Making It Special … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

It was a few days before the Chiefs were to face the San Diego Chargers and Steve Hoffman was asked if he was pleased up to that point with the play and production of his special teams.

Sitting in the atrium in the Chiefs complex, Hoffman wasn’t offering a yes.

“I don’t want to use the word please,” Hoffman said. “I have this philosophy that I don’t care what’s happened up to this point. It’s what’s going to happen on the next play. I know how fast it can change.”

Can it ever. The Chiefs had cruised through 6.5 games of the 2009 season with mediocre to strong special teams performances. On a team that has an offense and defense ranked among the worst in the league, the kicking game was the only consistent part of the team’s attack.

Then came the Chargers game.

Rookie K Ryan Succop missed a makeable field goal. RB Jamaal Charles was protecting the right wing on the punt team and was so intent on getting downfield to corral San Diego’s outstanding returner Darren Sproles that he did not bother to block. Chargers FB Jacob Hester rushed past Charles, blocked Dustin Colquitt’s punt and the ball bounded into the end zone where Hester recovered for a San Diego touchdown.

So far that qualifies as one of the few negative plays involving Hoffman’s special teams.

And that is something for both Todd Haley and Hoffman to be proud of as the schedule nears mid-season. This is the first time in Hoffman’s 21-year NFL coaching career where he’s handled the entire special teams package. Up to this season, during 17 years in Dallas, one in Atlanta and two with Miami, Hoffman’s duties involved only the punter and kicker. He did not handle the other 10 players on each kick.

But Haley has given him the chance to do it all. How much fun has it been?

“I don’t know if I’d say fun,” Hoffman said with a weary smile. “It’s been a lot of work. I just feel a tremendous responsibility o do well. It’s just mind boggling how many things you have to think of to cover all the bases, from a roster standpoint, making sure you know who is going to make the team and who is going to be active on Sundays.

“You’ve got to know the positions on the teams that are really critical, like the personal protector on punt, the wings on the punt protection team. You know you have to have the right people in place that can handle those things.

“It’s an awful lot of work to get done with the time allotment that you have.”

Haley is pleased with what he’s seen so far from Hoffman’s handling of the kicking game.

“He does what coaches are supposed to do: he has the guys prepared, they know what to do and they’re doing it the way he’s coaching it,” Haley said. “He works his butt off and probably sleeps here too much. He’s got the guys ready to play day-in-and-day-out.”

Handling everything has just put another stamp on Hoffman’s passport as a kicking game guru. For years with the Cowboys and then again with the Dolphins, he was able to take relatively unknown kickers and punters and turn them into contributing, and sometimes Pro Bowl-level performers.

Here’s what one NFL special teams coach said recently about Hoffman’s ability to find diamonds in the rough: “Believe me, if the league hears that Hoff has gone into to work out some fringe kicker, or a name nobody knows, we all sit up and take notice. We all scramble for tapes and reports to make sure we aren’t missing something or someone.”

Haley saw that at work when he coached with Hoffman in Dallas. He arrived there with Jimmy Johnson out of the University of Miami and eventually the Cowboys relied on Hoffman to find punters and kickers. Dallas never drafted them; instead they had Hoffman discover and develop them. Most of them turned out to be salary cap bargains, and when they became free agents and attracted attention, the Cowboys would send Hoffman out to find their replacements.

Hoffman found and developed K Chris Boniol and P John Jett. When they became unrestricted free agents both left the Cowboys after the 1996 season. Hoffman replaced them with K Richie Cunningham, who made 34 of 37 FGs and P Toby Gowin. Of all the kickers Hoffman had in Dallas, only one was not an undrafted rookie or first-year free agent, that was veteran Eddie Murray.

He did the same type of thing in Miami when he took undrafted rookie free agent Dan Carpenter last year and he made 21 of 25 FGs.

“There are very minute details much like a golf swing when you’re teaching that and he’s got an eye for that type of thing, punters and kickers,” said Haley. “Through the course of his career he’s done a great job of discovering kickers. I knew that going in and we sent him out on the road and he looked at a lot of guys and he felt very strongly about the guy we drafted (Succop.) That’s the benefit of having him on our staff and he can actually coach those guys, those little details that a lot of guys can’t.

