Ex-player: April hire huge for Eagles
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Ex-player: April hire huge for Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
If you Google the name of new Eagles special teams coach Bobby April, one of the more insightful links you'll find is a column from Matt Bowen of the National Football Post.
Bowen spent seven years in the NFL and twice had April as his special teams coach - once in St. Louis and again in Buffalo.
When April opted out of his contract with the Bills, Bowen wrote the piece urging teams to go after him.
And they did.
The Eagles flew under the radar, but ended up landing April yesterday to a reported three-year deal.
The beat guys from the Inquirer and Daily News have comments from April's conference call yesterday, but I wanted to get Bowen's take on his former coach.
He was nice enough to answer a few questions via e-mail for me. Here's the Q&A:
Q: You recently called April the “best in the business.” How would you describe his philosophy, and what separated him from the other special teams coaches you played for?
A: I call Bobby the "best in the business" for one because he knows how to connect with players. That is the first key to coaching, and when you coach special teams, you are in charge of such a wide variety of players - almost 40 at a time, and he can connect with each and every one of them. What he does is translate that to the field. Special teams in the NFL is "grunt" work. It isn't glamorous, but he sells the idea that running into the wedge on kickoff is brave, courageous and only allows for the best to do it. He makes you want to sacrifice your body for the team. That is a tough sell for pro athletes, but he gets it done. He is a technician, and he is a great teacher.
Could easily see Bobby lecturing at the university level in a physics class and making it your favorite class of the day. You want to be in those meetings, and you want to play well and produce for him. Special teams is still based on desire and effort at the pro level.
Q: Is there a specific area of special teams where April’s units really excel?
A: Fundamentals. Special teams schemes in the NFL are not different from team to team. There are only so many ways to cover a kick, but Bobby teaches the fundamentals better than any coach I have been with. Tackling, getting off blocks, using your hands as weapons. That is why his units are so good, because they are schooled in the little things that make you a better player.
Q: You described his methods as “unconventional.” Do you have a story you could share from your time as a player under April that demonstrates what you’re talking about?
A: Broom sticks... I always brings this up because we used broom sticks in the offseason to teach leverage, teach how to place our hands and how to block and shed blocks. Every day in the offseason we would be on the field working with broom sticks, using techniques from boxing (we would watch film on championship boxing), etc. ... things you don't find on every team.
Q: Having played for April, and having played several years in the same division as the Eagles, how do you see him fitting in with the way Andy Reid and the organization operate?
A: I believe that any coach under Andy is going to be successful. Hiring Bobby will be bigger than any free agent or draft pick. We tend to forget that special teams - especially in December and the postseason - win games and set up field position. When your units are near the top of the league, you will win games with the talent Andy has already compiled on that roster.
You can read Matt Bowen on the National Football Post.
Comment removed.
Great call, potus! Enough of the 28-yeard shanks at critical times. Send Sav Rocca-Wear packing.— farside37- Sounds good. We'll see how things look next December.— tacklinjoe
- I like the interceptions Samuel gets, but it's flat out embarrasing watching him NOT tackle. He doesn't need to be an all pro tackler, but how about putting in a decent effort? Kids in highschool are taught to wrap up and tackle, but Samuel tries to hit someone (not too hard) and hope he falls down. He's paid enough to get the interceptions and throw in the tackle now and then.— drjimmy
- Can he hit a reciever in stride?— bigphillydad
- It's a start— KMG
- How about the lousy field position we had in our losses - It seemed like some of our kick off return guys were afraid to get hit this year and did you see Dallas on coverage- man were they getting us inside the 20 and hitting hard. I have to give Andy credit for making the change. As frustrating as he is with conferences and running the ball- he has a great history of addressing short comings in the off season.— JL68
- Comment removed.
- "Did you look at the NFL's awards this week?" Not really. I really only care how the Eagles do; I don't really care about individual awards. Assante may be the greatest corner in the league, but the secondary as a whole was pretty awful and that's a big part of the reason why the eagles were one and done in the playoffs.— fmMD
- aman1711-with those qualities, I just as soon he be Head Coach. God knows Reid ain't teaching them (the entire team) anything.— essell
- "he has a great history of addressing short comings in the off season." JL68, then maybe Reid will have the decency to resign.— essell
- I'm not going to pretend I know enough about this guy to say it's a good hire but anything is an upgrade over Daisher. Special teams consistently killed us. Next up...Sav Rocca's farewell party. As for Asante Samuel, he won his awards on reputation. His interceptions don't begin to make up for his missed tackles or the times he flat out gets beat. We need a shut-down corner who can step up and show some leadership on that defense.— jimmyeagles
- It's a start in the right direction. Harbough was good. In fact I wanted Reid out and him to be the Eagles head coach when he was being considered as an NFL head coach, and Baltimore grabbed him. Doing a good job there. Maybe if April is successful, he eventually could move Reid out and be the Eagles next head coach because I am sure he has some different ideas from his experience in the league.— watsonmr
Yeah, we needed April back in September...so to speak!— Eagle1Vegas- Glad to see any attempts to imporive - more needed. Al Wilson - interesting stats but seems you did not consider the Reid factor. The ststs are probably based on 'typical' coaching decisions in those situations. With Reid. you need to factor in the delay penalty yardage, curious timing on decisions to try long field goals and of course going for it in logical situations (e.g. 4th and 1 at the 48) with some inevitably bizarre play selection.— raoool
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