Veteran Massillon kicking coaches provide product that proves advantageous to kickers success
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
MASSILLON--What if former Notre Dame wide receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail didn't run back two kickoff returns for touchdowns against Michigan in 1989?
What if Green Bay return specialist Desmond Howard didn't puncture a stake through the hearts of New England Patriots fans with an agonizing 100-yard kickoff return for a decisive third quarter touchdown in Super Bowl XXXI back in 1996?
What if Baltimore and Minnesota didn't have three straight kickoff return touchdowns in the first quarter in a 1998 game won by the Vikings?
What if Ted Ginn Jr. didn't run back two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same quarter in 2009?
What if Massillon didn't kick to Warren Harding savior Mario Manningham in two high school games played five weeks apart in 2002?
For veteran kicking coaches and Massillon natives Bill Shafer and David Abdul Sr., they are well aware of the answers. Bo Schembechler probably captures a national championship in his last season, something his rival coach Woody Hayes accomplished five times in 28 seasons as Buckeyes head coach, Bill Parcells is most likely still coaching the Patriots, the Ravens and Vikings do not score 21 points all on special teams, Miami likely doesn't win without Ginn's scores and the Tigers, not the Raiders will have played for a Division I OHSAA state football title.
With dangerous kickoff returners glamorizing their prowess for momentum gaining or stealing kickoff return touchdowns, Shafer and Abdul have both used their expertise to concoct a product that will benefit kickers and most importantly truncate potential kicker injuries but also more importantly, assist in potentially deterring dangerous return specialists from traversing from one end zone to the other for a touchdown.
Currently, the National Football League is using the hardened ground zero tee. But with the soft and safe Launchpad tee, which follows the specifications of all three levels, change is eventually coming and one that is hotly overdue and with excitement.
"When we first invented the Launchpad tee, it was to give people an opportunity to have a forward lean on their kickoffs like many people do and on their field goals. This was the first tee that allowed you to have an aggressive forward lean. But since the rule changes in the NFL, people are looking for a kickoff that has a different kind of trajectory and a different kind of spin," Shafer said. "This tee comes from a one inch platform and the tee the NFL is currently using, the ground zero, when you set the ball sideways, it comes up to over an inch and a half, which is an illegal ball set. All the balls, especially on the Launchpad are the one inch legal NFL limit. And when you kick a helicopter ball to the left or to the right, it creates a horizontal axis that trails off to the left like a curveball or trails off to the right and it's the rotation created by the ball set that enables the Launchpad to do things that no other tee can do."
For Shafer, he is adept about kicking power and accuracy. Evidence of that arrived 23 years ago in a Division I regional semifinal as Massillon needed the range of kicker of his son, Max to wrestle away a 23-21 victory in the form of a 35-yard field goal on the final play of their contest at Fawcett Stadium. Before that, Shafer's 21-yard field goal against Canton McKinley in the 110th meeting to end the second quarter quashed the momentum McKinley had and constructed the roadwork for a 34-17 victory eventually leading to their second straight state semifinal.
Abdul Sr. oversaw the prowess of his son, David Jr. After kicking two seasons at Lake, both father and son transcended their repertoire to Massillon and in just two seasons, Abdul Jr. became a very lethal asset to the Tigers and their special teams and during that run from 2000 to 2001, Massillon was 20-5 and Abdul Jr. eventually landed at Pitt, where he successfully conquered the Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) labyrinth as that stadium was known for issuing kickers horrendous nightmares over the years, especially on the closed end of the stadium.
Both kickers were on the Massillon roster under the tutelage of the unitary Rick Shepas with Abdul kicking first and then Shafer.
Both gentlemen recalled the biggest kicks of their respective sons lives.
"I was the stands and before the game I just told Max to relax and be himself because that is the moment you trained for. I was sitting in the stands chewing my fingernails off all the way down to the cuticles waiting for that moment and he absolutely delivered. It was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life and the crowd went crazy and I loved it," Shafer said.
"It was huge, he wasn't getting all the opportunities at Lake and they didn't believe in the system that I was trying to help the coaches understand the process of kicking a football and it was really tough as our whole family lived in Hartville and so, it was 20 miles each way but the end result, he was a two-time All-Ohioan and the number one kicker in the country and the national high school record for 50 plus yard field goals in a high school career and a full ride scholarship," Abdul Sr. said of his son's kicks and vaunted power.
With the NFL kickoff rules stressing for balls to be placed inside the 20 yard line and from the end zone, the Launchpad tee has a major advantage for kickers for it puts the onus on a returner to locate the ball accurately or risk misplaying the ball and either obtaining a minimal return or a turnover in the form of the kicking team recovering the ball. Abdul attested that returners who misplay the ball won't know where it is going and it can be a special teams detriment for them.
