Matt Daniels on Excitement For Will Reichard's Preseason Debut, On-Going Punting Competition & More

all right game week uh guys are excited I'm excited it was good to see will respond the way that he did uh kind of coming off the first team kind of session with in front of the fans kind of went one for three then he responded the next day really kind of went eight for eight ever since then uh but you know that's that's just kind of how he's built that's a reason why he's here so it's encouraging to see him respond that way excited for him to kind of make his debut at at the bank uh we had a great kicker session at the bank earlier today uh he's locked in and ready to go for it um so with that you know gang week we're excited what did you learn about him specifically after he missed those couple came back the next time what about him I think the biggest thing is is that he was able to self-correct uh immediately he realized his plant was just a little bit too deep and as a result that kind of kind of affected his ball strike and and where he was striking the ball at uh came back watched the tape understood it we worked on some drills and it was immediate fixed for him and you know the one thing about him is is that he's always he really truly never really loses his confidence he always has it he knows who he is uh he knows how he operates uh why the entire practice is going on while field goal might have been at the beginning of the period or beginning of the practice he's constantly working constantly finding ways to really sharpen his tools and sharpen his mechanics he's never really a guy to stand and sit around for the next hour and a half or just watching his teammates go to work he feels though that's an opportunity for him to find a way to go and get better so as a result you know it's just those small little meticulous things and really being attentive to the details that that truly helps us so for rookies on offens and defense it's always kind of understood that when you get to the NFL it's a different level um for kickers what's different about being a kicker in the NFL versus the college I think obviously the ball is much different uh it's a bigger ball you know bigger surface area really probably much more easier ball to hit honestly uh just because of the surface area on it that you are hitting but um you know it's the professionals you know you could say the environment you could say the Press situations obviously you're 1 to 32 uh but outside of that you know really truly really that's that's about it you know it's it's it's it's all mental at the end of the day between the years when you start talking about the specialist position kicking punting even long snapping is is maintain and having that confidence you know are you able to respond when things aren't going your way are you able to self-correct when you know you feel like you mis hit one you're really not truly in the true Groove feeling feeling as though you're making good contact with the football are you able to self correct and kind of get back on track where do you see the puncher competition after this point uh I think it's I think it's in a good spot right now and you know I I think right now I've had a great talk with Seth Vernon and you know I'm kind of doing the disservice of him as Mr Wright is taking a majority of the holding kind of those full team reps uh Mr Wright has really been the the holder in all of those situations so I need to give him more opportunities to allow him to gain some confidence and a good chemistry with will just you know being that holder obviously ly punting is uh important but you know being a holder for a rookie kicker is is is probably really probably one of the utmost important so I really need to give him that opportunity just to hold a little bit more so will can build confidence with him after you talk about pressure is kicking in the SEC it's good of a preparation for that is you're going to get in the NFL or is there still a difference between the SEC and ab you know you you talk about kicking usually FR 100,000 uh in the highest of situations personal situations obviously working for a coach like Nick SA he requires the most he expects the most out of his players and with that that adds another element to it especially in terms of you know you you got some coaches who are hard pressed on Specialists while other other coaches are a little bit more lenient and you know a little bit more patient with them and so when you get a coach is really on top of you all the time and that's that's a that's really who will is is he wants to be pressed he wants to be challenged uh he doesn't like a coach to just say all you know it's Pat him on the back when things AR going good and say that's okay you know he wants coaches to mother f for him and get in his face and challenge him and let him know when he's not having a good day uh because he's built up a cge just kind of being in Alabama for 5 years to where he's got tough skin and he really appreciates that what was the process of finding Seth Vernon just in the first place like how how did you guys yeah that was uh that was a long process that we kind of went through Alex just in terms of who's out there uh you got you have guys um you know whether it's Nick Novak or it's Carney um who do all of these camps and these these competitive camps and so you know we get representation whether we go out there ourselves or we get a scout to go out there check it out see who's kind of Performing who's kind of matches what we're looking for and you know through these camps you kind of pick out really who you like who you don't like and kind of simmer it down from there and that's kind of how how we kind of came up on self burning and you know unbelievable leg Talent uh you know I think for him it's just becoming better better with situation you know he's he's raw just in terms of you know what type of situation is it what type of ball do I truly need to hit because each situation requires you to hit a specific ball you know you don't want to kick a 65 yard ball to a khif Raymond or to a quan Nixon they now you outp punted the coverage you know maybe it's going to be more so of a 45 yard ball hang it up and see if we can force a fair Catch and so you got to be able to hit specific type of balls for specific type of weather you know who's a returner back there what are the weather conditions uh you know what what's the game Flow looking like what's the field position and so with that you know it's just a lot of thinking that kind of gets involved and it's not just P the football specific to Ryan right how have you seen his progression from last year to now I think you know the biggest thing is that we've been really been keying on with Mr wri is you know those going in balls of Scott situations uh we talked about it last year between the Vegas uh not the Vegas the Cincinnati the Chicago and the Denver game we kind of found ourselves in these situation where it was a possible go for it fourth and three or a possible long attempt a long field goal or we put the punter out there see if we can pin the