Today was a very busy day!Mom & Dad were flying to town from the frozen tundra of Milwaukee Wisconsin. The weather has been absolutely horrible this year. It's great to have them visiting for a couple of weeks.
Garrett Hartley the kicker from Oklahoma and Nick Jarvis the long snapper from Wake Forest also flew in this morning to work on refining their skills and get ready for their college Pro Days.
I noticed Garrett back in January, when Oklahoma played West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. I was sitting in the stands and said to a friend, "This kid from Oklahoma has a live leg!"Here we are today in Scottsdale, working together to get him ready for his college pro day and hopefully his first NFL training camp.
Nick Jarvis is a big, good looking long snapper! He started by holding for Garrett. He said coach, I've got good hands. I was the back up holder for the kicker. I said great, who snapped?
The coaches at Wake Forest and many colleges don't let their snapper practice or play another position, because they can't afford to get a great snapper hurt.
We started with punt snaps. He has excellent velocity. One of his concerns was that NFL scouts have not been able to evaluate his snapping and blocking skills because of the punt formation and protection scheme that Wake Forest used during his college career. We addressed his concerns with a heavy dose of snapping and blocking drills. We worked on technique and drills that will help him improve his protection skills. By the end of the lesson he was snapping and protecting very well! Nick is a very quick learner.When working on field goal snaps, he was 10 for 10 on the "Perfect" laces drill. Nick's was a natural on this phase of the snapping game.
My job as a coach is to teach. I felt today was an excellent day teaching and I believe my students learned a couple of very valuable bits of information to take home to refine their skills.
Tomorrow the boys will get even better!
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