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Sean Snyder discusses his punting background, how he can help Ben Griffiths

Ben Griffiths averaged 41.2 yards on 52 punts as a redshirt freshman at USC last season.
Ben Griffiths averaged 41.2 yards on 52 punts as a redshirt freshman at USC last season. (Ryan Young/TrojanSports.com)

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Sean Snyder found his way into the craft of punting by virtue of opportunity, and now entering his first year as USC's special teams coordinator he sees a real opportunity to help Trojans punter Ben Griffiths elevate his game after an inconsistent debut season.

Snyder was a consensus All-American punter at Kansas State in 1992 when he averaged 44.7 yards per attempt, but more to the point, he was twice named the national special teams coordinator of the year by respected longtime football analyst Phil Steele during his coaching tenure with the Wildcats.

And while USC is hoping Snyder can shore up a number of facets of the special teams operation, seeing what the former All-American punter is able to do with Griffiths is especially intriguing.

Griffiths, of course, was a notable storyline entering last season as a college football newcomer after an eight-year career in the Australian Football League. He drew considerable expectations after an impressive preseason before struggling at times to meet that hype on Saturdays, finishing with a 41.2-yard average on 52 punts that ranked 75th nationally.

RELATED: Listen to our full podcast interview with USC special teams coordinator Sean Snyder

"Ben is a very eager and coachable player," Snyder said while joining the Trojan Talk podcast. "There's a few things that we're working on and trying to clean up, that we worked on and hopefully once we get face to face we can continue to work on those things. But as a punter or a kicker, there's phases you'll go through where you'll get into just kind of a weird funk, just dropping the ball a little off or overstriding on a step just a little too much but you're not really figuring that out. It takes a little bit to work through those things.

"That's the thing I hope I can expedite the process with these guys, is being able to [say], 'OK, hey, get back to this, shorten that step up here, take care of that drop a little bit better here, pay attention to where your eyes are.' There's some things that I really work with the guys on. That's where their balance is, and I'm just a firm believer if you've got good balance you've got good power. But that also leads into consistency, especially punting the ball, in being very efficient with the motion and the movements. Those are the things that I'll work with Ben on an awful lot."

Having performed at the top of the craft as a college punter puts weight on Snyder's perspective when it comes to hopefully unlocking Griffiths' full potential.

As for Snyder, his own path to punting just kind of unfolded before him, as he shared during his podcast appearance.

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