Having a Watchful Eye Over the Entire Team

Jim Mora brought some perspective to the position.

The special teams coordinator, said the Colorado State leader, is as close to being a head coach as any other member of the staff. Like Mora, he's the one guy who often stands out front and coaches the entire team.

That's Colorado born and raised Kyle Krantz, tasked with finding the best 11 guys on four separate units in the all-important third phase and get them to "play like crazy." To do so, he watches film in a unique manner than the rest of the staff. Sure, as the Jacks coach, he is combing through that practice tape, but he's watching other tape too, and not just casually.

"I try to evaluate throughout practice and what I see. And then a lot of times too, sometimes special teams is what a player needs to get the confidence to make the plays on offense or defense," Krantz said. "So we try to encourage that way."

Every special teams coach has their own style and a particular demand of attitude for his units. In short, he wants his groups to be exciting. To have fun. To be impactful.

Field position isn't just a cute little moniker coaches throw around because it sounds important, it is. It decides the outcome of games, so the players on the units should approach those assignments with intentionality.

No player on the roster has played in Krantz's specific systems before, but they've learned early the asks and expectations.

"He's really been trying to instill attack the day every day. Attack every drill 100%, don't worry about crap all the time, do everything with 100% effort," said tight end Nader Chirchi. "Just really try to use the technique as much as possible and just go 100% each play."

Chirchi and safety A.J. Noland agree the techniques of the past transfer to the approach of the present. Noland took it a step beyond, the skills he uses as a defender correlate perfectly to the specialty units.

They also could anticipate the ask: Put your all into it, because those plays – as few as they may occur in a game – matter greatly in the final outcome.

"Absolutely. I mean, I don't know the statistics off the top of my head, but I know field position and scoring on special teams are two of the biggest ways that a team percentage-wise can win a game," Noland said. "So I think we've seen it so far throughout camp and spring ball, but the more guys that buy into that mentality that special teams is a play that can make a massive difference, the more chance we're going to have to win that game."

Taking the proper approach and applying the technique are important and a good chunk of what Krantz is looking at during practice, and not just the periods designed for special teams. What he sees a player do on defense or offense, his mind envisions that as part of one of the units.

Would the skillset make the player a good jammer? Do they need to be part of a wall? Where can they fit? It's not just certain position groups, it's all of them and opportunity awaits.

"You want to, as much as you can, encourage the good players and starters on offense and defense to play, but you also want to provide an opportunity for people who aren't starters. I tell them all the time, we have -- when you look at all the faces of punt, punt block, kickoff, kickoff return -- we have 44 spots to be able to be a starter on this football team," Krantz said. "So it's not just the quarterbacks, not just the DBs, it's other receivers. You can start on special teams, and you can make an impact on the team.

"We're going to play the best players and we're going to put a team in position to be successful. It's not going to be a play off."

Having always been a defensive coach primarily, Krantz has had a hand in coaching the units for a while. He's been a coordinator for nearly a decade, much of that time spent at power programs with units which performed well under the bright lights.

The resume caught Mora's attention, as did the personality.

"Number one, I like his experience. He's been at a lot of really good places with a lot of really good people, and so he's been able to draw from positive experiences and competitive conferences," Mora said. "I like the fact that he has a really good presence about him. The players react well to him. His personality is really good for special teams. You have to be able to handle an entire team."

For Krantz, being about the team has been the consistent aspect of his units which have performed well. For him, the best part is he gets to work with everybody, have experience with a multitude of personalities and what makes them tick.

Then he can funnel it toward the good of all.

"They play really hard. They care about the team more than themselves and that's really what it takes to be successful," he said. "Again, we're going to reduce the game to technique and fundamentals and try to put them in a position to be successful."
The teaching phase has impressed Krantz. He said it's the first time in his career that when he walks into a special teams meeting everybody is taking notes. He knows they are paying attention based on the questions being asked and then those answers translating to action on the field.

In spring, and early in fall camp, he said he's thrown a lot at them situationally and they are responding. Chirchi just feels the entire roster gets it. Everybody wants to be a starter, and here are 44 additional chances, 44 chances to do something for the team.

"I mean, everybody wants to try to earn a spot on special teams because that's a starting spot. That gets you on the field, that gets you playing time, that gets you clipped," Chirchi said. "You want to be on special teams. That's what we've installed in our minds."

Which is exactly the attitude someone wants when addressing the entire team. Either as the head guy or in a position like Krantz's.

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