Giants’ approach to new kickoff rule? Keep it simple

Keep it simple. New York Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said on Thursday he believes that is the best approach as teams around the NFL adapt to the league’s new kickoff rule.

“I think everybody has this notion that you can do so much with this kickoff return scheme, and you’re drawing up, I mean, for example, I’ve drawn up 50 returns,” Ghobrial said. “Now, does that mean that I’ll be able to have all 50 come into action? I don’t believe so. I think, ultimately, the foundational piece of your kickoff return scheme has to start simple. I think a lot of people will be simple to start in preseason, and that will ultimately tell you how complex you can get with your scheme in a few games.

“I think when you have an open mind based off of just understanding that this game is ever evolving and regardless of what the rules are in play, your personnel. You always have to have an open mind to change your scheme, to change how you teach things, and just be ready to understand that that’s this game. It is changing. And it’s our jobs as coaches to ultimately figure out what we could use, what we could discard, and just go from there.”

Teaching the new rules

Ghobrial detailed the process of educating players about the new rules.

“You start with what are the biggest differences,” he explained. “Then you go into the rule restrictions that are now in play.” He added that the approach involves mixing old and new concepts: “What we do in special teams is the purest form of football…you mix what the rule restrictions are with that, and then you combine what your best scheme is.”

11-on-11 work

Thursday was the first time in training camp we have seen the Giants do 11-on-11 kickoff work. Ghobrial explained why:

“I’ve always felt that fundamentals and technique win you games, and it has to start there. Until you create muscle memory where guys are doing it over and over and over again to where it’s unconscious competence, they’re not necessarily thinking about what they’re doing, they’re just doing it. I think that is the forefront of everything we do,” he said. “This game comes to life based off of the fundamentals and technique. And when they do that, I ultimately will end up getting into a little bit more 11-on-11. But I think you can certainly break out every unit, doesn’t matter what it is, doesn’t matter whether it’s new or old. I think you can break out every unit into smaller segments, build from there, and then when you start to piece it all together, it’s very easy to because you’re like, this is how we did it in this technique and this is where it applies.”

Veteran leaders

“Miles Boykin has been great in terms of that leadership role, but there’s other guys on the roster that also own that role as well. You have a guy like (linebacker) Matt Adams from the interior core that has done that at a high level. You have a guy like (tight end Chris) Manhertz who truly owns whatever role he has,” Ghobrial said. “Guys look at those veteran guys and like, ‘Okay, that’s how it’s done. That’s how you prepare. That’s how you take this serious.’ I think we have some really good leadership guys across all our units on special teams.”

Young players impressing

Ghobrial also commended young players like Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Gervarrius Owens for their proactive approach.

“They’ve made it important to themselves and to this organization to come up and meet with me individually,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re a first-year player, a second-year player, a third-year player. Those are just two examples of guys that experience matters, but in their minds it’s like, I can do it, too.”