Nick KrugBlame it on inexperience, offset by a wicked combination of being fast and fearless.
But Kansas University junior Marcus Herford had a predictable pattern when returning kickoffs last season: He’d catch, accelerate, find the hole and shoot through it like a bullet out of a revolver. After picking up good yardage going relatively straight, he often would get blindsided and flail to the turf, a crash-landing finish to an accomplished mission.
It lacked the razzle-dazzle juking, but Herford’s way certainly worked. He averaged 26.1 yards per return, third in the Big 12 Conference. He had an 88-yard return in the 2006 season opener and eventually set a school record with 757 return yards on the year.
“He looks strong and runs hard,” special-teams coordinator Louie Matsakis said. “That’s what you need in a kickoff returner.”
Herford, though, will be the first to admit that there’s much more to be tapped. A year of seasoning, which includes gaining comfort, intelligence and a little flair – all packaged with an inevitable increase in opportunities – has Herford believing he can one-up himself this time around.
Thad AllenderHe might get his first chance as soon as the clock starts in today’s season opener against Central Michigan. His teammates have similar aspirations, but depending on the coin flip, Herford might be the first to show the world just what an offseason of hard work can do for a player.
“I’ve got a year under my belt, and I have all my blockers back,” Herford said. “That’s going to make a big difference with the new rule.”
Not the same
Ah, yes – the new rule. With kickoffs from the 35-yard line constantly soaring into the end zone in recent years, stopping play and substituting a potentially exciting return for a boring touchback, the NCAA made what could be a significant change to the college game.
“Unless relocated by a penalty,” the new rule reads, “the kicking team’s restraining line on a kickoff shall be its 30-yard line.”
That means a five-yard head start for the return team, fewer touchbacks and a likelihood of better field position for the offense. That could lead to more points.
Herford heard about the new rule right away and immediately knew a lot more was going to be asked of him in 2007.
“Before, he got the ball a couple yards deep in the end zone, and if he didn’t feel comfortable, he could just take a knee,” Matsakis said. “Now, I would guess without knowing, you go through the course of the season, probably 90 percent of the kickoffs he’ll have to return. Before, he may go a game without ever returning a kickoff.”
Case in point: A game between Kansas and Texas Tech in 2005 featured touchbacks on nine of the 11 kickoffs booted by Tech’s Alex Trlica and KU’s Scott Webb, now two of the top kickers in the conference.
That’s a thing of the past, and Herford is well aware.
“I don’t see it as more highlights,” Herford said. “I look at it as another opportunity to help my team get great field position.”
Time to bloom
Herford considers himself a cut-to-the-chase runner, and he doesn’t want to lose what worked for him last year.
But Matsakis, KU’s newest assistant coach whose specialty is special teams, has worked with Herford to see if even more can get added to his arsenal.
“We’re working a lot more on his open-field running skills,” Matsakis said. “Being able to see the whole field.
“It’s a little different than a punt returner. As a punt returner, you usually block everyone except the punter. On most kickoff returns, there’s usually one or two out of 10 who you don’t block. There’s three open guys, and he has to have more field awareness of that.”
Matsakis has seen firsthand what a solid return specialist can do – while an intern at Texas Tech, he helped mold Wes Welker into an NFL talent. Welker is now a return specialist and part-time wide receiver for the New England Patriots.
Though more polishing is needed, Matsakis likes Herford’s attributes – specifically the ones that can’t be taught.
“He’s very fearless, and he’s one of the fastest guys on the team,” Matsakis said. “A year ago, he’d see the hole, get there fast and run through it and then all the sudden, boom, he got blindsided.
“You’ve just got to trust that the crease will open and the other 10 guys will do their job and hit it full speed with no doubt.”
That was Herford’s specialty last season. But it’s the next step that he has been hard at work at.
With the NCAA rules tilting the pressure toward him, Herford knows it’s time to bloom as a return specialist.
And perhaps, starting with the very first play of today’s game, he’s fully expecting to come through for Kansas.
“I’m going to try to add some more to my game,” Herford said. “I’m hungry to get to the end zone. I want to score.”
