Tag: Dave Fipp

Dan Campbell ‘absolutely in favor’ of the NFL’s new kickoff format

Lions coach Dan Campbell ‘absolutely in favor’ of NFL’s new kickoff format and has already worked with ST Coordinator Dave Fipp on ideas

The NFL approved a fairly radical change to the way kickoffs and kick returns will be handled this week. During the NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando, the league effectively replaced the existing kickoff format and structure with the innovative kickoff and kick returns used by the XFL (now part of the UFL).

Effectively, the league is trying to bring back the excitement of the kick return while making it safer for players.

At his Tuesday morning press conference, Lions head coach Dan Campbell voiced strong support for the change.

“Absolutely in favor of it,” Campbell said when asked about the new kickoff. “Because it gives us a chance to play special teams.”

Campbell elaborated,

“What happened last year, felt like it took a significant amount of plays out of the game. And those were from special teams and, you know, you don’t really make it up anywhere else.”

The coach continued, focusing on the safety aspect of the new play.

“We put an emphasis on (kick return) and I believe in it. I think the argument is, ‘well, you’re bringing more plays back in so now injuries could (increase)’. Yeah, because there are more plays. But it feels like what we’ve done with it — it’s been so condensed that the impact is out of it. Doesn’t mean there won’t be an injury.”

In fact, Campbell expressed his excitement over the potential of exploiting the unknown. After noting that some are afraid of the unknown, he and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp see a big opportunity.

“Fipp and I have already been back there talking about — watching all these XFL clips and you’re looking at different body types and looking at returners and you’re look at scheme. I think the unknown is what the coaching is for. You mess with it, you tinker with it … I’m excited about it.”

The Lions haven’t had a kickoff return for a touchdown since Jamal Agnew took one to the house against the Eagles back in September of 2019. Detroit only attempted 19 returns on 83 kickoffs during the 2023 regular season. THe rule change should make that figure and percentage skyrocket in 2024.

 

Lions DC Aaron Glenn voted top coordinator in NFLPA survey

Lions DC Aaron Glenn voted top coordinator in an NFLPA survey of over 750 players

Aaron Glenn isn’t always popular with Lions fans for his inconsistent defenses in his three years running Detroit’s defense. However, Glenn was the top-rated defensive coordinator to be a head coaching candidate this offseason in a survey of over 750 active NFL defensive players.

The survey, conducted and published by the NFLPA, included Glenn as the top defensive coordinator as a head coaching candidate. Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp came in fourth in his coaching group.

NFLPA president JC Tretter, via ESPN, offered up an interesting comment about Glenn’s resounding support as a head coach candidate by the players,

Tretter said Glenn, who has not yet had the chance to be a head coach but tops the defensive list ahead of four guys who have, was the No. 1 overall rated coordinator in the survey across all three categories.

The survey was conducted between August and November and was open to all active NFL players. Notably, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was not one of the top five OCs in the player survey.

Blocked extra point kept Lions coordinator Dave Fipp up on Christmas Eve night

A blocked extra point kept Lions coordinator Dave Fipp up on Christmas eve night after Detroit’s win over the Vikings

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp highlighted why it’s so hard to be a coach in the NFL. Instead of celebrating a Lions division title and enjoying Christmas after Detroit won in Minnesota, Fipp couldn’t stop thinking about a mistake his extra point unit made in the game.

The Vikings blocked an extra point by new Lions kicker Michael Badgley in the third quarter of Sunday’s game. Badgley’s kick never had a chance. Fipp agonized over the error.

“Well, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it,” Fipp told reporters in his weekly press conference. “I woke up – yeah, I mean, a million times you think about those plays. The negative plays stick with you much more so than any of the positive plays. In my time, we’ve made a lot of plays too, but the ones that really stick with you the longest are all the negative plays.”

Fipp didn’t want to reveal which player made the costly mistake, but he clearly wasn’t happy about the poor execution. The block came in the gap between Benito Jones and James Mitchell.

“Yeah, I’m not going to get into it in detail, but we had one player who didn’t execute exactly how he should’ve,” Fipp said. “The first rep of the game was perfect and then didn’t do his job the way he was supposed to do on the next one and so that happened.”

