Richard Hightower-Chicago Bears Special Teams Coach

Originally posted by illinois9er:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Yeah, talent wise, he's probably 4th behind Pettis, Reed and Taylor.

But I think the real issue is Hightower...most conservative ST coach I've ever seen. He just wants his guys to fair catch or get out of the way. He could carec less about any return yardage or game breakers.

Asks Mitch to kick short kickoffs costing us big yesterday and never ran a single fake or exotic play all season despite having a ST "weapon."

Is he really doing this? If he is that's stupid as s**t.

I had to dig to find the Hightower thread, and this is the question I was going to ask. It is infuriating to watch the other team consistently getting well beyond the 25 on many if not most kick offs. Why take the chance with a great defense. Is it possible Wish does not have the leg to get it out of the end zone? I WatchEd the highlights of the Minnesota game and their kick returner (Abdullah I think) made them pay over and over again.

Also, it is definitely time to look at replacing James. He is average at best. Will Taylor maybe start returning punts again? Aiyuk will get a shot too I'm sure. If Pettis is still around I still think ihe is worth another try. Anyone but James this year, please.

Originally posted by Bluesbro:

Originally posted by illinois9er:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Yeah, talent wise, he's probably 4th behind Pettis, Reed and Taylor.

But I think the real issue is Hightower...most conservative ST coach I've ever seen. He just wants his guys to fair catch or get out of the way. He could carec less about any return yardage or game breakers.

Asks Mitch to kick short kickoffs costing us big yesterday and never ran a single fake or exotic play all season despite having a ST "weapon."

Is he really doing this? If he is that's stupid as s**t.

I had to dig to find the Hightower thread, and this is the question I was going to ask. It is infuriating to watch the other team consistently getting well beyond the 25 on many if not most kick offs. Why take the chance with a great defense. Is it possible Wish does not have the leg to get it out of the end zone? I WatchEd the highlights of the Minnesota game and their kick returner (Abdullah I think) made them pay over and over again.

Also, it is definitely time to look at replacing James. He is average at best. Will Taylor maybe start returning punts again? Aiyuk will get a shot too I'm sure. If Pettis is still around I still think ihe is worth another try. Anyone but James this year, please.

I couldn't agree more.

Sometime ago, i heard a discussion about why we had Mitch kicking to the goal line. What i recall was that catching a ball somewhere between the 2 yd line and goal line gives some uncertainty to the KOR, and makes him wonder whether to run it out our let it go thru EZ. I can see the thinking there, but did that ever happen? Not as i can recall.

And another vote for ST coach most conservative in the league. Wonder why kyle never has leaned on him to shake things up a bit?

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:

Sometime ago, i heard a discussion about why we had Mitch kicking to the goal line. What i recall was that catching a ball somewhere between the 2 yd line and goal line gives some uncertainty to the KOR, and makes him wonder whether to run it out our let it go thru EZ. I can see the thinking there, but did that ever happen? Not as i can recall.

And another vote for ST coach most conservative in the league. Wonder why kyle never has leaned on him to shake things up a bit?

Totally. It's something to keep an eye on. Every Sunday you see highlights of teams at least attempting some deceptive ST plays and creativity. Hightower hasn't attempted a single thing in 4 years and leans on safe fair catchers like Trent Taylor and Richie James instead of potential playmakers like Pettis, Reed or Mostert. Aiyuk and Deebo are also game breaking returners. Benjamin had that ability and now Austin and Nelson do too. Let's see if Hightower goes another direction this year or remains organic vanilla.

As to your kickoff point, it also puts unnecessary risk to your gunners like T.Moore and Mostert. Why risk injuries behind this defense if you're going to be ultra conservative on your own punt returns?

Odd decisions. I don't get it.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:

Sometime ago, i heard a discussion about why we had Mitch kicking to the goal line. What i recall was that catching a ball somewhere between the 2 yd line and goal line gives some uncertainty to the KOR, and makes him wonder whether to run it out our let it go thru EZ. I can see the thinking there, but did that ever happen? Not as i can recall.

