“I Didn’t Take Care Of My Process”
May 5th, 2020
“Jason, maybe you could ask Bruce if we need to add a kicking coach for the current the kicking coach.”
Possibly most disturbing about the following fresh commentary from Bucs kicker Matt Gay is that Tampa Bay has a dedicated kicking coach.
Few NFL teams do.
Gay was part of a group interview with punter Bradley Pinion and long snapper Zach Triner recently on Buccaneers.com. Host Casey Phillips asked the group about high pressure situations and Gay got candid.
“What is it that’s going through all of your minds in that moment as you’re trying to handle the pressure?” Phillips asked.
“I’ll go first because last year I didn’t,” Gay said. “And I’ve learned a lot from that looking back at it.
“And I think sometimes when you’re in the moment, you can’t really see why. And looking back at some of the kicks I had, confidence is a good thing, But I think I was so confident or focused on like, I knew it was going in, I knew it was going in, I knew it was going in – and I was prepared for that moment it was going to go in — that I didn’t take care of my process.
“I think in those big moments you gotta stay focused in and locked in on your process; what do you do every single kick that you would do for [an extra point] in the first quarter? Take your three steps. Line it up. Deep breath. The few words you say to yourself, and focus on the process because then the result will follow. And I think going back and looking back at last year, I got so focused on the result in a confidence way, in a ‘it’s gonna go in, it’s gonna go in’ that it distracted me from focusing on my process.”
Introspective there from Gay, and a bit scary to Joe.
Where is former NFL kicker and Bucs “specialist coach” Chris Boniol is in all of this? Shouldn’t a singular focus on process have been ironed out with Gay before preseason kicked off last year? Or was Gay so lacking confidence that it had to be a focus and things got out of control?
The Bucs and Bucs fans have Super Bowl goals this season, which is what makes Gay’s comments disturbing. A steady kicking game has to be a part of the mix. Gay missed five of his final nine field goals last season.
Joe will hope Gay has things figured out or that new kicker Elliot Fry is a hidden gem.
May 5th, 2020 at 10:25 am
Its the kids first year in the NFL. Now I know all the haters, well, you were as good at your job the first day as you are now, you learned nothing along the way. Good for you. If what the kid says is true, he identified a problem and is dealing with it, as opposed to keeping things the same. He has the leg. But haters are gonna hate, hoping this kid comes out cold so they can complain. That’s what they do. That’s what 25% of the articles in here do. Don’t be ridiculous. Matt Gay, who is 26 years old, shares his analysis of his game, the Bucs want you to know all about it, and Joe isn’t supposed to look at it objectively? Come on, man. Gay struggled late in the season. It’s not like these issues were confined the first half of the season. It’s worthy of a microscope on the guy coaching him. –Joe
May 5th, 2020 at 10:27 am
steven gostkowski will be in Tompa Bay come September.
May 5th, 2020 at 10:35 am
I think you are reading way to much in to this. It is like with any craft, you can’t change much in the moment. We’re not talking about one game here. –Joe You haven’t talked with the coaches either. Joe wouldn’t trust the coaches’ answers on Gay’s kicking.–Joe What’s to say that the coach wasn’t pointing that part out and that might be why he was so good one game then got too confident and missed in other games. That is what rookies do. QB’s have that issue all the time. That is why they are rookies. He has shown to me that he gets it and will make the needed changes and is working on them now. Problem Aguayo had was he didn’t get it and just kept making changes till he was out of the league completely. Aguayo played one NFL season. –Joe His brother is having the same problem at FSU. He was rock solid in high school as both a punter and a kicker, now he is such a head case he can’t make any consistently.
I know you have to write something in these times, but i really think you are over thinking this issue completely. But that is just my humble opinion. Joe writes about what Joe finds interesting without regard to time of year. Gay’s late struggles are a component of the 2019 season, just like how many fans think players’ improvements late in the season are signs of what’s to come. –Joe
May 5th, 2020 at 10:45 am
This “Head Case” lost 2.5 games last year.
Why is he even here?
Remember Snoop McPlaybook?
Neither do I.
May 5th, 2020 at 10:54 am
Gay will out kick Fry in all aspects. Huge year coming for Gay.
May 5th, 2020 at 10:55 am
He did cost us 1-2 games basically last year but he wasn’t the only kicker in the league that you could say that about. I’d be shocked if any single K goes a season without missing an important FG or XP that changes the outcome of the game.
Before the Atlanta game he would have ranked 14th in FG % but after that game he was 24th in FG % / 23rd in XP %
Hopefully lord Brady can lift all the curses of this team – including the Kicking woes
May 5th, 2020 at 10:56 am
Actually Justin Tucker / Josh Lambo – there were a couple of automatic guys last year that never hurt their teams really
May 5th, 2020 at 10:56 am
Pro golfers have swing coaches. Baseball has hitting coaches. So to should a kicker have a coach specific to that skill set whether it’s the team providing one or the kicker seeking one on his own. Speaking from a former kicker’s perspective you need someone to keep your mechanics in check. You pick up bad habits just like in your golf swing or your baseball swing. The slightest deviation in mechanics increases exponentially over distance and with little room for error a kick that is otherwise well struck can push right or hook and miss by inches.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:03 am
Give the guy a chance before he’s cast aside. Hopefully he really has learned from last year and can apply it to this year. The Bucs have gone through way too many kickers lately with nothing much to show for it.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:11 am
Amazingly the kicker’s thru out the league did suffer!! I like our Gay kicker this year!
May 5th, 2020 at 11:15 am
The NFL is a big step up for kickers. Not just is there the speed and consistency of the rush, the goals are closer together.
Gay has put enough into it to show marked improvement this season.
Like a golfer, you have to work on the swing of things, he knows what went wrong. That is something that coaches can’t make a kicker realize. Coaches can make the mechanics into muscle memory, but they cannot affect the psychology until the player admits their problem. (You listening Jameis?)
Gay will be fine this season, he has a great leg and now knows how to use it.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:19 am
You really need to go through a “process” before you miss a game winning field goal from the 20 yard line?
He also missed two extra points during that Giants game and we lost by one stinking point.
Face it kid – you choked.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:23 am
Ghost of Darrell Henderson Says:
May 5th, 2020 at 10:45 am
This “Head Case” lost 2.5 games last year.
How, exactly do you lose a half of a game?
Granted, missing kicks will help lose games but that’s not all that goes into it….
Seemed like Jameis, his problems were mostly at home.
I believe he will improve……he had a really bad game vs Atlanta….it happens.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:23 am
Was said kicker a 5 year vet is said kicker in a contract year is said kicker asking for 30mil a year????? With all that being said said kicker can still be upgraded anyone can😂😂😂
May 5th, 2020 at 11:27 am
Stay on it Joe. This is extremely important. You just can’t miss five out of mine.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:28 am
I’m sure his coach was telling him things. There are reasons rookies need a year to step up their game, even kickers. You can bet he’s working hard to fix himself.
It would be great if he could work with his coach, but the NFL is prohibiting it right now.
The no contact with each other is ridiculous.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:37 am
Just like a golfer, kickers need routine, structure and process. I like that he was confident last year, I like it even more that he understands how the routine will make him more consistent. I’d be way more worried if he was fiddling with kick mechanics. It’s so much like golf and the successful ones block all the noise out and do so with a repeatable pre-shot routine.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:44 am
Joe if you go on Monday Night Football would you not need time to adapt to that stage even though you are a media giant? EVERYONE needs time to adapt. Football is easy to look at objectively – just look at the stats. They key will be this year, not last year. No one is ignoring his ills last year .
May 5th, 2020 at 11:44 am
At least bring Gostkowski in for competition
May 5th, 2020 at 11:50 am
He specifically said, take your deep breath, say whatever it is you say to yourself.These are not things a coach can identify unless the kicker tells the coach.It was his first year on top of that….this is reading way in between the lines.
May 5th, 2020 at 12:13 pm
There’s an amazing book called, “Golf is not a game of perfect”. Everyone, not just golfers, should read it. It’s exactly what Gay discovered the hard way.
May 5th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
Kickers must be consistent from their first kick in the league to their last. There is no time for rookie mistakes when it comes to kicking. If seasoning is needed, let them do it in the minor leagues of football, not the NFL.
One season of bad kicking……do I need to spell it out. We know here how bad kickers can suck and hurt our team, more than most. We can’t afford it now, if we ever could.
It’s not hating on anyone, if you were poor on your job you likely wouldn’t have it for long.
Really sounds like our kicking coach is not communicating well with this guy. Let’s just get a consistent guy, maybe we can afford to keep him on the roster for 60 yard plus and hire a Matt Bryant for the 45 and in kicks
May 5th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
I was actually really encouraged by that interview. Showed a guy who had learned some lessons his rookie year and hopefully can continue to refine his game as he enters his second.
May 5th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
Just say what you really mean Joe
Gay is a p.o.s.
May 5th, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Yeah I really liked that video and I like Gay’s mindset. He is certainly mentally tougher than Aguayo.
May 5th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
player\coach fails to acknowledge risks\weaknesses of player. Joe: “how oblivious!”
player\coach acknowledges risks\weaknesses of player. Joe: “look out. this guy might be mentally weak”
May 5th, 2020 at 5:54 pm
The Gay kicker needs to go. Bucs with a decent kicker are 10-6 last year.
May 5th, 2020 at 6:33 pm
A kicker who’s a head case?