“The key is he understands the mindset of the kicker.”

Obviously a coach with this type of insight into kickers and punters must have done so at some point in his own football career, right? Well, sort of.

Born in New Jersey, raised in York, Pennsylvania, where his parents worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Hoffman was a very good high school athlete at York Suburban High School. He went on to Dickinson College in Carlisle, where his name is still in the school’s football record books. But not for kicking, it was for kick returning, where his career average was 25.7 yards. During his time with the Red Devils, he was a wide receiver, quarterback, running back, kicker and punter.

After graduation, Hoffman became a punter. The Redskins held training camp at Dickinson and he got two different chances to tryout in 1981 and 1983. In 1984, he had a training camp stint with the Seattle Seahawks and in 1985 Hoffman opened the pre-season with the New Orleans Saints.

In between all those chances, he kicked for the Washington Federals in the United States Football League in the inaugural season of 1983. Hoffman opened the year as Washington’s punter, kicking in three games before he was replaced. He averaged 36.1 yards on 15 punts. Opponents returned just three of his kicks for a total of 30 yards.

But it was those days of trying out where Hoffman started honing his understanding of punting and kicking.

“Going to NFL camps, and wide-open tryouts, you are around a lot of other kickers and punters,” Hoffman said. “You just start noticing little things. I don’t think I’ve ever developed a program or anything. I’ve been lucky that the guys I felt good about usually worked out.”

Once might have been luck, maybe even twice. But Hoffman has found too many kickers and punters over the years that were successful in the league. He doesn’t have a formula; he talks about finding kickers who can separate the conscious mind from the sub-conscious mind.

“Good kickers have it, baseball players have it, golfers have it, foul shooters have it,” Hoffman said. “It’s something that you just have. I don’t know how you develop it. A sports psychologist would probably say you can develop it, but I personally don’t think you can. I think you are born with it. You can get them stronger, you can tinker with their technique, but I’ve never tried to mess with the mental part of it.

“I got a feel for this when I was a punter and was one of those guys that couldn’t separate. After every kick I was talking to myself, overanalyzing everything. I could feel my conscious mind getting in the way.”

Hoffman’s inability to handle the situation provided him with the base that has allowed him to become one of the best guys in football when it comes to finding kickers and punters. He has his own website (hoffmankicking.com) and a pair of DVDs (right), one on punting and one on kicking.

Now he’s expanded that knowledge to the entire special teams unit.

“The guy for whatever reason wasn’t given a chance to run the whole show,” Haley said of Hoffman. “I was the first one to do that and I’m proud of where he’s at.”

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• BROWNS – fired GM George Kokinis.
• CHARGERS – released WR Chris Chambers.
• 49ERS – have lost OT Joe Staley (knee) and CB Nate Clements (shoulder) for six weeks because of injury.
• REDSKINS – promoted TE Eddie Williams from the practice squad.
• SAINTS – DT Sedrick Ellis is expected to miss four to six weeks with an MCL injury.
• SEAHAWKS – released CB Travis Fisher.
• TEXANS – TE Owen Daniels is out for the season with an ACL injury.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On November 3, 1961, the Dallas Texans lost to the Boston Patriots 28-21 at Boston University Field in a Friday night game in front of 25,063 fans. The home team won this won in the third quarter. The Texans had scored to tie the game at 21-21 on a 48-yard TD pass from QB Cotton Davidson to RB Bo Dickinson. But when K Ben Agajanian kicked off to Boston’s Ron Burton (left), he grabbed the ball at the nine-yard line and returned it 91 yards for a touchdown. With the PAT kick from Gino Cappelletti set the final score. Dallas had TDs from Abner Haynes on a three-yard run and a 42-yard pass from QB Cotton Davidson to WR Chris Burford, who caught seven passes for 137 yards. Despite the fact the Texans offense racked up 364 offensive yards, compared to just 229 for the Patriots, they were unable to get the victory.

