Danny Smith is not a stat guy. He’s 62 and has been coaching football since 1976. So it’s not a surprise that he isn’t hyping logarithms on gameday. But there is one number Smith circles: a 40 yard net average for punters.
“40 yards is a magic number. A few years back, there were very limited numbers of 40 yard net for the season,” Smith told Bob Labriola in this week’s Coordinator’s Corner. “Now it’s becoming more prevalent because punters have gotten stronger and coverage have gotten faster. So 40 is a magic number.