 

Lions special teams coordinator explains why the team made a change at kicker

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp explains why the team made a change at kicker from Riley Patterson to Michael Badgley

Michael Badgley is the Lions’ new kicker. The change back to Badgley, the team’s primary kicker in 2022, took place last Saturday in Detroit’s win over the Broncos.

Badgley replaced Riley Patterson, who has since been released. The move had been in the works for some time, however. Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp explained when their internal competition began and why the team switched back to Badgley in the season after Patterson had beaten him out over the summer.

“Internally, we had those guys competing in practice and so they would each get roughly six kicks a day and we’d kick them at least twice a week, so it was 12 kicks a week,” Fipp explained. “And over the course of six weeks, Badgley had been better, and we didn’t want to rush to make that decision right away. We felt like he deserved as fair of an opportunity as we could have given him, but it was clear at the end of the day that he was playing better.

Fipp continued,

“And so, ultimately, the way that I handle those decisions, I mean my job is to really have the best interest of the whole team in mind, or the whole locker room and all those players sitting in that meeting and it’s not just one person, but it’s really I have a responsibility to be fair to all them by playing whoever we think is the best player. And with a kicker it’s pretty clear. I mean makes and misses and percentages. And I do think that practice matters, and I do think that players trend towards what their practice stuff is.”

Fipp thought that the leg strength of the two are “very comparable”, but noted that Patterson missing two extra points in three games did play a factor.

Dave Fipp gave a very detailed breakdown of the Raiders special teams

Much like Dan Campbell, Fipp shows he can be incredibly knowledgeable and well-versed on the football side of things but also able to have some fun in his media sessions. 

Lions head coach Dan Campbell is well-known for his press conferences. Campbell isn’t the only Lions coach who can take everyone for a ride in his press briefings.

Detroit special teams coordinator Dave Fipp has quickly attained must-watch status for his press conferences. Fipp is an engaging, folksy storyteller who does not stick to football. Last week he regaled everyone with country music and military graduation stories. This week, Fipp broke into stories about the movie American Pie and what to give out for Halloween.

So it might have caught folks off-guard when Fipp went into a very detail-oriented, lengthy scouting report on the Las Vegas Raiders and their special teams ahead of the Week 8 matchup between the two teams. Make no mistake, Fipp does his homework.

Here’s Fipp’s answer in its entirety (as transcribed by the Lions media relations staff):

“Yeah, you hit on it. This is a really good group. Have got a lot of respect for them. They’re an interesting group. Their (Raiders P AJ Cole) punter is just – I mean he’s a great player. He’s punting the ball 50 yards down the field, they’re outside the numbers, both ways. He gets a lot of width on it which makes it difficult for the return team, helps the cover unit. So, he gets a lot of width on the ball. He doesn’t outkick the coverage either necessarily. He puts it, like I said, about 50 yards down the field. He stretches the returner out, he makes that guy run right and left to catch the ball. He can look like he’s going right and go left, and look like he’s going left and go right, and still get the ball out there with a lot of width. So, really good player, and then – so that’s kind of them on their punt team. Their kickoff team – I mean and don’t get me wrong, they’ve got a bunch of good core players in there on their kickoff team. (Raiders LB Kana’i Mauga) 43, this guy runs down there, he’s going to go hammer you, and he’s a factor. And they’ve got a bunch of other good players, (Raiders DE Malcolm) Koonce, 51, (Raiders LB Luke Masterson) 59. They’ve got a bunch of speed guys, (Raider RB Ameer Abdullah) 22, (Raiders S Isaiah Pola-Mao) 20. They move guys all around. So, those guys have done a nice job, but their kicker’s also hung the ball up there really well with a lot of hang time. So, he presents a challenge and their present a challenge there. And then their return game, their returner, you guys know, I’ve talked about him before as a guy I love. Just a great story in this League, he’s a great person, really talented player, he knows who he is, he competes. The reason he’s there is because he’s just such a competitive player. He catches the ball, he’s a super quick starter, he hits everything full speed, he believes he’s going to make a play every time he touches it and he is downhill in a hurry and ripping it right back at you. So, it’s hard to get him down in kickoff coverage, hard to tackle him down inside the 25 because he just gets started so fast, and they do a nice job blocking for him. And they’ve got some nice plays that are built around his strengths really. I think (Raiders Special Teams Coordinator Tom) McMahon, their coach over there, does a real nice job with them. So, yeah, it’s a good team all the way around. We’ve got our hands full.”

