THE official fire zook thread

[run pMc]

17th is a big improvement from where they have been. Gotta give M3 and Zook credit there. Seemed like they didn't have as many new bodies on ST each week, which also likely helped. Masthay didn't have a good year and should expect competition in training camp.

[Patler]

that lower ranking has to have a lot to do with the shitty punting

i thought the special teams were much improved, except for punter

....and yet Masthay shattered the team record for net punting average, didn't he?
Watching the games, I thought he was crap. Yet he broke the long-standing team record by a yard or so, didn't he?
It makes absolutely no sense to me.

[red]

it had to be due to the coverage teams

His best statistic was the 174 total yards returned by opponents, which ranked sixth and was due in part to outstanding performance on the perimeter by Jeff Janis and Demetri Goodson. They proved to be worthy successors to departed gunners Jarrett Bush and Davon House.

"The other thing is our guys have covered extremely well," Zook said. "We had two guys that we didn't know we were going to be able to replace.

[pbmax]

Finding the Net Avg is tough and I don't see it even on Pro-Football-Reference.

FoxSports has it, but they don't show return yardage: http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/stats?s...=1&sortOrder=0

He is listed as 14 best in Net Ave at 40.2. So the 6th best coverage (total return yards, which would be better as an average) yielded the 14th best change in field position. Means Masthay was probably worse than 14th in pure punting effectiveness. But its hard to measure if directional kicking hurts him and helps the coverage.

He was 31st in touchback percentage. That is effected by the offenses field position though. Still not good.

He was 10th in touchback percentage at 7.4 percent. That coupled with inside the 20 means when he was close, he put it in the end zone too often.

He was tied for 24th in fair catches. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/stats/by...meframe=ToDate

[CaptainKickass]

[pbmax]

FINALLY!

FIRED ZOOK!

[Joemailman]

Another successful thread. Once again, Packerrats comes to the rescue of Packer Nation.

[run pMc]

After this year's ST performance -- they cost the team at least 2-3 games -- it would be impossible for Zook to stay, even if M3 was retained. I can't recall the ST ever being that bad.
The ST coach is almost always reviled by the fan base; it's often a thankless job and you have a constantly changing roster of young players to get up to speed ASAP. Nonetheless, I thought he underperformed.

It might help for Gute to give him a couple of min contract vets who know how to play ST, instead of filling the squad with greenhorns and rookie UDFAs. It's a delicate balance though...Tony Brown got his start on ST (and made a boneheaded mistake or two), and now some people are talking about him being the #3 CB. (?!?) So there is value in developing young players and working them in on ST, but not if it costs them game changing chunks of field position.

[mraynrand]

It might help for Gute to give him a couple of min contract vets who know how to play ST, instead of filling the squad with greenhorns and rookie UDFAs.

BRING BLACK JANIS!!

[denverYooper]

It's not a problem until it's a problem. Then it's a big problem.

[texaspackerbacker]

Add me to the list of glad Zook is gone - to many screw-ups and not enough big plays on Special Teams.

[Pugger]

Ron Zook was cleaning out his office and carrying personal items to his car. He was penalized for parking illegally, and then fumbled his stuff into the street. When an intern came to help him, he accidentally pushed them from behind and then as they were falling, he grabbed their arm and held for an inordinate amount of time.