Former Saints special teams coordinator Bradford Banta hired as analyst
Per Field Yates: Former Saints special teams coordinator Bradford Banta has been hired as an analyst at Michigan. He and Jim Harbaugh were teammates with the Colts from 1994-1997.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/fieldyates/status/1101170914304118786?s=21
February 28th, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
Banta is also the last long snapper the Lions had prior to Don Muhlbach, who is apparently immortal.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
Just from some cursory research, Bradford took a middling special teams for NO in 2017, and turned them into a top 3 unit in 2018 (all according to PFF). Let's hope his analysis involves some ST play.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
But does he coach the spread punt?
February 28th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
Not sure about him personally, but I don't believe any NFL teams use spread punting formation. Also, sorry if I missed the joke.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
In the NFL, only two gunners can release before the kick, unlike college, so no one uses the spread punt in the NFL. The joke is that everyone thinks that it is vastly superior to the pro-style, max-protect punt that Hoke ran. It's like people asking about pad level for recruits.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
Is pad level an issue with HS players?
February 28th, 2019 at 4:28 PM ^
Is pad level important for punters?
February 28th, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
Very.
February 28th, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
I remember approximately 88% of this board loved the spread/rugby punt. Until one day they didn't.
February 28th, 2019 at 4:56 PM ^
OSU blocked put against that formation iirc
February 28th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
Seems like a great hire for us, but why the hell would he want to go from an NFL ST coordinator to being an analyst in college?
February 28th, 2019 at 1:20 PM ^
Probably because the Saints fired him after this year.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
I like it...we rent their knowledge and they get to rehabilitate their careers win win
February 28th, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
Free whole milk in the coaches' lounge.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
The buddy system.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
you may have been a good special teams coordinator but now you're banta fodder
February 28th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
Really like these ST analyst hires (including the brief Bonamego stay).
Good, qualified coaches that can do the bulk of the off-field prep and free up Jay and CP to do more recruiting and position group stuff.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:29 PM ^
Dumb question I know but analysts main role is to slice and dice upcoming opponents with recommendations? Do they also look at M schemes to render opinions?
February 28th, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
Both and then some. Roles vary but the job is heavy on anything involving film: scouting (opponents and self), scheme/play recos, supplemental practice eval, etc.
With a special teams analyst you could have the guy basically do all of the off-field work and hand you the gameplan each week. I'd guess CP and Jay will be more involved than that but the analyst can do a much larger % of the work than say, an offensive or defensive analyst.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:26 PM ^
When a saint comes marching in.
February 28th, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
It's a good landing spot for an unemployed NFL assistant - keeps him involved with football and allows him to put Jim MF'in Harbaugh's name and P5 Blue Blood school name both on his resume and as a personal reference. He'll be in line for an on-field coaching spot when one opens up on the staff. But an early departure to some other staff doesn't really hurt the program.
I kinda like these hires - a lot!
February 28th, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
Apparently Jason Witten is coming out of retirement to play for the Cowboys.
True Story.
February 28th, 2019 at 3:18 PM ^
Maybe MNF will be watchable without using the mute button, again!
February 28th, 2019 at 3:34 PM ^
...nope.
February 28th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
Ugh... I almost forgot about Booger! What a line of succession MNF has had... Gruden to Witten to Booger!
February 28th, 2019 at 3:39 PM ^
Thank you, Dallas Cowboys.
February 28th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
Pfffft. He’s only a 3-star analyst. This 2019 class of analysts can’t compare to Bama, Clemson or OSU analysts. I’m depressed.
/s
February 28th, 2019 at 5:03 PM ^
While some analysts are coming in, others are departing.
Allen Gant to Slippery Rock to become their DB coach.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-gant-15538a112
Jordan Kovacs to the Bengals.
https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-hire-six-assistant-coaches
February 28th, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
Good, we have 2 more defensive coaches we can hire in a few years.
February 28th, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^