goes up tremendously or falls tremendously,” he said. “. . . So when you can statistically show [what happens] in football when that drive starts and what yard line it starts on, those guys start to buy in, because truthfully, most special teams players are defensive kids.”
Dewitt has the support of UCF head coach Scott Frost, who sets aside significant time each week to help prepare the special teams unit for games.
“We get more special teams time than I’ve seen at any place I’ve ever been in my life. Between 20 minutes of practice a day and 30 minutes of meeting time a day, we get 50 minutes a day dedicated straight to special teams,” Dewitt said. “[The players] were confused. They were like, ‘This is ridiculous.’ And as the season progressed, I just kept showing them clips of how it actually happens in college football, this is why we do this. And then all of a sudden, and once they [understood] it, they actually [saw] it come to life in the game and [said,] ‘Coach, OK, I get it.’”
UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander never doubted some of his defensive players needed to spend time with Dewitt refining their special teams skills.
“Strong special teams is as important to me as anything,” Chinander said. “Obviously, if we give a team the ball at their 40 or at midfield, their playbook is wide open. If you can get them pushed back inside the 20 or inside the 10, that playbook shrinks a lot, puts a lot of pressure on the offense and not as much pressure on us. So I think special teams, for us, is huge.”
Dewitt said Frost also is well aware of the rewards that can be reaped from a strong special teams unit.
“I think Frost’s philosophy is that we need to make sure we take advantages and create advantages for ourselves on special teams,” Dewitt said. “Special teams is all about being able to play in space. So if [you’ve] got a bunch of Florida kids that can run around and make plays in space, we need to put them in situations and armor them with the knowledge of what they can use to take advantage of.”