And another vote for ST coach most conservative in the league. Wonder why kyle never has leaned on him to shake things up a bit?

Totally. It's something to keep an eye on. Every Sunday you see highlights of teams at least attempting some deceptive ST plays and creativity. Hightower hasn't attempted a single thing in 4 years and leans on safe fair catchers like Trent Taylor and Richie James instead of potential playmakers like Pettis, Reed or Mostert. Aiyuk and Deebo are also game breaking returners. Benjamin had that ability and now Austin and Nelson do too. Let's see if Hightower goes another direction this year or remains organic vanilla.

As to your kickoff point, it also puts unnecessary risk to your gunners like T.Moore and Mostert. Why risk injuries behind this defense if you're going to be ultra conservative on your own punt returns?

Odd decisions. I don't get it.

I think MM eventually asked Lynch that question about the short kickoffs and we were told it was NOT on purpose actually. It was just inconsistency in striking the ball. Plain and simple, Wish wasn't doing well on kickoffs.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:

Sometime ago, i heard a discussion about why we had Mitch kicking to the goal line. What i recall was that catching a ball somewhere between the 2 yd line and goal line gives some uncertainty to the KOR, and makes him wonder whether to run it out our let it go thru EZ. I can see the thinking there, but did that ever happen? Not as i can recall.

And another vote for ST coach most conservative in the league. Wonder why kyle never has leaned on him to shake things up a bit?

Totally. It's something to keep an eye on. Every Sunday you see highlights of teams at least attempting some deceptive ST plays and creativity. Hightower hasn't attempted a single thing in 4 years and leans on safe fair catchers like Trent Taylor and Richie James instead of potential playmakers like Pettis, Reed or Mostert. Aiyuk and Deebo are also game breaking returners. Benjamin had that ability and now Austin and Nelson do too. Let's see if Hightower goes another direction this year or remains organic vanilla.

As to your kickoff point, it also puts unnecessary risk to your gunners like T.Moore and Mostert. Why risk injuries behind this defense if you're going to be ultra conservative on your own punt returns?

Odd decisions. I don't get it.

Our special teams rankings under Hightower which I know are subjective have been 11th, 12th, and 14th. His coverage units are usually pretty sound.

I agree though on the creativity. I don't recall us ever attempting a trick play under him. Guys like Pettis and Reed (when he was here) who have/had strong returner backgrounds haven't been used nearly enough. Those would be my complaints about him.

Originally posted by Willisfn4life:

Our special teams rankings under Hightower which I know are subjective have been 11th, 12th, and 14th. His coverage units are usually pretty sound.

I agree though on the creativity. I don't recall us ever attempting a trick play under him. Guys like Pettis and Reed (when he was here) who have/had strong returner backgrounds haven't been used nearly enough. Those would be my complaints about him.

Same. And 100% on the coverage units themselves. Always been stellar esp. with Mostert and T.Moore as gunners. Reed too. When Mostert was hurt, that unit fell hard.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

I think MM eventually asked Lynch that question about the short kickoffs and we were told it was NOT on purpose actually. It was just inconsistency in striking the ball. Plain and simple, Wish wasn't doing well on kickoffs.

Yikes. That's not good at all then.

Can't believe this guy hasn't been fired.

ST are absolutely worthless.

Originally posted by Koldo:

Can't believe this guy hasn't been fired.

ST are absolutely worthless.

They always seem to cost us big in a few games

Fire dude now

He and saleh are horrible

Originally posted by tohara3:

Originally posted by Koldo:
Can't believe this guy hasn't been fired.

ST are absolutely worthless.

They always seem to cost us big in a few games

Yeah that block was bad and put the team in a bad situation. Hopefully that will be the last block for the year. Every aspect of the team really stunk today. Special teams, offense and defense, and coaching too.

Allowing that kickoff return 8 yards in the endzone and returning it to the 40 smfh

Does it feel like we're the one team that never makes a ST play?

Sucks losing this way.