Takeaways from STC Matt Daniel's Training Camp Press Conference: Will Reichard, Punter Competition

[Music] it's going on jomes uh one of my favorite Vikings assistant special teams coach Matt Daniels AKA coach hat uh fed the local media Jackal on Wednesday talking about uh special teams uh will rockard the punting competition as well as the kickoff change rules now I love the hat first off big big time fan of the Hat man so I had to look that up because like was this like a Matt Daniel special like is this a Vikings hat that is available for purchase apparently it is so uh Vikings special teams hats connect players through mind body and soul right so it's got special teams on the side it's got I I I want it I need it got to have it also uh coach Daniels coach hat obviously hat model only JJ McCarthy's falling short anyways uh so coach chat you talked about uh will rockard and Company they had a kicking session at US Bank Stadium today also down there the bottom they talked about how USB the new Turf replace the slit blah blah blah Turf whatever but more bouncy more grit more grip uh so I know should be good I guess find out on Saturday uh but uh coach had also talked about how they adjusted his foot strike and also will rer never losing confidence and also kicking for Nick Sabin helps build up uh some mental cuses you get a thick skin and rer so you always wonder about kickers like it feels like such a year-to-year proposition CU guys I mean kickers are human like they can get in their own head they can lose confidence they can do whatever but it seems like rker wants to be coached hard like he wants coaches to M mother F him uh in uh coach Hat's words uh so I kind of like that so I I C and we said this about rker BR he's made a lot of big- time kicks in the SEC big bat SEC West he's missed a couple big time kicks as well noticeably that Tennessee one but uh yeah I think that rer does have the right mentality to succeed here and there's a reason why he was the first kicker drafted uh in the spring also talk about how uh they adjusted rikard's footstrike because there is a difference between college and NFL balls uh and Daniels did say that you know to degree like NFL balls being enlarged versus College like it actually helps with like the surface area for the footstrike but it's nice to see a special teams coordinator work with a kicker and make a minor adjustment to get their game on point as opposed to cut and then the kicker makes an adjustment with his uh kicking coach uh ker and then all of a sudden beames uh he becomes an all pro pro bowler not that that's happened before that's it uh but yes uh will rockard is a absolute nil driver absolute pipe hitter love him man it's like our Super Bowl chances are going to ride or die with this gentleman great awesome also uh Daniels got into the punting competition I did did mention that uh Seth Vernon does need more time holding uh for field goals for rard from doollo and yeah that's you know some of the soft skills of the punting competition that they don't talk about like can you hold like Ryan Wright obviously has been a solid holder of the last couple years punting wise he was great in 2022 not so much in 2023 uh but verman Vernon uh he's got to be more than just a big time leg uh and you know Daniels got into that as well where I mean they also found Vernon at a kicking camp they sent a scout there saw Seth Vernon uh udfa out of Portland State go Vikings in 2022 was just bouncing around at one of those uh punting kicking camps and they're like hey yeah and also he got into that there's more than just leg strength in in punting like uh you know Seth Vernon you has been easily been bombing like 65 70 yard punts which is great but also you have to be able to adjust your punt to the returner you have to adjust it for weather have to adust it so make sure you don't out kick your coverage which so out kick your coverage like it should be outp punch your coverage but I actually maybe it's out kick your coverage now uh with the new rule changes and maybe not but uh Wright he does he did call it Ryan Wright where he need to be more consistent in key spots there's a bunch of times last year that he outlined that Ryan Wright just did not do well right but uh they are looking to get equal reps in preseason equal situations um and I I think that the punting competition is legit but Vernon has to you know get together some of those other soft skills uh that Ryan Wright already has Ryan W Ryan Wright looks British in this picture it might be the teeth anyways uh he also talked about using starters on kick return now you generally don't do that uh but also that could be one of the reasons why Addison was flirting with uh you know returning punts as well but I know we'll see but obviously you know the Special Teams third phase guys are there for a reason but if they're not exactly what you want for or uh a play that's I think is certainly going to change things especially early on like there will be teams that adjust to it and teams that don't and I I think that there's going to be a lot of room for for amazingness and creativity and if you have that competitive vant right away we'll see uh it will make the difference between winning and losing a couple of games early 100% and uh also Daniels talked about he's going to show 100% of his creativity on kick return in the preseason said that with a bit of a smirk so probably not also uh you know talking about the speed of the game a couple great lines here slow correct decisions are wrong in this league so you can overthink things but you got to be going 100 milph playing like your hair is on fire and basically said to the players like we'll go back and look at the tape and if you were in the wrong spot that's my fault right but you you go out there you play your game uh like you were instructed to and you give it 100% uh and you just don't overthink things and just get after things less thinking more reacting and that that's something of that does come with experience and also you know we talk about having more time in a scheme whether it's offense or defense the more comfortable you are the less you have to think about am I in the right spot what is my responsibility am I doing this and then versus just going right so that's why continuity is important in this game also that's why I love special teamers because I mean the guys are always living on the edge anyway like they could be cut they could be tossed onto the practice squad and that affects their money and they could do this or that thing but every single play they're just like watch this hold my beard F you getting it also special teams coaches are are are weird in that so coach Daniels was a linebacker safety at Duke uh that was his role uh primarily special teams in the NFL as well and now it's just like hey we know that you're really good breaking down coverage and stuff now you need to be an armchair psychologist uh for a kicker and learn about like surface area striking and atmospheric pressure and all that stuff special teams is so widely on like I'm surprised that it doesn't break down to special teams coordinator and every single team having a kicking specialist but who knows man Vikings did for a while they had Nate kading uh during the Zimmer era for a couple of Seasons anyways uh that's it uh coach hat presser talking special teams uh your thoughts our thoughts uh comment section below need that hat skull production value