Nov. 17, 2000

Last Thursday, the president of the American Football Coaches Association called me to invite the Notre Dame coaching staff to give a talk about special teams at the national convention.

We have had some unbelievable plays on special teams this year as well as some unbelievable effort.

There are a couple things which standout from this season in terms of our special teams play. First is Julius Jones’ kickoff return for a touchdown against Nebraska. Then there is Joey Getherall’s punt return for a touchdown against Nebraska.

Also another moment is when David Givens blocks a punt against Stanford. Then there could be what some would consider the play of year, when Glenn Earl blocks the field goal against Air Force.

We have had so many tremendous plays this year. While everyone can recognize the plays that stand out, there are those that go unnoticed. One, which comes to mind, is the play of Matt Sarb on kickoffs when he runs full force down field and takes out two opposing players. Then there are the tackles made by Rocky Boiman and Anthony Denman make on punts.

There have been so many solid plays. You have to sit back and watch the tape to really see all the effort you are getting.

In Saturday’s game, the fake field goal and fake punt are not the icing on the cake in terms of seeing plays like that succeed. This team is not at that point yet. It is just about working every week to find ways to win the game, be it on special teams or any other way.

Being invited to talk at the convention is not because we great coaching but it is because of the tremendous play of this team.