Despite having two of the best specialists in the Pac-12, the 2014 ASU football special teams unit can be considered both a strength and a weakness.
The Sun Devils struggled at times on the unit, prompting Todd Graham to bring in former Green Bay Packers assistant coach Shawn Slocum to coach the special teams.
Under the tutelage of Slocum and the steadfast leadership of special teams captains sophomore DeAndre Scott and junior Zane Gonzalez, the 2015 unit should be more balanced, disciplined, and efficient.
Field Goals/PATs
After a solid sophomore campaign, Gonzalez is back with high expectations for himself in 2015. In two seasons with the Sun Devils, Gonzalez has been near-automatic, making 82.5 percent of his field goals, including an overtime game-winner against Pac-12 South rival Utah, but he said he wants to be even better this season.
There is a change in the unit, however, as junior punter Matt Haack will take over holding kicks since redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici took over the starting quarterback role. Haack has never held in a game before, but he has been working extensively with Gonzalez to make sure they are fully on the same page.
Punting
Returning for his second season as the full-time punter is Haack. In 2014, he showed tremendous growth, improving his distance and accuracy as the season went along and was a major part of ASU's success down the stretch run of the season.
Haack's best game came in ASU's final home game against Washington State. On that day, Haack punted the ball six times, averaging 53.5 yards per kick, including a booming 65-yarder. Only one kick was returned and it lost three yards, he was on his game from start to finish.
In spite of Haack's improvement, the Sun Devils's punt coverage left much to be desired. On 15 returns, ASU's opponents averaged 13.1 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Kickoffs
With Alex Garoutte graduated, the kickoff duties were up for grabs entering 2015. Gonzalez and sophomore kicker John O'Brien have both taken reps with the unit, but Gonzalez said he feels like its his job.
"I've always wanted to do kickoffs," Gonzalez said. "I worked on it a lot and it's something I really wanted to do and I got really good at it. I'm excited for the season to come so I can do it on the field."
Returns
The biggest weakness for the 2014 Sun Devils was the return game. The Sun Devils averaged under four yards per punt return and under 25 yards per kick return, keeping the offense from starting with better field position after kicks – on average, they began drives between the 32 and 33 yard line (67.4 yards away).
This season there will be a new-look return corps, led by redshirt junior De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes, an outspoken returner who's made some impressive guarantees about his upcoming season.
Joining him will be sophomore running backs Kalen Ballage (who uncorked ASU's best return of the season, a 96-yarder in the Sun Bowl to help beat Duke) and Jacom Brimhall.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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