Before the ground zero tee, teams kicked off with the traditional orange tee. Had the Launchpad tee come to fruition, football history may have been altered in a variety of cases. Shafer was quick to point out Ismail's two kickoff return touchdowns that was 14 of Notre Dame's 24 points in a five-point win over the Wolverines. Take away one of those scores and the result will have ended up in Michigan's favor as their defense only allowed just 10 points.
"The Rocket (Ismail) was as fast as anyone on the planet and he had moves and he had a football acumen so he understood to field it as soon as he caught the ball. Even back then, the Launchpad offers sets at the one inch level in the NCAA and the NFL levels so a kickoff specialist can make the ball do things that other tees can't do," Shafer said. "So if it's a forward tumbling ball or a ball that trails off to the right or a squib kick, you can use these kicks to limit any dangerous returner like Ismail."
Both gentlemen are still entrenched in the Massillon tradition. For Abdul Sr. he will have a chance to see the namesake at work again as his grandson, Boston will be kicking for Lake High School this upcoming fall.
And the prowess of the Launchpad just won't end at Massillon. This product is poised to find its way not just to Ohio high schools but high schools also around the national scene as well. And it will be the asset that kickers will need especially in a late game situation to put their defense in a more favorable position to stifle an offense needing a mandatory score to either force overtime or win a contest.
The Launchpad isn't there to usurp the opposition. It is there to become the best friend of a kicker with all specifications followed to a tee. And it will also avoid potential foot injuries forbid a kicker's foot comes in contact with the traditional hard tee compared to the comfortable texture and feel of the soft Launchpad.
"The Launchpad is what I liken to a golf game. Imagine you have one club in the bag and you hit the same ball every time or imagine if you had the Launchpad, you have a full set of clubs and you can use any kind of a hit and that is what the Launchpad allows you to do," Shafer said. "So say you don't have a blue chip kicker who can't reach the end zone with a kickoff. This tee allows that kicker as he develops and learns his skill to do kicks that don't require all that power and it will throw off the return team and make it difficult for them to understand what is coming their way. And at the high school level, it will make it difficult for them to return. It is tailor made for the high school game."
"Depending on where you set the ball, the different leans you put on the ball will dial up the kick you want as you are pulling out different golf clubs out of your bag and that's huge," Abdul said.
There are two games that still stings Shafer to this day. Massillon's two tilts against Warren Harding ended with the Raiders triumphing by scores of 31-27 and 21-20 in an overtime thriller that saw the Raiders pull out an unlikely victory after Massillon captured their only lead of the contest at 14-7 with 1:11 to play in regulation during the 2002 Division I state semifinals.
Manningham ended up public enemy #1 on Tigers fans lists as his two return touchdowns wiped out a 27-17 Massillon advantage in the regular season confrontation. And in the state semifinal, he had a humongous kickoff return that awarded them vital field position leading to their winning score. As much success as the Tigers had going 23-0 against the rest of the opposition from 2001 and 2002, it stings Shafer that Massillon was 0-5 combined against St. Ignatius and Harding, which didn't help matters with grizzled veterans in Chuck Kyle and Thom McDaniels (who coached Canton McKinley for 17 seasons) both piloting their respective teams, the Wildcats and Raiders.
When asked if the Launchpad will have decimated Manningham's ability to score, Shafer pointed out as such.
"That's a great question because we have seen this happen over and over again. Kickoffs returned for touchdowns. When you scout the team you're playing and you have a Mario Manningham back deep, you want to kick away from him and if you are going to kick to him, you want to give him a ball that is difficult to manage and that is what the Launchpad does. It offers a full array of kickoffs that teams don't understand. They are not getting the same ball over and over again. They are getting balls trailing to the left, trailing to the right and had these kicks been allowed, those 14 points will have come off the board."
The 2025 NFL season is only five months away. But with fearless confidence and a cold refusal to abdicate, both Shafer and Abdul believe that the Launchpad tee will eventually become the official tee of not just high school but most importantly the NCAA and the NFL. Having met all the specifications at each level, this is a tee that is the safest friend for any kicker and an asset that will bolster the strength of a team's special teams, something that will prove large in a tight contest, especially come the playoffs adding also to the longevity of kickers for their respective teams.
According to both gentlemen, the time for launching is now.
"So many kickers, their teams can't put the ball in the end zone so they would do a squib kick and it bounces all over the field. Teams are used to that. But with the Launchpad, we can execute different kicks we want and other kicks that they won't be prepared for," Abdul Sr. said.
"If the NFL will just take a look at it and it will stir up enough dust that they have to look at it and what you saw today, they will have to accept this. It's the only tee that sets the ball at the legal NFL one inch level for all ball sets and safer than any tee in the game today," Shafer said.
The Launchpad is poised for launching and the time for takeoff is now. And with Bill Shafer and David Abdul Sr. at the controls, it's poised to happen.
Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment