Nebraska special teams coach Ed Foley using golf lessons to help kickers improve

Nebraska special teams coordinator Ed Foley has 34 years of coaching experience under his belt, including nine years working on special teams. During that time, he has developed a unique coaching style for his kickers involving a completely different sport — golf. “We talk about the foot, the actual foot that strikes the ball, as the club face when we talk about it,” Foley says. “The club face to me is the way that the foot hits the ball in the right spot, just like a golf ball.” Foley says the ideal kicking technique is very simple. “We try to keep the foot and the angle flat and we try to kick the same meaty part of the ball all the time,” he says. So far, he’s been able to impart that wisdom to NU special teamers both old and new. Foley speaks especially highly of junior punter Brian Buschini, whose 44 yards per punt mark last year ranks eighth in school history. “He’s a joy to coach and he’s a challenge to coach because he wants so much information all the time,” Foley says. “ He does a really good job with location, different types of kicks that we’re asking him to do…I think he’s gonna have a really good year next year.” Foley is also excited to coach Tristan Alvano, the freshman from Omaha Westside whose most recent Memorial Stadium experience was the Class A title-winning kick. The most impressive part of Alvano’s game, according to Foley, isn’t just his poise under pressure, but his consistency. “You’re looking at the guy and you’re saying, okay he’s got a big leg and he can make a 55 yarder, but does he have a repeatable swing?...Yes he does,” Foley says. “See a guy make the pressure kicks in high school…he had done that several times.” Foley also seeks to get that consistency out of returning kicker Timmy Bleekrode, who struggled in the spring game. However, Foley did acknowledge that part of the spring game struggles were out of Bleekrode’s control. “The spring game, he needs to make the kicks and then we need to do a better job on the operation,” Foley says. “We’re working with Timmy about becoming more consistent and he’s done that.” While Foley seems happy with who he’s got kicking the ball, the players who’ll end up returning the ball haven’t separated themselves from the pack yet. Foley has not yet picked a kick returner, and may not for quite some time. “The kickoff return job is open to me…that one’s gonna carry through the preseason I think a little bit more than maybe some of the other jobs,” Foley says. “I’m not worried about it because I think there’s a number of guys that can do it, but I want to get a better feel with it.” Two players Foley mentioned as potential returners are Baylor transfer Joshua Fleeks, who played for Matt Rhule at Baylor, and Virginia transfer Billy Kemp IV. Kemp returned punts at Virginia, leading the team in punt return yardage all four years. Foley has been very impressed with Kemp’s tape and seems ready to let him continue returning punts wearing a Cornhuskers jersey. “I think Kemp has shown the ability to catch it, he’s done it in games and he’s done it here,” Foley says. “I like Kemp because Kemp, to me, has a little bit of that swagger when he catches it.” Another position that will likely see a transfer take the starting role is long snapper. Marco Ortiz started at long snapper for Florida in 2021, and his experience has allowEd Foley to increase the long snapper’s responsibilities. “It’s not just like snapping the ball back there anymore, so now we’re asking him to do things like put the ball in a certain spot,” Foley says. “We’re also trying to get him to get it so that there’s very little ball rotation on the field goals and extra points.” Ortiz’s brother was also a long snapper, yet another quality that has endeared him to Foley. “The pedigree means a little bit to me in that it’s in his blood a little bit,” Foley says. He’s also been extremely impressed with Ortiz’s work ethic over spring camp. “He’s out there working on his craft all the time, he’s very good and he’s getting better.” Foley seems ready to go for training camp, probably because the team does as well. He says the special teamers are “completely bought in” and are looking forward to finalizing the way special teams will look. “I love working with the guys, they go, they go, and they want more…they’re a great, great group of guys to work with,” Foley says. “We’ve made some good strides in spring…the next step in August will be the actual schemes and how they all fit together.” If Foley is able to properly fit those schemes together and fix a unit that was 128th (out of 131 teams) in efficiency last year, it coulod go a long way in helping the the Huskers improve on a 4-8 finish in 2022.