It was special teams day at Florida State, with new special teams coordinator Adam Scheier, new kicker Gabe Panikowski and new punter Daniel Hughes talking to assembled media members about that lesser-discussed aspect of the team after Thursday’s practice.
Scheier, who is quite well-regarded as a special teams coach, comes from recent stints over the last decade at change at Wake Forest, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Temple and UNLV, talked at length about how the special teams units have performed this preseason.
Notably, he talked up FSU’s expected pair of starting kick returners in Micahi Danzy and Samuel Singleton Jr.
“I think we’ve got two of the best returners in the country,” Scheier said. “We’ve got good middle skill to block them for them up front, and the guys are understanding the schematics and understanding the fundamentals it’s gonna take to block for those guys, and again, they’re dangerous with the ball in their hands, so we’re excited.”
On the punt return front, true freshman receiver Jasen Lopez has emerged as the frontrunner to start there, pairing with perhaps an immediate role on offense as well. Other names thrown into the punt return mix were Jayvan Boggs, Devin Carter and even Duce Robinson.
“Jasen Lopez has shown the ability, confidence, moxie for a true freshman to be the guy,” Scheier said. “Boggs, now that he’s back healthy, he’s been working there. Devin Carter, Gemari Sands, Duce Robinson, Ja’Bril Rawls. So we’ve got a good pool of guys that can go back there and catch them. Like we’ve said, and I’ve said in the past, possession’s key. So we learned here last year: possession’s key. It’s gotta be first-and-10 Seminoles at the end of the day.”
As far as position battles go, Scheier said that Panikowski, an Oklahoma State transfer, is currently the starting placekicker, Conor McAneney is handling kickoffs and Hughes, a New Mexico transfer from Australia, is the expected starting punter.
For more in the weeds of special teams, the full videos of the interviews with Scheier, Panikowski and Hughes are below: