Longhorns Country

Position Preview: How Can Jeff Banks Help to Improve Special Teams?

Will New Texas Special Teams Coach Jeff Banks Make a Difference for the Longhorns?

Tomer Barazani

Since his freshman year, Texas’s Cameron Dicker developed a reputation as a clutch kicker by hitting crucial kicks against Oklahoma and other rivals. Despite his early successes, his past two seasons in Austin were not as impressive as his freshman debut. He missed several crucial kicks (including some fairly easy ones).

Texas's new special teams coach, Jeff Banks, could turn the Longhorns' kicking record around.

Banks, who coached Will Reichard at Alabama last season, had a perfect kicking record. Hopefully, his performance will instill confidence in Dicker in 2021.

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Kick and punt returner D'Shawn Jamison has shined this past season. On Halloween, he had a critical 100-yard kickoff in Texas’s 41-34 win over Oklahoma State. Banks, who developed a track record of giving good field positions at Texas A&M and Alabama, will again seek to maximize Jamison's potential.

Punter Ryan Bujcevski, who ended his season early with a torn ACL last November, hopes to play alongside Dicker. They will strive to form the Big 12’s Top Kicking Duo in 2021.

Freshman punter Isaac Pearson (Australia) will be a player that will arrive on campus this fall. In the past couple of years, Pearson was part of an Australian developmental punting organization called ProKicker. This program has yielded successful prospects for Texas in the past, including its previous two punters, Michael Dickson and Bujcevski.

Another prospect to watch is Bert Auburn, who is set to be Dicker’s successor.

The 2021 prospect, recruited by the new coaching staff, went 17-of-21 kicking with a long of 50 yards during his three seasons at Flower (Texas) Mound High School.

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Tomer Barazani
TOMER BARAZANI

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