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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:35 PM Thursday, September 22, 2011

I have some pet peeves about football, most of which revolve around special teams.

If I were coaching, I’d tell my punt returners that no matter where they are on the field, call for a fair catch.

The same goes for kickoffs. If it’s close to the end zone, let it go. I can’t stand watching the NFL players return the ball nine yards deep and get tackled on the 10-yard line. It’s resulted in a few touchdowns early this season, but those will be few and far between, in my opinion. Let’s just start on the 20 and get to work.

Here’s my reasoning: The chances of negative results are a lot greater than the positive results which may occur. Why not just tell your players to fair catch and try to block the punt, no matter where you’re at on the field?

I’m not the only person who buys into that special teams philosophy. Kevin Kelley, the coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark., also believes in that theory. He feels the risk of a turnover outweighs the few yards he’ll gain on punt returns.

If you’ve never heard about Kelley, whose team has won two state titles since 2003, here’s some background:

• He doesn’t kick unless forced to by rules or sportsmanship.

• He goes for it on every fourth down, and has data to back up his theory. He recently told Sports Illustrated the odds of on an opponent scoring from his team’s 40-yard line are 77 percent, while the odds of scoring inside the 10-yard line were 92 percent. So why not try one more play with your offense?

“It’s like someone said, ‘(Punting) is what you do on fourth down,’ and everyone did it without asking why,” he told the publication.

• He performs an onside kick after every touchdown scored. He has 12 different onside kick formations in his playbook, which also includes a boatload of gimmick plays.

I find his tactics fascinating. Last week, Pulaski took a 29-0 lead on Cabot, Ark., a team five times its size — before Cabot ever ran a play from scrimmage. His methods my be unconventional, but he’s proving coaches can think outside of the box and help their teams win.

Case in point: Last week, West Liberty-Salem had just taken a 28-27 lead late in the fourth quarter against Southeastern, overcoming a 21-point halftime deficit.

With about five minutes remaining, the Tigers performed a short squib kick that they recovered.

I’m sure a lot of WLS fans were asking themselves: “What is (Coach Toby Smith) doing? What if they hadn’t recovered?”

It was definitely a risk, but the team with the ball, of course, controls the clock. With the ball inside the Trojans’ 5-yard line, the Tigers fell on the ball four times, running the clock down and giving the Trojans’ explosive offense little room and little time to work with, helping WLS seal the game.

Sometimes, a little unconventional thinking can be a good thing.

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