All coaches know special teams are important, but some capitalize on special teams to help win games more than others. Here are some tips that may help you improve your special teams.... 1. Find your player most likely to block the kick. It is likely not who you think. The person with the best stance and start on the day you tested 40-yard sprints may not be this person. They must be fast enough, but they must attack the ball and not flinch. If they have never blocked a kick in practice, it is highly unlikely they will block their first kick in a game. 2. Teach the difference between blocked kicks behind the line of scrimmage and blocks that go beyond the LOS. Kicks that stay behind the LOS are live and should be attacked to attempt to return for a TD. Blocked kicks that go beyond the LOS should be left alone. No "Leon Lett situations" 3. Punt Block may be more valuable than wall returns. With so many penalties occurring on good returns, it seems more impactful to go for the block as long as you have a good plan to practice blocks and limit the possibilities of roughing the punter. 4. Catch punts. You can go for the block, but get someone to at least fair catch. Line up your returner based on scouting and encourage him to field any punt possible. The hidden yardage lost by people being scared to catch punts is astronomical. 5. Always send at least one to block. Even if you want to play “safe” on a punt, send at least one player to block the punt. A bad or bobbled snap should never get off as a punt unless you allow it by sending no one. 6. Teach First Touching. If the ball is punted and the punt team downs it by just touching it and NOT picking it up, it is still live. If the returner picks the ball up before the whistle is blown, he can return it with “no negative consequences” 7. Work some fakes.  A properly timed fake punt is a great way to steal a possession and show your team you are confident in their abilities. Have a great fake and use it at the right time to avoid coaching scared. 8. Reward the "first man to the 20" on Kickoff Watch each kickoff and find some small reward for the first player that crosses the 20 yard line. This rewards effort and technique as they likely had to avoid and give great effort to be first. 9. Teach everyone to assume it's coming to them on Kick Return. Remind everyone on the team they should assume the ball will come to them until it does not. It is a fumble until it is secured. They all have a job that must be done, but before they can do this job they must ensure the ball is not kicked to them. Too many high school games change with a fumble on Kick return by someone other than the returner. 10. Figure out who makes the most tackles on their kickoff team. It seems the same people make most of the tackles. If you can block their leading tackler, you have a much better chance at success.