Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey
Q. How did it work out last week that you elected to go with Randy (Bullock) as the kicker?
A: We just thought it was best for the team. You get a veteran guy, quick turnaround, done it before. It makes it really easy. He's done a good job. Both of them have done a good job since they've been here. We just went with Randy because it was just the best for us at that time.
Q. Was it based on circumstances last week? Could we see something different this week?
A: I mean, obviously, it was a quick turnaround. That's late in the week, you want to make sure the guy feels comfortable, just all the different mechanics and different nuances between the two different kickers, just being able to get that ironed out as quick as you can. You get a quick little session on Friday, he just kicked in the workout on Thursday, you get pregame on Sunday, and now you've got to play. So, we didn't have a lot of time to mull over who was going to do what. You've got to make a decision and go with it, because you've got to get the reps in.
Q: Do you have a decision on who your kicker is this week, or are you doing a tryout again?
A: They're just both working, and we'll see where we're at at the end of the week.
Q. How do you decide? It's such a minor thing. You're making kicks, you're missing kicks. Is it literally who makes more kicks in practice?
A: It's a rhythm thing. Who we feel the most comfortable with, who we think is the most comfortable, and just go from there.
Q: How much do you kick field goals in practice? How many opportunities do they get?
A: We kick on our own. We do a lot of stuff on our own. But with the team, it's only, like, six to eight reps. So, it's not a lot with the team. But it's more so of what we do when we're by ourselves.
Q: What does that entail?
A: Just kick. Basically, doing the whole operation just without the team.
Q. I think back a couple years ago when you had Rosas here. It seemed like you really enjoyed watching the young kicker kind of develop and become what he did in his best season here. Do you look at (kicker) Cade (York), not in a directly similar situation, but as a chance to see a young guy who's talented, and try to develop him into a kicker that you can—
A: Yeah, I mean, that's why he's here. He's here for us right now. We've got to try and make the best out of his situation and try and get him better for the time that he's here. He's very talented. You're right. He has a very strong leg. He's very talented. He's done some really good things in his career, and that's why he's here. We've identified that. His whole goal is to work to get better every day. We've got to make sure that we're doing those little things to help him get better every day.
Q. What were the issues that he had to fix? Obviously, it didn't go well in Cleveland.
A: There's a few things that I can pinpoint. I think he was trying to do some different things with his swing. Cleveland is a little different. It's probably the hardest stadium to kick in in the league between there and Pittsburgh. He was trying to make some adjustments. So, it's just working through that. Again, Cleveland is different. Our place is not too far off of it, but it was just different. So, those are things he was just trying to do.
Q. Do you look at it as mechanical then, more than mental?
A: Yeah, definitely. He was just trying to—it's so windy in Cleveland. You hit a different kind of ball, because if your ball gets high, the wind's just going to take it. So, when you try and drive the ball, your plant is a little different. It's just a bunch of different mechanical things that you try to do to adjust to the wind. It was just something that he was working through.
Q: Can mechanical screw with the mental?
A: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Because you want to have success. Anytime something mechanical goes wrong, and your ball is not going on the flight that you want it to go on, you don't feel comfortable. If you don't feel comfortable, you doubt yourself and all those different things come into mind.
Q. When do you make that decision? Is it after practice Friday? What's the timing of it?
A: Who knows. We're just going to let it play out and let those guys get their work in. Whenever we make the decision, we make the decision, but they'll both be ready.
Q: What makes (wide receiver) Parris Campbell a good kick returner?
A: He is big, strong, and fast. You go back and look at Parris when he was in college at Ohio State, I think I want to say he was over 27, almost 28 yards a kickoff return. So, he's very explosive. He runs in the 4.3s. He's a strong runner. He was one of those hybrid guys coming out of out of Ohio State in the line of (wide receiver) Percy Harvin and (running back) Chris Rainey, and all of those guys that were at Florida under that Urban Meyer system. (Wide receiver) Curtis Samuel, those style of guys. So, he's very strong, and he runs tough. That's what makes him makes him good.
Q: Does that unit get a little juice from how he's kind of carried the ball and returned?
A: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I think you can see what he's done since he's been in there. I think we've done a better job of blocking for him. He brings definite juice to us.
Q: Obviously, best case scenario, you score on special teams every week. When you face a game like this where you've got a young rookie quarterback and you're facing a pretty explosive offense, is there a little extra pressure or anything else to dial up to try to score on special teams? Is it one of your paths to victory, so to speak?
A: For me, that's something that every week, we want to have a goal of doing that. And that is a goal. We always want to be able to affect the game in a positive way, especially by either scoring points as a field goal unit or being able to score as a return unit or a coverage unit. However we can affect the game positively, you always want to do that. As far as the pressure, no, you don't feel pressure to do it, but you want to do it. You know what I mean? That doesn't bother me.
Q: Maybe I meant urgency.
A: Yeah, absolutely. You always want to, especially in our situation. Like, we're 2-7. We're trying to do something to help us win the game. The more we can do as a special teams unit to be able to possibly score is going to help us win. So, I think that's something that we're always striving to achieve. Obviously
now it's even more sense of urgency, not just by us, but by the defense and everybody else because of where we are.
Q: Do you have to remind these guys that Dallas blocked the field goal last game, or do they know it?
A: No. Obviously, it was the first play of the game, first score the game, and you don't have to remind them of that. But obviously we did. It's one of those deals. It's a play that happened. You've got to learn from it and move on from it and be better because of it.
