Fish, Scribner-Howard still in a battle, Wooten to kick
John Butler's answer this week is the same as last week.
He doesn't know who his punter is yet.
"The punter job is still 50-50," said USC's new special teams coordinator. "I have two weeks to still decide that."
Joey Scribner-Howard and Patrick Fish are battling for the job. Fish was considered the slight favorite to win the position after a solid spring practice coming into August, but Scribner-Howard, a former Carson-Newman transfer, has made a bit of a comeback over the last two weeks. Both punted about equally in USC's second preseason scrimmage Wednesday, but Scribner-Howard's kicks seemed to have a bit more hang time and distance to them.
"If I had to wake up tomorrow, it would be a gut decision," Butler said.
Butler does know who his placekicker is, though. As expected, Jay Wooten will be the man. Butler said he knows Wooten can kick, but he is still waiting to see how he handles pressure situations. USC has tried to create such moments in practice, but Butler said he really won't learn anything until the games begin.
"I'm not going to know until he's in [Williams-Brice Stadium] and in other stadiums," Butler said. "I want to see how all these guys react in game situations. Other than Jay kicking off, nobody's done it in the game."
In fact, Butler said that may be the biggest improvement point facing his units at this point.
"That's where I think we'll make our biggest progress," Wooten said. "These guys — any nerves they may have will subside after the first couple of games."
In order to help them make that transition, Butler will preach and practice nothing but positivity. Butler, who has coached special teams at Minnesota and Harvard, said he has learned that is the best way to handle special teams.
"I'm a very positive guy with the specialists, even if they're struggling," Butler said. "Negativity with those guys doesn't help.
"Positive mental outlook and fundamentals are the key to being a good specialist."
Butler feels so strongly about positivity being integral to special teams success, he said he won't hesitate to get a player help from a sports psychologist or other mental health professional if needed.
"If we ever have to bring in an outside resource, we will," Butler said. "I've done that before in the past."
Returners set: Butler said that Stephon Gilmore is in line to be USC's punt returner, with Ace Sanders in the mix. D.J. Swearinger and Bruce Ellington will be the kickoff return men, with the players rotating as the main returner in the formation depending on which player is "fresher" at that given point in the game.
Ard getting a chance: Walk-on kicker Landon Ard, whose claim to fame has been his status as a high school teammate of Jadeveon Clowney, will get a chance to win the kickoff specialist job, Butler said.