Last year one of our coaches sent me a video about a coach who never punts (see video below). Turns out he also has system for onside kicks. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
We talked through this process and we decided w wanted to follow Coach Kevin Kelley's lead and only onside kick. Here is the video if you've never seen it, plus our justifications for stopping the deep kick.
4 Reasons To Stop Kicking Deep
1.) Save Energy
The main reason for having an 8 man team (in our state at least) is because of a lack of bodies available to the team. By only kicking onside kicks, we are saving the players legs.
2.) Save Practice Time
If you only practice one kick, an onside kick, you are able to get more reps in practice. Deep kicks take a long time to run. With practice time being as valuable as it is, the more reps, the better we perform.
3.) Turnovers!
It's simple, you increase your chances of regaining the ball exponentially by onside kicking every time you step on the field.
4.) Confidence Building
When you, as a coach, bring an aggressive gameplan to the table, your players feed off of it. Your players will see you aggressively trying to get the ball back, something they will attempt to replicate on other special teams and defense.