Ute fans know Sharrieff Shah best as Utah football’s dynamic cornerbacks coach. Shah has, after all, been adept at developing high performing cornerbacks and sending them to the next level.

However, many Ute fans may not be as familiar with Shah’s other role on the Utah coaching staff - special teams coordinator. It’s an important job at Utah, given the standard of excellence that we’ve seen over the past decade in the unit. For Shah, managing the special teams unit is a big part of what he does.

“As special teams coordinator, you coordinate every facet of each unit - both coverage units (punt and kickoff coverage) and both return units (punt return, kickoff return). You oversee the lead coaches. You make sure that the schemes are correct. Drill work, practice plans and making sure that what we’re going to do that day and in the coming days are all efficient that we’re not wasting time. That in a nutshell is what every coordinator does that oversees special teams unit,” Shah explained.

Given the high level of special teams play that fans have come to expect from Utah football, Shah has his work cut out for him this fall - especially given the fact that he has to replace All American specialists Matt Gay and Mitch Wishnowsky.

It’s been a work in progress so far this fall.

“What we’d like to see in the coming days is more consistent blocks of percentages from our kickers. It’s lofty, but we have been very good at special teams because we put a lot of stress on our kickers early in fall camp. We want to see higher percentage of makes, fewer percentage of misses. We want our snappers to get it back there on time. We don’t want to have any excuses with our holders. Everything needs to be a well oiled machine. A lot of people don’t stress it as much as we do, but that’s why we’ve been blessed to be so consistent for so many years,” he said.

On top of getting the kickers into an acceptable rhythm, Shah maintains that the special teams units will continue work to develop punt schemes and coverage, and to continue to develop the punters, led by freshman Aussie Ben Lennon.

One of the more positive developments during fall camp is the improvement of the long snapping unit - especially on the field goals. Utah had issues with the snapper and holder in spring, but has largely resolved that problem.

“They bloom every now and again, but for the most part, we’re trying to settle in. Those guys are doing a pretty good job. Coach Swan is doing a magnificent job of just getting those guys better technically. There’s a science to that aspect of the punt or field goal unit. It’s tough. And you have to be exact. He’s done a magnificent job of getting those guys better, so not as many problems,” Shah said.

The special teams coverage units at Utah are an invaluable way for younger players to develop and to prove that they belong on the field. As such competition at those spots tends to be fierce, and the players take it seriously.

“Those reps that you get on special teams gives us a very small indication that ‘He can run at a Pac-12 level,’ or ‘He can make tackles against Pac-12 receivers and running backs’ if he’s on a coverage unit,” Shah said. “All of those things give you greater confidence to say, ‘Coach, this is the collective body of work that we really need to re-examine and determine whether he can help us in another unit - whichever unit he’s on. As a specialist, kids know those reps are critically important. And they help us to evaluate, separate and slot.”

With fall camp winding down and Utah pushing toward the season opener in less than two weeks, getting the placekicker battle resolved will be a top priority. With grad transfer Andrew Strauch and JUCO transfer Nels Haltom still in contention for the starting job, there’s one factor that Shah is looking for that will ultimately determine the starter.

“Consistency,” he said. “We chart everything every day and review it every day. We can’t say that anybody is the guy because there’s not enough consistency between them. Consistent in how you’re striking it, where it’s going, the trajectory you have, the depths that the kicks are being made or missed. In a nutshell, we’re looking for consistency.”