Much like Campbell, Fipp shows he can be incredibly knowledgable and well-versed on the football side of things but also able to have some fun in his media sessions.

Lions special teams coach has ‘no problems’ with Kalif Raymond’s risky punt return decisions

Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp has “no problems” with Kalif Raymond’s risky punt return decisions from the win over Tampa Bay

During the Detroit Lions’ Week 6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wide receiver Kalif Raymond seemingly violated one of the well-worn edicts of football. He fielded not one but two Buccaneers punts inside his own 5-yard line.

Neither return went well for Raymond. The first attempt, leading into Detroit’s first offensive possession, ended at the Detroit 10-yard line. The second saw Raymond sneak out to the 15, avoiding two tackles on the way.

Fielding a punt inside the 10 is normally a football taboo. And the poor outcomes for Raymond in Tampa Bay demonstrate why it’s rarely done outside of emergency situations.

Yet Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp didn’t have a problem with Raymond’s decisions. “No problems with any of it,” Fipp said on Thursday.

In an entertaining but meandering press conference Q&A session that also discussed country music, fly fishing, military graduation ceremonies and dreaming of 1980s movies, Fipp did address a question about Raymond’s risky business in fielding punts inside the 10-yard line.

“There’s a risk to it, there’s a reward to it. You’re balancing out both those things,” Fipp said. “You obviously don’t want to put your team in a negative position. We do have a lot of confidence in (Raymond) Leaf back there. I think when you have a good player back there and a guy who’s confident in himself and believes he can make something happen, you don’t want to take that away from him too much either, so there’s a fine line. But I believe in everything he did back there. I’ve got no problems with any of it.”

Raymond is averaging 9.6 yards per punt return for this season after averaging 13.2 a year ago. He did have a long return of 15 yards against the Buccaneers.

[lawrence-related id=97568]

Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp breaks down the kicking competition

Lions Special teams coach Dave Fipp breaks down the kicking competition between John Parker Romo and Riley Patterson

The Detroit Lions are holding a kicking competition during this training camp. At the last Lions practice session, the man making the most direct decision on the victor got a chance to speak with the media.

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp held a press conference and fielded several questions about the battle between John Parker Romo and Riley Patterson. Fipp, a wily veteran coach, concealed his hand nicely.

“I’m excited about both these guys,” Fipp said before giving due credit to each combatant.

“We have two guys, one who has a lot of talent, leg talent in Romo. So, he has a lot of leg talent, and maybe he needs a little bit more development, but we feel like he’s done a nice job,” Fipp said about the former XFL star.

On Patterson, who the team traded for earlier this offseason and who has some history with the team, Fipp had this to say,

“…the truth is he’s really coming along, and his leg strength’s really increased. He looks really good in the training camp, so I’m really excited about him, and I think sometimes with young players you see that where they bounce around a bit for the first couple years, and then all of a sudden they start to grab ahold of something there. So hopefully, he does that for us, but yeah, I’m encouraged.

No real advantage has developed in the field goal competitions thus far. Romo definitely has the stronger leg, but he’s missed more shorter kicks than Patterson. The latter’s reliable range on field goals barely gets to 50 yards, but he’s been a little better than Romo in the 30-to-45 range.

With that, how much could kickoffs factor into the decision? I asked Fipp about that. He gave a lengthy answer that also noted that an inability to kick off well was one primary reason why the Lions got rid of incumbent kicker Michael Badgley last month.

“The more these guys can do, obviously the better, so how important is the kickoff? I think, personally, it’s important I think a kicker in the National Football League should be able to kickoff at a high level,” Fipp stated. “And then if your punter is fortunate to be able to do that too, you can pick the best one on game day, but someone can say that the kicker position, kicking off isn’t as important now maybe with this fair catch rule and all that, but I would say that if the kicker’s not great at kicking off, they’re not going to fair catch at all, they’re going to be returning it right back at you, so it’s important that you’re good enough.”

