KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub has no lack of faith in his unit's ability to make big plays when it matters most for the team.
Toub went one-on-one with KSHB 41 Sports reporter Hayley Lewis ahead of Super Bowl LVII.
Q: How did you feel after the AFC Championship Game?
"It was such a gratifying deal, especially the way it ended for us on special teams, in particular, with redemption for Skyy and the whole group. The fact that we set up our offense on the 50-yard line and the offense came in and did what they did, and then Butker with the game-winning kick.
All those things were all positive for me. I was so happy for all the guys."
Q: How did kicker Harrison Butker’s character affect his ability to overcome injury this season?
"He works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen. He’s a student of the game. He watches [almost] every kicker every week, it’s unbelievable. … He watches every game, he knows every player and he watches all the little things that they do. Then he learns from that and he studies our opponents.
"It was so unfortunate that he got hurt. He wanted to be 100%, and he’s such a perfectionist. It took him a while to get back to feeling good.
"Once he was able to feel good, we had to change some things on his approach on his kickoffs. We went from a 10-yard approach to a 5-yard approach where he doesn’t kick the ball as deep … He made that adjustment.
"It took a while to get going, but he’s in the groove right now, which is good to see."
Q: Is Butker a rare talent?
"I’ve had kickers that have pulled hamstrings before, and it takes a couple weeks and they’re back. But that ankle was such a severe ankle sprain, for him to be able to come back, that’s his planting foot. Every time he plants and kicks, it’s that foot. So it’s a credit to him, the training staff, how hard he worked — he was able to come back and finish it here.
Q: How do you keep yourself and your players mentally strong?
"We went through a few kickers, too, along the way, [and] yeah, I've got to face the media, but you want him to be right. We didn’t want to throw him in there too early, and we knew we had a long season. We knew we’re a good football team, and we knew it was going to be a long stretch.
"That injury happened 23 weeks ago now, so that’s a lot of football games."
Q: Even after some costly rookie mistakes, how does it feel to reach this point in the season?
"Well, I’m happy for the guys because they work so hard. I’ve been telling them that they’re getting better, getting better, but we didn’t have the results on the field. So now, I mean, they see the results. The two big returns we had, one called back, but one that really helped us. And then everything with Butker and the way Tommy was punting all year.
"Tommy was great all year. He was one solid. He was our MVP this year. Besides that, the rookies did an outstanding job, they just keep getting better.
"I told them today, you’re not rookies anymore. You’ve had this many games now, and now you’re starting to make plays — that’s where we’re at."
Q: What does Super Bowl week look like to you?
"You should never take it for granted.
"Super Bowl is chaos. There’s always media. That’s a big thing that you do. As soon as you get up in the morning, you have media. It’s just all day. … It’s the whole atmosphere, you can get caught up in that.
"But I think our team has great leadership, and I think with the leadership of the players and leadership of Coach Reid, I don’t think we’re going to have any issues."
Toub's closing thoughts
When asked if he was looking forward to being in Phoenix, Arizona, he replied that the trip is "business."
But what would Toub do if he weren't in town for the Super Bowl? He said he'd bring his golf clubs.
"I’m a big golfer, but not this time," he said.
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