How Football Coaches Can Build A Game-Changing Special Teams Unit

• By Grant Young

A single play on special teams can often spell the difference between winning and losing a football game — and that’s true at every level of football. While it can sometimes seem like that one play either depends on a player making a miraculous effort or a monumental mistake, these outcomes are usually the result of preparation that comes during practice. 

Yet, special teams is easy to overlook when trying to schedule practices, because it seems like there are so many other aspects of the game that need to be drilled meticulously. And for that reason, special teams often gets forgotten — which comes back to bite football coaches once the game begins. 

Many elite football coaches have conducted excellent courses on crafting a solid special teams unit. And we have compiled a few of these lessons, taking excerpts and bite-sized lessons from each one to figure out some of the best strategies when it comes to curating success on special teams. Incorporating some of these lessons should help your special teams unit become a formidable force—which could very well alter the course of your season. 

Justin Lustig - ‘Special Teams Topics and Organization’sson/special-teams-topics-and-organization-justin-lustig/tip-of-the-spear/11983262"> ‘Special Teams Topics and Organization’

Coach Justin Lustig is currently the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers/nickel coach at Penn State University. Prior to joining Penn State, Coach Lustig was an associate head coach and special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt for two seasons. The 2023 and 2022 seasons saw Vanderbilt rank 41st and 44th, respectively, in ESPN’s Special Teams Efficiency. As a team in 2023, Vanderbilt was one of 20 programs in the country to block multiple punts and finished 11th nationally in net punting.

Coach Lustig liked to tell his special teams units that they’re the “tip of the spear”. What he means by this is that, while special teams isn’t the biggest part of the spear (that would be the offense and defense), they are the tip. And even if the rest of the spear is excellent, if the spear’s tip is blunt then the weapon is useless. 

Coach Lustig also discusses how he built a culture within his special teams unit through little things, such as having a special teams-specific chant, and playing a certain song once team meetings end, in order to boost energy. Essentially, Coach Lustig makes it clear that making special teams players feel like they’re a part of something special, an integral component to the team’s success, is crucial for creating a cohesive unit. Especially because most special teams players aren’t starters on offense or defense, making them feel valued in special teams will ensure they’re enthusiastic about executing their job to a tee. 

Sean Saturnio - The ABC’s of Punt Blockingcom/course_lesson/sean-saturnio-the-abcs-of-punt-blocking/punt-team-objectives/13584379"> The ABC’s of Punt Blocking

Coach Sean Saturnio has been the special teams coach at Navy since 2020. One of Saturnio’s staples since taking over Army’s special teams again in 2020 has been in his unit's ability to block punts. Army has blocked 11 punts in each of the last four seasons (2020-24) and has 19 total blocked kicks (punts and FGs) which is the most in the country in that span.

When working with his special teams unit, Coach Saturnio lays out eight punt block team objectives. Those are as follows: 

- Block a punt

- Force a bad snap or shanked punt

- Force a 35 yards or less net punting average

- Force the punter to have a lower punting average than he had coming into the game

- Field all punts cleanly using great ball security

- Create a first down or BIG play on each return

- Stop ALL fake punts

- No penalties and 100% on all assignments

On top of these punt block team objectives (note how Coach Saturnio calls it a punt BLOCK team rather than a punt RETURN team, because the objective is always to block the punt) Coach Saturnio keeps a quote in mind when interacting with his special teams players: 

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” - Bruce Lee

This Bruce Lee quote speaks to Coach Saturnio when it comes to coaching special teams because he stresses that, rather than utilizing a bunch of different drills during the special teams portion of practice, instead find a couple that you think will give you the greatest chances of success. 

One of those main drills for Coach Saturnio is what he calls the Towel Drill. Here’s a screenshot of the Towel Drill, which Coach Saturnio explains at length on his course. 

Brian Mason - Chaos Kills - Punt Block Fundamentals and Schemesan-mason-cincinnati-punt-block-fundamentals-scheme/14017320?ambassador=0d90ee66aac64614b00ca7657"> Chaos Kills - Punt Block Fundamentals and Schemes

Coach Brian Mason is entering his second season as special teams coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. Prior to joining the Colts, Mason spent the 2022 season as the special teams coordinator at Notre Dame. He was named the 2022 FootballScoop Special Teams Coordinator of the Year after the Fighting Irish special teams unit tallied seven blocked punts, which tied for first in the nation. The Fighting Irish ranked first in the country in average starting field position (33.4). Mason was part of a coaching staff that helped Notre Dame to four victories over AP top-25 teams, including a win against South Carolina in the Gator Bowl.

Coach Mason has a special brand that he reserves for his special teams units: ‘Chaos Kills’. This phrase explains how he wants his special teams unit to feel. To be the ones who create chaos, Coach Mason forces his opponents to react to that chaos. And in having to react to that chaos, the other team usually ends up making a mistake. In addition to this, Coach Mason makes sure to share the importance of special teams each week. This makes his players feel valued, and like they’re serving an important purpose on the field. 

There are also a number of specific drills that Coach Mason discusses in his course. 

As you can see, a common thread between all of these lessons is that special teams are more often about mental acuity than physical ability. All three of these elite special teams coaches make sure their players understand how important their job is, and get them excited to perform their specific duty to a high degree and make a real difference in wins and losses. 

This lesson can be used by any special teams coach, at any level of football.