2017 FB Preview: Special Teams
8/2/2017 5:15:00 PM | Football
The 2017 Sam Houston State Bearkat football season is nearly upon us, and leading up to the August 27 kickoff vs Richmond, Bearkat Athletics will be taking a look at this year's Sam Houston roster.
This is the first of an eight-part preview, position-by-position of this year's squad. The Kats were selected as unanimous favorites to reclaim the SLC crown and boast five preseason all-Americans on the roster.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTABLES
Kicker: Tre Honshtein
Punter: Cameron Hearn
Returners: Jaylen Harris, Yedidiah Louis, Caleb Jolivette, Tyler Scott
HUNTSVILLE – Special teams coordinator Kyle Segler often saw in 2016 how games can hinge on the play of his special teams units, and following a year that had the Bearkats at or near the top of all special teams categories in the Southland Conference, he has a new military-based mantra for his group in 2017.
Segler's crew, who he deems special forces rather than special teams, has rallied around the words “Burn The Ships,” inspired by the United States military and will put it into effect on August 27 against Richmond in the Bearkats' season opener.
Last season the Kats led the Southland in kickoff coverage, while ranking second in kickoff return yards and net punting. Much of that came thanks to a pair of all-conference players, punter Joseph Figenshaw and kick returner Jaylen Harris.
Figenshaw was the second straight Sam Houston punter to earn all-SLC first team honors, leading the league in punting average by nearly two yards per boot in 2016. It was his lone season to hold the punting duties for the Kats as now that job turns to sophomore Cameron Hearn, who saw action in a pair of games a year ago.
“Coach (K.C.) Keeler really preaches that we are going to win and lose games off of special forces,” Segler said. “You can't preach that and then not have your best players doing it. That's why we have such a high emphasis to have those guys out there.”
Meanwhile, Harris was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2016 campaign for Sam Houston, adding an explosive and dynamic element to the kickoff return game from the very start. As a redshirt freshman, Harris earned second team all-SLC honors as a kick returner and also saw more and more action as a slot receiver as the year progressed.
He had seven returns of at least 40 yards and led the country in kick return yards, becoming the first Bearkat in program history to eclipse 1,000 kick return yards.
“I think the big thing with Jaylen is that he's a really explosive kid. I think it's an understated thing to have the subtle explosiveness that he has. It makes him hard to deal with in the return game,” Segler said. “Coach Patterson has done a great job of coaching the returners up to get them to the next level. He's going to be challenged after being kind of the diamond in the rough last season. He kind of came out of nowhere, but this year people are not going to be surprised.”
In addition to Harris, Sam Houston has a number of other dangerous return men, including Yedidiah Louis, Tyler Scott and freshman speedster Caleb Jolivette.
Louis has added over 600 yards to his all-purpose total in three years and averaged just under 10 yards per punt return a year ago. He will likely continue as the primary punt return man when the season starts, giving the Kats another way to get the football into the hands of one of the most dangerous skill players in the nation.
“We were really high in a lot of return areas last year, but were lower in punt return, and I think that has a lot with Yedidiah Louis being back there,” Segler said. “It doesn't take a smart opposing football coach to know when he doesn't have the ball in his hands then you are going to have a better chance of winning than when he does.”
Meanwhile, Scott has averaged 26.5 yards per return on kick returns over the past two seasons, and helped Sam Houston average 23.2 yards per return, a mark that ranked 14 the nation. The return group could become even more explosive this season with the addition of Jolivette, a true freshman with high-end speed who could see time paired with Harris as the two deep backs on kick returns.
“He's a 10.3 100-meter guy who is the fastest kid in our program,” Segler said. “I think people are going to try to defend themselves from Jaylen, so they are either going to kick away from him or do whatever else they are going to do. Obviously, you have to have another guy who has the explosiveness to be able to take it to the house, and Caleb certainly has that.”
2017 will also see a transition in the kicking game for the Kats with the graduation of both kicker Luc Swimberghe and Figenshaw, an all-SLC first team punter. Entering fall camp as the front runner for kicking duties is Tre Hohnshtein, a junior with a big leg who handled kickoff duties for the Kats in 2016. That came on the heels of a freshman season that saw him handle field goal duties in 2015 following an injury to Swimberghe. He took advantage of that opportunity, hitting nine of his 14 field goal tries, including a long of 51 that is the longest field goal by a Bearkat kicker since 2005.
The Kats will have some depth on the kicking front in Conner Crow, a highly-touted prepster from Bay Area Christian who spent a year at rival Stephen F. Austin before joining the Kats prior to last season.
“I'm very pleased with how well Tre has done, and he was dominant for us last year in the kickoff game,” Segler said. “That phase of the game was dominant because of the work that he did, but there is still room to improve. For him to have the chance to be the full-time field goal guy has me excited for him because he's earned the opportunity. I'm also excited that Conner has developed the way he has, and he's at Tre's heels every day.”
Segler also has high expectations for Hearn, who he hopes will be the next great Bearkat punter in what has become a position of strength for the Kats in recent years. Hearn will step in to replace Figenshaw who took full advantage of his lone year as the Bearkat punter, earning first team all-SLC honors. That came just a year after he replaced Lachlan Edwards, who is currently playing for the NFL's New York Jets.
A bulky load at 6-4, 240 pounds, Hearn saw limited work a year ago as a freshman. But he took advantage of both of his chances to kick, averaging 48.5 yards on his two punts while pinning each inside the 20-yard line in games against Oklahoma Panhandle State and Houston Baptist.
“Cameron has an opportunity to be the next great punter at Sam Houston,” Segler said. “He's a big guy with a ton of leg talent. He's a gym rat who is always trying to get an edge and push himself. Joe (Figenshaw) was a prime example of a guy who took advantage of his opportunity to play last year, and he was one of our special forces MVPs. Cameron has a lot to live up to, but I'm really excited to see him go out there and be the man and fill those big shoes.”
Coverage men such as P.J. Giddens and Santiago Montoya each showed an innate knack for kick coverage a year ago, and along with deep snapper Tucker Addington, Segler feels as though the coverage teams are in good hands. “He's going to have the best 10 guys we can put out there covering for him, and he's going to have the best deep snapper in the conference – Tucker Addington – snapping to him,“ Segler said. “So, all Cameron just has to catch it and let it fly.
The Kats also have an added dimension to their special forces, specializing in blocking kicks. In the last three seasons Sam Houston has blocked 16 kicks while only allowing five, a convincing differential in an area that Segler and the rest of the coaching staff values: ball exchange. “Exchanging the football is one of hardest things to do in the game,” Segler said. “Our goal is to be No. 1 in all categories, but it is good to have something that we can still pour blood and guts into. We tell our guys that we are not here to be Bearkat Average, we are here to be Bearkat Elite.”
