Washington State is a surprise contender this year, but their coach does not like punting. He is willing to Punt only when the Defense is good, and that is a very refreshing approach for the game of football. We do a lot of things just because that is how everyone else does them, and Leach does not operate like that. His perspective on the kicking game is unique, special, and it should work more often than not.
Do not trust your defense is they stink
Mike Leach only likes to punt when he knows that his defense can stop the other team. He is much more willing to take the offense back on the field for a fourth down to see if they can gain the yardage that is needed.
He is merely saying that most of the time he trusts his offense more than his defense. When his defense improves to the point that he thinks they can stop someone, he will let the team punt. This is a very basic way to approach football, but it makes sense if you think about it. Leach wants to lose playing his way instead of playing the way that other people tell him to. I can respect that about him.
Will football change?
Mike Leach is not going to change football, but he is going to make people think about what they should do on offense. We are going to see more people take two point conversions, and there will come a time when people are not able to kick extra points because the rules will get changed.
We might not even have kickoffs when all is said and done, and that is why people like Mike Leach are helpful.
Who would benefit from this approach?
Clemson and Washington would benefit from an approach that avoids punting. Georgia looks like a team that might not have to punt in the future, and high powered offenses like Miami could do the same.
FSU could stop punting if they still had Deondre Francois, and Oklahoma would have no reason to punt at all. Texas Tech could do the same because of how the offense is managed, and that would see many of the best teams in the country doing odd things that might work. The odds will start to shift in favor of the more advanced play-calling designs, and you will see more teams doing things that are very unconventional.
It is more exciting
It is far more exciting for the games to have teams going to fourth downs often. Teams that are constantly risking it all on fourth downs will make the games fun to watch, and there will be further anticipation because you know that certain teams can pull off trick plays to convert on fourth downs.