SHOCKER
May 5th, 2020 at 7:39 pm
Rookie kicker misses kicks. Joe blames kicking coach. Why make things up?–Joe
Maybe kicker is like other positions and rookies are more error prone… Maybe Gay isn’t a crap kicker and Boniol isn’t a crap coach. Maybe we should see what happens this year. Gay has a booming leg and can hit em from long range consistently. Maybe, the short range accuracy is part of the mental game. Like every player needs to get his mental game zoned in. Doesn’t happen immediately. If that were a reasonable expectation, you’d never spend time developing a player and you’d cut most of your rookies every year. Teams develop kickers? Really? By that logic Aguayo should have been retained. Patrick Murray, too. –Joe
May 5th, 2020 at 8:13 pm
By that logic Aguayo should have been retained. Patrick Murray, too. –Joe
Aguayo was clearly garbage. Gay showed more long range ability. He’s got more upside, so it’s a poor comparison. Also, Gay had a lights-out stretch including some long-range kicks through a decent stretch in the middle part of the season. He wasn’t ever as bad as Aguayo. Those last couple games make him look a lot worse statistically. If Gay didn’t have that big leg and demonstrated ability to nail long-range, there’d be no reason to give him more time… but that’s not the case.
May 5th, 2020 at 9:54 pm
I like his comments in the chat today and feel he will improve. The guy is saying he needs to focus more on his mechanics in the clutch which I agree because he had some close misses in those games. Like the Giants game. The competition will make him better it appears to. He’s surprisingly an edgy person so I really hope he doesn’t crack under there pressure. His background and pedigree shouldn’t lead to that. The competition will keep Gay focused I feel like and this interview sounds like it’s already achieving that. Pinion, the LS, Gay are gonna be there day one but who will be our three go to return men this season. We need to be thinking of winning the field position game with an older Brady at QB I think. They improved on third down by miles with their draft picks of Vaughn and Calais IMO. They also did a lot for their third down defense as well thru the draft by getting Winfield.We really need a veteran burner as a returner like Ginn. We add Ginn to Logan and I think we blow on Kickoff and punt return. R. Smith being our top Gunner will also improve our special teams. Again we need a Returner first and foremost. Trust me Gay will be okay I feel they found a sleeper in Fry who could be on the practice squad and ready any given week in the event of a break down from Gay who is prone to it definitely as evidenced in the interview. But I just feel the guy has a perfect pedigree and will get better.
May 5th, 2020 at 11:28 pm
They brought the Goat
Now bring in the Ghost
We aint got no time for dat!
Gay had shaky start shaky end
He better smoke everyone within 100 miles of Ray Jay to be on roster
Opening Day …….Go with Throttle up…there no tonmorow..
May 6th, 2020 at 12:05 am
You know what I think is funny. Joe complains constantly about drafting a kicker. This is not an accurate statement. Joe complains about the team having subpar kickers. –Joe
Guess who else drafted a kicker in the 5th round at almost the same spot as Gay? Belichick. I believe he drafted the previous kicker too. Belichick has more football knowledge in his little toe than both Joes do in their whole body.
Both Joes and especially Lee show a lack of class the way they refer to some of the players, as well as fellow media members. They may think they are being cute or funny but it is unprofessional and quite honestly after listening to two years + of their podcast I would talk to anyone but them if I was in the league.
Lee also tee’s off on Ira every now and again, happened a couple of weeks ago. All I can think of when that happens is I wish Ira would man up and take his talent elsewhere. Lee has to issue an apology on the next podcast again a lack of professionalism and class.
May 6th, 2020 at 12:31 am
It’s a two-way street.
If you only knew. Joe wouldn’t even think of pulling the stunts some of these guys have done and are doing. But yeah, they’re all squeaky clean and God’s gift to journalism because they write in AP style. Sure. Remember: Joe has a degree in journalism. Got a really good grade in journalism ethics, too.
One of these days Joe will open up, trust Joe. May not be tomorrow. May not be next year. But sometime.
Joe doesn’t give a damn what other credentialed media thinks. But Joe knows what the proper word is. “Successful.” While others are panhandling for cash to keep the lights on, Joe’s fine. Please fill in Joe how asking for charity to keep the fires burning without some form of stock options or interest or some other sliver of the pie in return is “professional.”
And if Joe listened to the many pieces of unsolicited advice he got from that crowd, Joe would have been out of business years ago. But yeah, Joe should be like the other guys — who are begging people for cash so they aren’t forced to bolt the doors for good. Seems plausible. Always seek advice on how to keep a boat afloat from those who slam their ships into icebergs, right? Right.
Hey, there’s nothing like watching people who allow their own egos to drive themselves off a cliff.
Joe’s worried about No. 1. No one else. Outside of Ira, that is.
May 6th, 2020 at 8:20 am
Rookie jitters. No biggie
May 6th, 2020 at 11:48 am
Maybe Gay should use google…
May 8th, 2020 at 12:18 am
I feel like if he responded the opposite way and said there wasn’t an issue and he is on track with confidence then we would be reading the same article just inverse as to his current thinking or behaviour..