[socalstanfan1]

I have to point a finger at Brian Polian.  This is the second straight year out special teams were terrible in a bowl game, and he's been our special teams coach for both those years.  There were countless mistakes last year in the Orange Bowl causing Harbaugh to comment "This is a special teams disaster". 

I don't think all the blame goes to the kicker for missing those shots, he clearly wasn't prepared.  I don't believe Ty Montgomery was briefed well enough either (Jeremy Stewart gave him some quick coaching).  And our coverage units seemed to rely on one person too much instead of gang-tackling, those kickoffs were tough to watch.

I agree that the special teams has taken a step back the last two years with Polian in charge.  I'm not sure how to measure this, but when Polian came from Notre Dame, he had a reputation as a top-notch recruiter, particularly on the west coast.  I'm not sure if the coaching staff is balancing his ability to coach against his ability to recruit, or if they are not seeing the same thing on special teams that we are.  But that is definitely one area in which we can step up next year, as the team fights to near in the national rankings. 

[socalstanfan1]

I have to point a finger at Brian Polian.  This is the second straight year out special teams were terrible in a bowl game, and he's been our special teams coach for both those years.  There were countless mistakes last year in the Orange Bowl causing Harbaugh to comment "This is a special teams disaster". 

I don't think all the blame goes to the kicker for missing those shots, he clearly wasn't prepared.  I don't believe Ty Montgomery was briefed well enough either (Jeremy Stewart gave him some quick coaching).  And our coverage units seemed to rely on one person too much instead of gang-tackling, those kickoffs were tough to watch.

I agree that the special teams has taken a step back the last two years with Polian in charge.  I'm not sure how to measure this, but when Polian came from Notre Dame, he had a reputation as a top-notch recruiter, particularly on the west coast.  I'm not sure if the coaching staff is balancing his ability to coach against his ability to recruit, or if they are not seeing the same thing on special teams that we are.  But that is definitely one area in which we can step up next year, as the team fights to near in the national rankings.