Patterson had a touchback rate on kickoffs of 50 percent in 2022 while kicking for the Jaguars and was at 63 percent during his college career. Romo posted a touchback rate of 59 percent in college. During Lions practices, Romo has been superior at booming the ball out of the end zone, though Patterson has demonstrated better control and touch on designed shorter kickoffs.

[lawrence-related id=93994]

Lions could use WR Jameson Williams as a return man

Lions could use WR Jameson Williams as a return man, but don’t expect it in 2023

Jameson Williams is one of the fastest players in the NFL. The Lions wideout showed flashes of how lethal his speed can be for opponents in brief glimpses as a rookie as Williams worked his way back from a torn ACL suffered in his final college game.

Could the Lions use some of that juice on kick returns? Detroit special teams coordinator Dave Fipp would like to see it.

Fipp told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press,

“I don’t totally know the answer to it, only because he is just kind of coming back,” Fipp said when asked if he’s open to using Williams as a kick returner in 2023. “He’s done it. I mean, when you talk to him — there’s one thing I love about him. Like, he wants to do everything. The guy loves playing.

Williams did not return any kicks for the Lions in 2022, but he was a dynamic threat on kickoffs while at Alabama. However, it seems unlikely Fipp will get a chance to have Williams as his go-to return man.

As Fipp related to Birkett at the NFL Scouting Combine,

“Obviously, it would be great to see him back there (as a returner) if that’s what his role provides,” Fipp said. “But I’ve said this all along a million times is it just depends on their role on offense and defense to what their role is going to be on special teams. Their role on special teams is more influenced by offense and defense than it is on what he can do on teams.”

Williams projects as the Lions’ starting wide receiver and primary deep threat on offense. Fipp’s own words acknowledge that Williams’ value on offense will supersede any potential return opportunities on special teams. But it’s still something opponents might have to consider, given head coach Dan Campbell’s aggressive nature and propensity for pulling some in-game surprises like having RT Penei Sewell catch a key fourth-down pass as a tight end.

[lawrence-related id=88572]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx8sj47vkwrznr player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp gives an epic answer about Detroit’s kicking mess

Fipp’s very detailed answer lasted over four minutes

It’s been hard to keep up with all the kicking changes for the Detroit Lions over the last couple of seasons. The ever-changing cast has quickly become the football version of being a drummer in Spinal Tap.

The man in charge of the Lions special teams, coordinator Dave Fipp, was asked about the revolving door of kickers — six different ones since the start of 2021 — in his Week 7 press briefing this week. Fipp gave one of the longest answers in Detroit Lions press conference history.

Here’s Fipp’s answer in full, as transcribed by the Lions media department:

