Pete Lembo talks building Gamecocks' brand on special teams
South Carolina associate head coach Pete Lembo has made a significant impact on the Gamecocks program since joining Shane Beamer’s staff.
In both of his seasons in Columbia, USC’s statistically ranked among the best in the country in multiple special teams metrics.
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Aside from making routine plays, there’s been plenty of excitement: Xavier Legette’s 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown to open the Texas A&M game. Kai Kroeger’s perfect passer rating on fakes (not to mention his actual punting), and Mitch Jeter’s perfect field goal record. Tonka Hemingway rumbling in for two-point conversion. Nate Adkins stripping a Clemson ball carrier to help seal a rivalry win.
Those big plays don’t happen by accident, of course. Beamer has made the third phase of the game an integral part of how he’s built his program.
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“There’s no question that we’re taking an aggressive mindset to what we’re doing on special teams,” Lembo said during an appearance on the Halftime Show on 107.5 The Game on Friday. “It’s certainly made an impact of the outcome of games, on the morale of our team. It’s helped us build a brand.”
Whether it’s Beamer Ball, Lembo Ball, or whatever one wants to call it, the way the Gamecock staff prepares its players to be successful on special teams is a truly holistic approach. Rather than thinking of the prep as separate pieces, everything works together.
Said Lembo: “What the new players are learning this winter is that I’m teaching them fundamentals. We’re not out there going into specifics of punt team or kickoff return. We’re teaching them the basics of football, and emphasizing that that’s going to translate to what they’re doing on offense and defense just as well as it is going to help us on special teams.”
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It’s that type of preparation that can lead to those aforementioned huge, exciting, plays. When they happen, Lembo hopes that they’re a reinforcing factor for the team, though he freely admits he would like to stop and enjoy them more at times.
“It just continues to build that foundation and confidence that, this is what we do, this is how we do it. I don’t mean to minimize the impact of those things, but you design those things to work,” he laughed. “I have sort of an eliminate emotion mindset during games. We were supposed to complete that pass, or make that gadget work. Now, let’s move on to the next thing and celebrate after. Let’s look back afterwards and smell the roses, which I need to do a better job of.”
Lembo noted that the staff’s offseason research showed that there were a total of 14 “muddle huddle” snaps in the entirety of FBS last season, which is over 130 teams playing a minimum of 12 games.
Seven of them came from Lembo’s special teams units.
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“There’s a certain, for me, humility about it. For our players, there’s a little confidence and swag about what we’ve been able to do and that’s exciting,” said Lembo.
The success that the Gamecocks have found and the association that USC now has with being excellent on special teams has extended to the recruiting trail, and perhaps not in a conventional way. The staff’s reliance on special teams helps them find guys that are team players who want to contribute in that regard.
“We’re very up front with them, this time of year we’re doing virtual meetings and inevitably special teams come up. We talk about how it’s a big part of our culture here,” Lembo explained. “You can tell when you get to know these young men what their mindset is going to be. The guys that are team-oriented are usually the exact same guys that really want to be part of the special teams.”
