It is worth listening to old school Danny Smith
https://www.buccaneers.com/video/danny-smith-on-his-special-teams-vision-press-conference
Have to think Special Teams will be improved.
Can easily see why players play for him.
Says he will "probably need an IV at the first game" lol
“Kenny Gainwell will fight me about being on special teams, ok,” Smith said, adding that Gainwell would bark in his Pittsburgh office if he lost a special teams assignment.
“He’s back there returning punts today if you watch any of today’s practice. The kid can do a lot of things. He’s good on a lot of things. He’s a tireless worker. He’s a great person and a great player, and he and I have become close over the years and I’ll do anything in the world for him.”
As we have been speculating throughout the off season is that upper Bucs FO, management and ownership viewed ST as a bigger problem to team success then even the injuries last season. If Danny Smith can have his unit make a difference in 2 games that is instantly .500 ball for this club. The problem is that the rest of the team like offense and defense have to show up at the same time down the stretch.
They definitely feel that they are probably in the playoffs in 2025 with just basic, competent special teams. In the end run they lose 3 games by 3 or 4 points and they were basically conceding field goal by kicking the ball out the back of the EZ because they didn't trust their coverage team
(Disclaimer: the team had more problems then ST so I am just describing the way they probably look at it given their offseason moves)
In his recent interview with PR, Licht suggested that Special Teams might be the biggest training camp battle, noting that they have much better depth than in the past and brought in players specifically for their ST abilities (Kilebrew, Gainwell etc). And of course Coach Smith. This was Smith in his recent interview
“We have to be better, in one sentence, really. We have to be better,” Smith told reporters when asked about his observations from the 2025 unit. “Our field position has to be better for the offense and a defense – it is our job. We have to be a factor of the outcome of the game in a positive way.
“You know, places I’ve been, we’ve won games on special teams and I expect to do so here.”
His Steelers unit could definitely cover kicks
Special teams touchdowns under Danny Smith from 2013-2025
Danny Smith stabilized the Steelers special teams for over a decade and the results show why. Below are both return touchdowns scored and allowed, plus their ranks among the rest of the NFL, per Stathead.
- Total return touchdowns: 6 (t-15th)
- Kick return touchdowns: 1 (t-23rd)
- Punt return touchdowns: 5 (t-5th)
- Total return touchdowns allowed: 2 (second-fewest)
- Kick return TDs allowed: 1 (second-fewest)
- Punt return TDs allowed: 1 (second-fewest)