Michigan attempts to block a kick earlier this season. The Michigan coaching staff divides duties to cover all areas of special teams.

In one of his first official acts as Purdue head coach last December, Danny Hope promoted graduate assistant J.B. Gibboney to special-teams coordinator.

The move barely made a dent in that day’s transactions, but it did mark a departure from tradition in the Big Ten. Gibboney, a former kicker at Pitt and an instructor at the Ray Guy Kicking Academy, became the league’s only dedicated special-teams coach.

Illinois is one of just 10 other FBS schools that lists a stand-alone special-teams coordinator in the Football Writers directory, but Illini assistant Mike Woodford also works closely with defensive backs.

Michigan, like most teams in college football, divvies special-teams duties among its regular position coaches, though second-year coach Rich Rodriguez said he’d employ a special-teams coordinator if the NCAA eased current rules restricting schools to nine full-time assistants.

“I think it’d be great,” Rodriguez said. “Like if you’re in the NFL, you have one guy that all he had to do was devote his time to special teams and you didn’t have recruiting and all that, that would be great. But what are you going to do? We try to do this so we get everybody involved and everybody’s a part of it.

“Some guys make it work that way, but we’ve always done it this way.”

Every Michigan assistant except quarterbacks coach Rod Smith and coordinators Calvin Magee and Greg Robinson oversees a specific area of special teams, and each has up to three other assistants helping with the game plan.

Most run a unit that relies heavily on their regular position players. Receivers coach Tony Dews coordinates the punt team; secondary coach Tony Gibson runs punt block; linebackers coach Jay Hopson works kickoff; running backs coach Fred Jackson does kick return; offensive line coach Greg Frey oversees field goal; and defensive line coach Bruce Tall has field-goal block.

Rodriguez said Michigan’s first coaches meeting every morning is a 30-minute session on special teams, and every day the Wolverines practice at least three specialty areas. On Mondays and Thursdays, all six units get practice time, and players watch special-teams film three times a week.

Rodriguez runs the clicker in Monday’s full-team film session.

“People talk about a third of the game and all that, we truly devote as much time” as possible to special teams, Rodriguez said. “And I stay actively involved in it that way, not just because it shows importance, because I want to know what’s going on.”

Michigan’s special teams have been among the best in the Big Ten this year. The Wolverines rank in the top half of the league in kick returns, kick coverage, field-goal percentage and punting, but they had one glaring mistake on a fake punt in last week’s loss to Michigan State.

Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko practices. Mesko works with Michigan coaches and a private coach. (Photo: File photo).

On fourth-and-inches inside the Michigan 20, Rodriguez called for Zoltan Mesko to roll punt, with the option of running for a first down. Mesko took off for the sticks, was dropped for a 3-yard loss, and Michigan State kicked a field goal four plays later. The Spartans won, 26-20, in overtime.

Rodriguez defended his decision to roll punt Monday, though he said Mesko should have kicked the ball and coaches have to better explain the parameters of when to run.

“If they’re in a punt safe look and all that, you kick the ball,” Rodriguez said. “It’s pretty simple. Just if a guy’s coming on the outside, kick the ball. He knows that. Shoot, he’s one of the best in he country.”

The popular method of sharing special-teams coaching duties comes with other drawbacks as well.

Private kicking coaches have expressed concern that kickers and punters often overwork their legs without proper supervision in practice, and most position coaches aren’t qualified to provide technical instruction on the finer points of kicking.

Michigan kicker Jason Olesnavage, who’s made all 21 extra points and is 5-of-6 on field goals this year, joked that Frey’s “tips usually are, it’s supposed to go between the uprights.”

“He cracks me up because he doesn’t know a whole lot about kicking technique, but he’ll let you know when it’s not going through the uprights,” Olesnavage said. “But he’s great. We’ve had such great blocking this year. It’s been pretty much flawless thus far in terms of operation, and he does a great job.”

For more technical advice, Olesnavage and Mesko depend on personal kicking coaches - Mesko works with former Cowboys punter Filip Filipovic, Olesnavage sometimes turns to former Michigan kicker Brandon Kornblue - and their own teammates.

“We’ll sit in a meeting room with all of the specialists and we’ll go over everybody’s film and we kind of coach each other in a way,” Olesnavage said. “You look like you’re leaning this way a little bit, or your ankle’s not completely locked. Coaches know a lot about leg lock and kind of following straight through, the basic stuff. But I think a lot of the fine-tuning stuff comes from each other and from kicking camps.”

Olesnavage said he’d prefer to have a true special-teams coordinator on staff, someone who’s an expert on kicking technique. But he’s realistic about the NCAA restrictions, too.

“Do you want to have a kicking coach or do you want a (defensive backs) coach?” Olesnavage said. “I think, in terms of importance, it’s a little more important to have a DBs coach. I would have a lot harder time playing DB without a coach than I would kicking without an actual coach.”

Still, some schools find a way to do it, and Purdue’s Hope said the benefits, from recruiting top-notch specialists to all-around game planning, are immense.

“I think everybody would do it” if the NCAA permitted more assistants, Hope said. “It allows you to spend more time on recruiting during the season and more time focused on the position that you coach. And more time with your guys, the guys at your position and the guys that you recruit. It’s one less thing off your plate and our plate is awfully full.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

# Title is special teams coordinator, but also works closely with defensive backs according to his bio on FightingIllini.com