If this weekend's games from Pittsburgh's professional and Division I college football teams weren't indicators of just how important special teams are, what else could have been?
When things go as planned, the unit tends to fly under-appreciated under a grand scheme of things. But, the specialists often have to be the most detail-oriented bunch on the field, given how a split-fraction of a second could literally be the difference between putting three points on the board or flipping the field and surrendering a momentum-swinging turnover to the other team.
After two games of replacing an All-American at his position, Pitt long snapper Byron Floyd has seen both sides of the coin.
"It shows people how important it actually is when you don't have one," he said.
As we were reminded of on both Saturday and Sunday, one botched special teams play -- or a repeat of such -- can partially or wholly swing momentum in an entire game.
The redshirt sophomore Floyd has experienced the flash of glory that can come with the job, and he did so in a big way on Saturday against Tennessee.
With Pitt down 27-20 in the fourth quarter and facing a 4th-and-8 from Pitt's own 18-yard line, the Panthers were set to punt the ball. Floyd rifled back a low snap to Sam Vander Haar, who got the ball off to Tennessee return man Trevon Flowers.
But, Flowers muffed the kick, and Floyd was able to hustle down the field and wrestle the ball away from the pile for a Pitt recovery at the Tennessee 39.
"The snap was kind of low, which caused the punter to bring it back towards the middle," Floyd said of the play, "so I was kind of upset about that. But when I was running downfield, I saw it his (Flowers') shoulder pad, and P.J. (O'Brien) came in and knocked him out, and then the gunner was -- I just kind of just fell on top of him, and then the ball just ended up right in front of me, so I just grabbed it."
That play proved to be crucial, as Pitt then went on a 10-play drive that resulted in a game-tying touchdown connection from Nick Patti to Jared Wayne.
Floyd edged redshirt freshman James Fineran for the Panthers' long snapper job in training camp. He had worked with Panthers place-kicker and fellow redshirt sophomore Ben Sauls over the previous two seasons at Pitt and an additional three while working with the same special teams coach in the offseason. Australian punter Sam Vander Haar played in his second-ever American football game on Saturday and is still getting somewhat acclimated to the timing of receiving the ball and getting the kick off in the face of rushing defenders.
(Fun fact about Floyd: The Mentor, Ohio, product is of the same alma mater as Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky, whom Floyd said grew up five doors down the street from him. Floyd also said he played football in high school with one of Trubisky's younger brothers.)
In the Steelers' case on Sunday, it was the cause and effect of two bad snaps by Cincinnati backup long snapper Mitchell Wilcox, after starter Clark Harris injured his right bicep.
Wilcox, a tight end, had two chances to help deliver a victory to the Bengals. When Ja'Marr Chase caught his TD from Joe Burrow as time nearly expired in regulation, all Cincinnati had to do was convert the extra point to win the game.
Instead, a fluttered snap by Wilcox resulted in a blocked kick by Minkah Fitzpatrick, and the game went into overtime.
Wilcox had a chance at redemption in overtime on a chip-shot, 29-yard field goal for the normally automatic Evan McPherson. But, the snap was high, thus throwing off the operation's timing, and the kick was hooked wide-left.
"We were actually watching it during our meeting with (special teams coordinator Andre Powell), we were watching the end of that game," Floyd said. "I mean, that's a tough situation for that tight end because he was not expecting to be in there. The first snap, I thought it was pretty good. Maybe a touch slow, which caused the block. And then the second one was obviously high, and then the kicker kicked laces, as well. You don't ever want to kick laces, no matter what."
Coincidentally, Cincinnati placed Harris on Injured Reserve and signed Floyd's college mentor from its practice squad on Tuesday -- Cal Adomitis, an American Football Coaches Association All-American selection and the 2021 Patrick Mannelly Award winner as the nation's top senior long snapper in Football Bowl Subdivision.
Adomitis was the epitome of consistency, as he handled every long snap involved for Pitt between 2017 and up through 2021, a streak of 64 straight games. He was chosen to play in the Senior Bowl before this spring's NFL Draft. The Central Catholic product went undrafted and signed with the Bengals, and Wilcox beat him for the reserve position out of training camp.
He now has his shot in the pros, beginning suddenly and immediately.
Cal Adomitis, the #Bengals new long snapper, is confident he can do the job as he’ll take over for Clark Harris pic.twitter.com/979cewM7SB
— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 12, 2022
"It's certainly been a whirlwind, but, you know, sometimes life just comes at you fast and you react and you fall back onto your habits and the things you've worked to improve on through the years, and you just trust yourself that you're prepared for the moment," Adomitis told reporters on Monday, while clad in a white Pitt T-shirt.
"It's been great to spend the whole OTAs and camp working with Clark, because he's been an absolute class act. It's been great working with him, and, in my opinion, I think he's the best to ever do it as a long snapper. So, with that in mind, and having (special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons) as well, I feel amply prepared to step in and get the job done."
Floyd talked about working on the optimization of the timing of getting the ball snapped and into the punter or holder's hands:
"We're also offset (in the punting formation, with the punter standing behind the guard), so it's also going to be a little slower, compared straight back in our scheme," Floyd said. "Cal snapped a little faster than me, but he was also older, so I think I could end up getting to that point."
Floyd said the most important thing he learned from Adomitis is keeping his focus and staying ready for his moments in the game. Floyd even noted his close relationship with Adomitis, as he said he is now living in his former mentor's old apartment.
"Cal is a really good leader," Floyd said. "We became really close over the last two years. Not really the snapping basics, but the mental stuff of being a long snapper. Mentally, I think I had 10 plays in the game on Saturday, so you really just got to be really focused on the sideline, and it's mentally challenging."
