Frank Gansz, Jr., talks with PonyFans.com

[PonyPride]

SMU's new special teams coach, Frank Gansz, Jr., met with PonyFans.com Monday afternoon. Some notes:

• Gansz said he "doesn't really remember" whether head coach June Jones reached out to him when former special teams coach Dennis McKnight left to go to the Canadian Football League or whether he asked Jones about the vacancy. "I've known Coach Jones for years, and we reach out to each other all the time, but who brought it up first? I don't know. All I know is that my dad always said this was the best job he ever had, and I'm excited to be here."

• Leaving UCLA, Gansz said, was tough. He has had a strong working relationship with Bruins head coach Rick Neuheisel since the two coached together with the Baltimore Ravens, and he considers Neuheisel a close friend. In addition, Gansz spoke about the players he left behind at UCLA, drawing parallels between the players at UCLA and those he has inherited at SMU. "They're good kids. They play hard, they're smart and they do the right thing. A lot of them will be very successful, and the players here seem to be the same way — just really good kids."

• Gansz said there isn't a difference when coaching college players — he also coached at the University of Houston — or coaching NFL players, as he did with three teams: the Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. "When you have elite players out there, you can do a lot of things," he said. "Being an elite player includes speed and strength and all of that, but it also means being smart. The players I want on special teams are smart players. They get it — they understand the game. It makes no difference whether they're offensive players or defensive players. If they have the athletic ability and intelligence and desire, they can play special teams." He said he and Jones have not yet discussed which players he'll have available for special teams, but acknowledged that while he wants the best possible athletes, the coaches have to be smart about not risking players to injury if those players play positions at which the Ponies do not have great depth.

• His first task at SMU, like at any new job, is assessing the talent with which he has to work. Gansz hailed McKnight for teaching the same system — including the same terminology — that Frank Gansz, Sr., implemented when he coached at SMU. "It's a little like getting new players who I already have worked with," Gansz said. "I'm still getting to know the players, but a lot of these guys, especially the juniors and seniors, seem to know what we're doing. It looks like a good foundation to build on."

• The similarities between Gansz and his father extend beyond the fact that they share the same name. They teach basically the same system, Gansz said, "with my own little touch here and there," and use much of the same terminology.

• Gansz pointed out that he has different kinds of players return kickoffs and punts. For example, while with the Kansas City Chiefs, he made a star out of diminutive Dante Hall, whose jitterbug style of starting and stopping and changing directions earned him the nickname "the Human Joystick." Gansz also used Eddie Kinnison, a bigger player who was more of a straight-ahead sprinter. Gansz said he has no preference on style, but said that the No. 1 skill any return specialist must have is "the ability to catch the ball. It doesn't matter how fast you are or how many moves you've got — if you can't catch the ball, you're not going anywhere. I can show you film of some of the best plays a returner makes, where he runs up 20 yards to make a fair catch. He doesn't get credit for a big return, but you think about where that ball might have bounced, and he just made a 45-yard punt into a 25-yard punt. That's a huge play."

• At UCLA, Gansz coached kicker Kai Forbath — who won the 2009 Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker and Gansz thinks could be the first specialist selected in the 2011 NFL Draft later this month — and a pair of All-Pac-10 punters in Aaron Perez and Jeff Locke. SMU will be replacing the graduated Matt Szymanski, who handled both placekicking and punting chores for the Ponies. Gansz said he is not opposed to having one player (Mike Loftis?) handle the placekicking, punting and kickoff duties "if he can handle it." He also was quick to point out that the accolades his players won at UCLA would not have happened if not for the other 10 players on the field with them. "I'm sure if you ask Kai or Aaron or Jeff, they'll tell you they're only as good as the other guys out there. Kai made a lot of good kicks, but only when he had a good snap and a good hold and good blockers protecting him."

• Some teams reflect their coaches so well that it's almost obvious who coaches them. Picture an offense coached by June Jones, a defense coached by [deleted] LeBeau or Frank Beamer's special teams units at Virginia Tech. Asked if there is a characteristic that transcends all of his teams, Gansz said, "I would hope it would be the intensity, that they play for each other."

[Corso]

Coach Gansz sounds like a great guy - obviously runs in the family.

[PonyGirl]

Welcome to SMU, Coach!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Great information! I'm really looking forward to improved teams this season - it should hopefully mean another win or two.

[fbparent]

Wow! What a resume. How long to kick off, tooooo long !

[Junior]

I do like the "have to catch the ball first" mantra.

[soccermom]

I agree with all of the above comments!
KICK 'EM MUSTANGS!!!!!!!!!

[Fresh]

I do like the "have to catch the ball first" mantra.

No kidding — that's first and foremost. Next lesson: hold on to the ball.
Welcome Coach.