opponent deep in territory and force him to drive long and we just didn't show up in those situations and so that's something we've been really focusing on while also focusing on really you know ball contact ball consistency and placing the ball where we wanted to you split those reps in the preseason or you going to give each Guy game yeah the idea is to really split it um you know it's really hard to say Hey you take the first quarter you take the second quarter because we could not punt for the first quarter next year you know we punt three times in the second quarter and one punter is now taking every single rep so you know the the idea is to give each guy equal opportunity maybe we'll rotate them uh each you know each punt they alternate uh you know which will present much different situation you know one guy can get a backed up situation one guy could get a going in Skyball situation another guy could get um you know open field type of situation so it'll be good you know throwing throwing those different situation at guys and see how they respond to them what conversations been like with Flo and Kevin about potentially using starters on the kickoff for sure that's that's a conversation that we've had and uh we're still kind of working through that you know in terms of what's the Roser going to look like what's the Personnel going to look like um you know J guys' job responsibilities and so there's been good conversation with it and you know quite frankly you know starters have come to me you know engaging with me about wanting to be on that play now that you really eliminated the 40 yards of running before you actually even start making contact with guys and so that's been encouraging to see and you know the funny thing about it is is the more and more you work this new Dynamic kickoff you realize how creative you can get you realize the can of worms that it can open up and how much of a week to week uh Personnel change it can really be uh you know on one end you get really really excited on another end you know you can get a little bit timid at the same time too so you as we continue to work and we continue to get more reps um it's it's going to be an interesting play so I'm excited to see how it's how it's going to end up playing out here coming up what percentage of your creativity would we see out um 100% of it all of it it's going to be out there hey man what do you remember about your first NFL game experience as a player I think the biggest thing that I noticed about my experience was I think I got I got a little too caught up and really the crowd the noise uh it was kind of like a wild moment for me kind of realizing just the speed of the game you know how much coaching is really involved how much how much adjustment is involved on the sideline and how in tune you truly got to be um and really how much more physical of a ball game it truly is from the Collegiate level and you know guys aren't really truly taking plays off like that I mean guys are going at 100 miles an hour Non-Stop and so you got to make sure that locked in on every single snap because it it's you know slow correct decisions are are wrong in this league and that's probably what I realize the most is that you know one guy can get a step on you if you're a step too late if you think too slow uh even if you are making those those correct decision if if if it's slow you know you're going to be wrong having worked with so many players that you know are trying to make the team on special teams for example what's your kind of message to those guys going into preseason game number one uh less thinking more reacting and and that's what I preach we talk about it all the time you know I'm not looking for a guy who's out there thinking too much overthinking you know just go out there you know we've done enough reps we repped it enough just go out there and more times than not you're going to be you're going to be able to use your instincts and react to it and more than likely you're going to end up being right and it always put you a step ahead when you when you do go about it that way so just play with your hair on fire any mistakes any any mental errors any anything like that you know that's going to fall on me at the end of the day we'll look at the T you know come on Sunday and if there is a mental are out there you can put it on me but what I don't want want to see is out there playing slow after fairly limited experience down there at US Bank any impressions of the new turf or how that felt for your guys on yeah for sure yeah we we had a good conversation about that and uh it's definitely a lot more balancy a lot more springy uh guys like the way it felt uh definitely has more grip to it uh which is encouraging um so you know they feel good about their plants they feel good you know really about taking the steps uh from from a pun in a kicking standpoint so uh I think it was a good good change you use falis everywhere on special teams what's it been like for you to watch how close you on defense it's been it's been a beautiful sight to see you know kind of being at special teams it's kind of like been a road to passage in a way to where you you groom these guys and then you send them on their way to to their expanded defensive roads and it's been a you know I expected nothing less from matelis you know being that versatile player that he is and you know it's it's great for him to be in a Brian flues defense where he's able to use his versatility to line him up on the edge or use him as a stack backer or use him in the Deep portion of the field and you know and that's really what what it's all about at the end of the day is you know how can I maximize the player's capability and ability uh as a coach and you know Flo is doing an unbelievable job of that and using Mattel's strengths and and really trying to find way to expose weaknesses of of offenses what was your observation just from the Hall of Fame game those kickoff um you know my my impression was that you you saw some good you saw some bad but I I tried to take uh light of it just because I don't think that's a true indicative of what it's truly going to look like come the regular season and so you know you try to take small parts and pieces of it and think like yes this is what it's going to look like and then large pieces of it is like uh I don't see it playing out this way um but what you can see is that it's going to be physical uh the returner is going to be involved heavily in terms of taking hits you know with multiple bodies on them it's not going to be just one guy making a play it's going to be hes closing a lot faster it's going to be a lot of Gap responsibility that's going to take place from a kickoff standpoint and you have to do an unbelievable job of block recognition uh at the end of the day and I think that's going to be the biggest thing that's going to be a takeaway when you start getting to the season is recognizing block where blocks coming from how do I need to fit uh this specific scheme up uh and you know if one guy is wrong then it's going to be big big explosive plays all over the field Co