We had a lot of problems on special teams this year.
We lost a crucial game to the Cards on the first and last plays of the game. Pittsburgh had a critical punt return that keyed their comeback against us. We started the Philadelphia debacle (I think that's what I'm going to call that game from now on) with a special team mistake. Our kickoffs were too short and our punt return game was stagnant.
Bruce Read lost his job because of these failures.
Now it's Joe DeCamillis' turn to rectify our struggles on this unit. The DMN Blog and DC.com are reporting DeCamillis has been hired.
Wade Phillips' first sign of change is bringing in Joe DeCamillis as his special teams coach to replace Bruce Read.
Phillips and DeCamillis were assistants together in Denver and Atlanta.
DeCamillis spent the last two years as Jacksonville's special teams' coordinator. He has run special teams' units since 1993 with the New York Giants (1993-96) and Atlanta (1997-2006) before moving on to the Jaguars.
Jacksonville led the NFL in opponents' starting position after a kickoff (24.5) in 2008. Opposing teams averaged 19.9 yards per kick return and 8.1 yards per punt return, compared to the 21.3 yards per kick return and 10.5 yards per punt return the Cowboys allowed under Read.
Jacksonville's returners averaged 22.5 yards on kicks and 9.5 yards on punts. The Cowboys' averaged 22.2 yards per kick and 6.4 per punt.