Block Party!

Sporting News, The, Nov 16, 1998 by Michael Bradley

Block that kick!

When Odell Haggins was a nose tackle at Florida State in the late 1980s, he used to love being one of the two guys who would try to clear the way for his teammates to block a placement attempt. "I just went straight ahead," Haggins says. "That's fun." Now that he is FSU's defensive line coach and the man in charge of the Seminoles' field-goal and extra-point block units, Haggins gets angry when his troops can't clear a path. "If we can't knock a guy back, somebody's gonna run a gasser," Haggins says.

When placement attempts are blocked, it usually happens up the middle. Teams double-team the opposing guards (NCAA rules prohibit hitting the center, who is extremely vulnerable after the snap) and hope to create enough of a push to allow a third man room to jump through and deflect the kick. It is possible to get a kick by running somebody from the outside, but that requires a near-perfect convergence of circumstances.

"If you find a guy who lines up too fight on the outside of the kick-protection unit, you can get it from the edge," Haggins says, "put you need a perfect takeoff and layout."

When Auburn's Dorsey swatted away two extra-point attempts against LSU earlier this season, he did it up the gut. Teammates Leonardo Carson and Jeff Dunlap provided the push; Dorsey and his 33-inch vertical leap did the rest. The second was returned 88 yards by Brad Ware for two points, dampening the LSU celebration. Dorsey gives his teammates a big assist on his blocks but believes the kicking team is just as responsible.

"On PATs, teams relax because the kick isn't that long," Dorsey says. "They should know we're coming after it."

Yeah, but doesn't it hurt to block those kicks? "It stings for a little bit, but you don't really feel it until you take a shower and feel the rest of the aches and pains," Dorsey says. "Besides, you're so fired up, you don't really notice it."

Most coaches insist their kick-block units apply pressure from the inside and out, the better to stress protection units. And when somebody gets close enough to swat one away, he had better make the maximum effort. "At times, it's difficult to find guys who will lay out all the way," Haggins says. "If our outside guys don't do it, they'll run at practice."

And come back hungrier the next week.

RELATED ARTICLE: Blueprint for a block

Want to know Virginia Tech's secret to blocking punts? It's confusion. In this diagram, the punt-protection unit (top) is using a zone-block technique to the punter's left and man-to-man blocking to his right. So, the Hokies employ a twist (players 3 and 4) on the man side, the better to muddle the protection assignments. They overload the zone side--five on four--forcing the center (C) to try to handle two men (5 and 6). He won't. The result is at least two, and maybe three, players descending on the upback (U) en route to the punter, odds any special teams coach has to love.--Michael Bradley

Michael Bradley is a writer based in Philadelphia.