“Yeah, I would say – no, I would say there’s a lot of things to the question. But I would say ultimately like, we knew – when I got here, we had let – I mean (former Lions K Matt) Prater wasn’t under contract or whatever, and we didn’t re-sign him, however you say that. So, ultimately, we lost a good player there, so then the goal was to find the next guy, and I think that we knew that in doing that, it was going to take some time. So, we went about that process. We brought (Titans K) Randy Bullock in, who we thought did a nice job for us, but we were also looking for maybe better, younger, a bunch of different things, and didn’t think he was a long-term answer. So then at that point, we had an opportunity to claim (former Lions K Austin) Seibert, and we claimed Seibert, and we felt really good about that. He started for us a year ago. He played well, and then he got injured, which is out there unfortunately. And it’s happened – it seems like it’s happened more frequently around the League, I think. You guys have seen that. So, anyways, Seibert got injured, and then we went with (former Lions K Ryan) Santoso, and he struggled in that game, and so then we moved on from him, and we ended up getting (Jaguars K) Riley Patterson in here, and Riley came in and did a good job. I think a year ago, our numbers or the output for that position, or that production we got out of that position was better than average. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t necessarily what we were looking for, but it wasn’t terrible. So then we go into training camp, we have two players we think highly of in Patterson and Seibert. Seibert was obviously coming off an injury, and then he was playing great for us. He had a great camp, he had a better camp than Riley had for us. He was feeling great. Everything was going great, so we were excited. We thought we kind of had the answer to the question, and then ultimately, then Seibert didn’t feel good. He had some discomfort. I don’t know exactly how to say all that, but there’s a lot to that. He had some discomfort and didn’t feel great and wasn’t able to go. And so, anyways, then at that point, we went with (former Lions K Dominik) Eberle, much like Santoso the year before, didn’t go great, and then we brought in some other guys that we feel good about. I would say we’re hoping that this thing settles down. I think it can, between (Lions K Michael) Badgley and (Lions K Sam) Ficken. And I think that whoever we end up going with will go out there and play well for us. Is this an ideal situation to be in? Obviously not, but such is life, like it’s not like we really controlled any of it. I would say personally, in my opinion, I think we’ve made the exact right call the whole way. Would we like a different outcome? Oh yeah, we would like to hit on the next whatever, All-Pro kicker, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. But anyways, we’ll see what happens. I would tell you that I strongly believe that it’ll settle down. We’ll look back at this thing at the end of the year and say, ‘You know what, we got good production out of that position. I think we can turn it around.’ So, it’s still early in the year. When you look at percentages right now, one miss makes a big difference on the overall percentage, so when you look at it that way, I think, yeah, it’s hard to swallow right now, but I would say, when it’s all said and done, I think it’ll be better than what we’re looking at right now, for sure. So, I don’t know if that helps, but yeah, it’s been a challenge. It has not been ideal, but I think we’re on the right track, and we’ll keep working through it. I mean, people aren’t throwing out good players, so – I mean it’s not like – and there’s a bunch of people looking for him right now. And the later you get in the season, the harder it gets to find somebody who can come in and play at a high level. The earlier that happens, the more choices you have. But I think overall, from our decision-making process and all that, I don’t regret or second guess any of the moves we’ve made up to this point, and in hindsight, you would do some things differently maybe, but we obviously don’t have the benefit of all the information. So, anyway, yeah, I don’t know. Hopefully, it’ll settle down here. It’s a good question, and I totally get it. I think saying that there’s been 10 kickers in here makes it sound worse than it is. I mean, we’ve had a couple different kickers. We had really two primarily last year, and hopefully, we end up having two this year primarily, and it settles down, and we end up getting some productivity out of those guys.”

That’s one epic answer from Fipp. By my calculations, it took him just over four minutes to articulate the very detailed thoughts.

Special teams misadventures cost the Lions dearly in Week 4 loss

The Lions had a couple of great special teams plays but also some very costly mistakes

Detroit’s offense in Week 4 was great, scoring 45 points. The Lions defense was inept, surrendering 48 to the visiting Seahawks. But what about the third unit, the special teams?

It was an interesting afternoon for coach Dave Fipp’s punt and kick units.

Early on, special teams was about the only thing working for the Lions. Rookie LB Malcolm Rodriguez forced a fumble on Jack Fox’s first punt. Detroit quickly cashed that takeaway in for a pretty Jared Goff-to-T.J. Hockenson touchdown strike. Later in the first quarter, Fox found Quintez Cephus with an accurate dart and converted the fake punt on fourth down. Maurice Alexander, called up from the practice squad, had a nice kickoff return in there too.

Yet even the good special teams came with some warts. Kicker Dominik Eberle, signed off the practice squad on Saturday due to an injury to Austin Seibert, missed the extra point after the first Hockenson touchdown. Eberle booted a kickoff out of bounds, leading to a Seahawks field goal. Alexander ran into a wall at the 16-yard line on the subsequent Lions return, setting up some bad field position.

But Eberle wasn’t done. He missed a second extra point late in the second quarter. What should have been a 24-17 deficit was instead a two-score margin at the half. In a game where the Lions defense did not stop the Seahawks once, every point was critical.

Think about it this way: if Eberle hits those two routine extra points, the Lions are going for the tie on their last touchdown — or even another 2-pt. conversion and the potential late lead.