Scott McClurgGreg Heaggans was there that night.
He should have been home, he says, preparing for the opening of Kansas University’s spring football drills the next day.
But instead, he was at a Lawrence nightclub with his buddy and teammate John Randle, living like carefree college students instead of responsible student-athletes with business to tend to the following morning.
It cost them dearly.
Before the night was over, Randle was in jail, accused of punching a man in the face outside the establishment. KU coach Mark Mangino dismissed Randle, a running back, from the team within 48 hours.
Heaggans wasn’t in that much trouble, but, then again, he wasn’t home, either. On top of that, it was hardly the first time Heaggans had done wrong – a drunken-driving arrest, an alleged attempt to steal from a convenience store and other irresponsible acts had the camel’s back ready to break.
While the rest of the Jayhawks moved forward with spring football, Heaggans was told to stay away. Mangino then alerted beat writers after the spring game in April not to expect Heaggans ever to suit up again.
It’s not what Heaggans wanted to hear.
“I started going to church, asking the Lord to give me another shot at it,” Heaggans said. “I’m a good kid. I’m just like every person – I made some bad mistakes.”
He prayed hard for another chance, and Mangino gave it to him after a meeting before summer workouts. The catch? A list of conditions a mile long. No bars. No partying. No exceptions. No excuses.
“Zero tolerance,” Heaggans said. “I have to walk a straight line. For the next six months, it’s football and class, that’s it. I’m not going to do any partying, anything.”
He doesn’t seem to mind. He jokes that he needs a girlfriend now, sees the lack of nightlife as a chance to get better at bowling, and, hey, he’s only 14 hours away from a college degree. A house arrest of sorts only will ensure that the schoolwork is taken care of.
Since Mangino passed out his last chance to Heaggans, KU’s coaches have lauded how the Kansas City, Kan., native has changed for the better.
“He’s shown up and done everything he’s supposed to do,” special-teams coordinator Clint Bowen said. “Greg has earned his spot.”
In terms of performance, he earned it long ago, easily becoming KU’s all-time best kick returner in the middle of his sophomore season. Heaggans’ career started off magically – a 100-yard return for a touchdown in his second collegiate game against Southwest Missouri State. The return yards piled up after that.
“He just kind of doesn’t have too much fear about stuff,” Bowen said of Heaggans’ kick-return abilities. “He doesn’t worry about getting up in there and going. A lot of guys try to think too much in that spot.”
Heaggans didn’t, but, unfortunately, he didn’t think too much in situations where he needed to, either.
The return yards halted early in 2004, after a DUI arrest was followed by a trip deep into Mangino’s doghouse. Along with the legal punishments – attending alcohol classes, doing community service with the Boys and Girls Club and paying “a couple thousand” dollar fine – Heaggans missed three games and was used sparingly the rest of the season. After averaging 678 return yards in his first two campaigns, Heaggans had just 359 in a discipline-plagued junior year.
The ill-advised trip to the bar the following spring put Heaggans on dangerously thin ice heading into his last year. One bad step, and his career will cease to exist, much like Randle’s.
“That’s how it is,” Heaggans said. “I know in my heart that’s how it is. A little step to the right, and I’m done. I can’t do anything wrong. I won’t do anything wrong because I love this game. I love Kansas football, and I want to be associated with it.”
Heaggans suggested to Mangino a tryout at running back before two-a-days. Mangino declined, putting him at wide receiver instead. At an open practice last week, Heaggans looked sharp hauling in passes when many still had early season cobwebs leading to dropped balls.
Nevertheless, his role on the team still is cloudy. He’s the most experienced, proven kick-returner, but the job’s not his yet. He never has contributed much away from special teams, so a receiver spot is an uphill battle that he’s just starting to climb.
Heaggans realizes that trust is hard to gain, yet easy to lose. He now says he’s starting the process of earning it all back.
Anything beyond that – playing time, for example – simply is a bonus.
“I’m happy to be a part of the team,” Heaggans said. “It’s my last year. Coach Mangino is a good coach, and I’m happy he gave me another chance to be here. I’m going to take advantage of it.”
