No pep talk by Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti was
complete without that phrase. Don’t expect much to change under new Duck head man Chip Kelly.
While this year’s special
teams units have some large question marks, they also provide some hope.
Gone are kickers Matt Evensen
(graduation) and Daniel Padilla (transfer), punter Josh Syria, and punt returner
Jairus Byrd.
In steps highly-recruited
kicker Mike Bowlin (Scout.com #3 kicker) and U.S. Army All-American punter
Jackson Rice (Scout.com #1 punter).
Also returning are incumbent
kicker Morgan Flint and 2008’s backup punter, Tim Taylor.
Flint, a senior from Bend,
took over the kicking duties halfway through the season, finishing perfect on
PAT’s (28-28) and hitting seven of nine field goals (long of 39 yards).
While he may not have the
strongest of legs, he showed consistent form.
Flint
will have to improve his distance if he wants to hold off Bowlin. Bowlin
will probably open the season as the Duck’s kickoff specialist, and very well
could finish the season as the starting kicker.
At punter, the job appears to
be Rice’s to lose. The son of former National Football League punter
Mike Rice averaged 47.6 yards per punt last season at Campolindo High School
(Moraga, California), winning the 2008-09 Maxwell Award for the best senior
punter.
Jairus Byrd’s decision to
bypass his senior season for the National Football League not only deprived
Oregon
of one of the top cornerbacks in the nation but also of one of the top punt
returners. Last season, Byrd averaged 12.3 yards per return (3rd in
Pac-10) and one important
touchdown versus Purdue.
Backup punt returner Aaron Pflugrad also left the program this spring after his father was not retained as
wide receivers coach (transfer to
Arizona
State
).
There are way too many
candidates to speculate on whom will return punts this season for the Ducks.
You could put all of the wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs' names
in a hat and pick one, as almost all have experience returning kicks in high
school.
The Ducks have much more
experience at kickoff return specialist. Walter Thurmond III also finished
third in the Pac-10 in kickoff returns (25.1 avg.). His return
to open the second half of the Holiday Bowl started the Ducks as they rolled
off 35 second half points.
Joining Thurmond on the return
team at the end of last season was speedster Jamere Holland.
Holland
finished the season returning nine kicks for a 17.5 yard average.
Andre Crenshaw, Talmadge Jackson III and Remene Alston all have also returned kickoffs during their
career at
Oregon
.
The coverage units also figure
to be strong as the Ducks return a lot of key contributors from last season. Also, Duck players wear a badge of pride when named to one of these teams, so
the competition during practice is often fierce and spirited. This is one
of the main reasons you will see a lot of starting offensive and defensive
players on these units.
Perhaps the key returner for
Oregon
this season is special teams coach Tom Osborne. With 29 years of coaching
experience, Osborne was the 2003 American Football magazine Special Teams Coach
of the Year.
As long as Osborne is coaching
the unit, Duck fans expect the special teams to “be special.”