On November 3, 1963, the Chiefs fell to the Raiders 10-7 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland. The home team grabbed the victory in the fourth quarter thanks to CB Claude Gibson. He grabbed a 49-yard punt by Chiefs P Jerrel Wilson at the Raiders 15-yard line. By the time he was done running Gibson was in the end zone for an 85-yard TD return. At the time the Chiefs were leading the game 7-3 thanks to a one-yard TD run by RB Abner Haynes. Oakland got an early 10-yard FG from K Mike Mercer, a guy who would later kick for the Chiefs. Both offenses were able to move the ball, but they had trouble finding the end zone. RB Curtis McClinton ran 15 times for 101 yards. The KC defense produced an interception by CB Dave Grayson.

On November 3, 1968, the Chiefs fell to the Raiders 38-21 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in front of a crowd of 53,357. Oakland scored 24 points in the second quarter to take a 31-7 lead to the half-time locker room. From that point on, the Chiefs couldn’t produce enough offense to catch up. They got a 29-yard TD pass from QB Len Dawson to WR Gloster Richardson, and later in the game those two combined again for a 92-yard TD play. In the fourth quarter, WR Frank Pitts caught a 61-yard TD pass from QB Jacky Lee. Richardson caught two passes for 121 yards. The Raiders produced 539 yards in offense, as QB Daryle Lamonica threw for 352 yards and two TDs, and WRs Fred Biletnikoff (eight catches for 144 yards) (right) and Warren Wells (six for 125) had big days. Dawson threw for 173 yards and two TDs, but also threw two INTs and was sacked five times.

On November 3, 1974, the Chiefs lost to the New York Giants 33-27 at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs scored first on a one-yard TD run by RB Woody Green, but the Giants had the next 20 points and never lost the lead. Mike Livingston started at quarterback for the Chiefs, but he was pulled for Len Dawson, who threw a pair of TD passes, one each to WRs Morris Stroud and Larry Brunson. New York QB Craig Morton had a pair of TD passes and RB Ron Johnson scored twice on the ground.

On November 3, 1985, the Chiefs lost to the Houston Oilers 22-20 in the Astrodome. Oilers K Luis Zendejas kicked a 38-yard FG with four seconds to play that won the game for Houston. The Chiefs had scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to take the lead as QB Bill Kenney threw six yards to RB Herman Heard and 18 yards to WR Stephone Paige. RB Mike Pruitt led the rushing attack with 82 yards on 18 carries. WR Carlos Carson caught six passes for 87 yards. Defensively, the Chiefs got two sacks from DE Mike Bell and an interception from CB Greg Hill.

On November 3, 1996, the Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings 21-6 at the Metrodome. A crowd of 59,552 saw the Chiefs score 21 unanswered points to control this game. They did it on the legs of RB Greg Hill, who ran 15 times for 100 yards and scored on 10 and 17-yard runs. The other KC score came on a one-yard TD run by RB Marcus Allen, who ran 18 times for 89 yards. The Chiefs defense held the Vikings to 258 yards in total offense, with interceptions by S Charles Washington and S Mark Collins and a sack from S Martin Bayless. The Chiefs offense held a 13-minute advantage in time of possession.

On November 3, 1997, the Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10 in a Monday night game at Arrowhead Stadium. Some 78,301 fans watched these teams go 13-10 in the first half and then played a scoreless second half. The Steelers jumped to a 10-0 lead, but the Chiefs came back with 13 points on a pair of FGs from K Pete Stoyanovich and a 14-yard TD pass from RB Marcus Allen to WR Danan Hughes. The KC defense held Pittsburgh to 235 total offensive yards and only 93 passing yards. FS Jerome Woods had an interception of Steelers QB Kordell Stewart.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on November 3, 1983 in Ghanga, Liberia was DE/OLB Tamba Hali (right). He was selected in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of Penn State, the 20th player selected that year. Hali has spent four seasons with the Chiefs (2006-09), appearing in 54 games and starts. Through the first three years he was at defensive end and this year has moved to outside linebacker. Hali has racked up 201 tackles, 21.5 sacks and 13 forced fumbles over his career.