The New Orleans Saints hope the left is right for Charlie Smyth ahead of his second stint as the team’s kicker.
Months ago, when Smyth lost his hold on the team’s kicking competition in training camp, special teams coordinator Phil Galiano said he believed Smyth’s biggest issue was kicking from the left hash mark. The Irish native, Galiano said, was generally fine from the right side— only to be inconsistent from the opposite hash.
But Galiano and Smyth believe they identified the root of the problem — and should have no issues as he takes over the job from Daniel Carlson.
The Saints released Carlson earlier this week, deciding to make a change after the veteran missed at least one field goal or extra point in six of his seven games.
That cleared the way for Smyth, who had been quietly stuck around on the practice squad thanks to his international pathway exemption.
“I’m very grateful for the confidence the organization has shown in me,” Smyth said, later adding, “I’ve had a lot of time now to take a look at (the misses from the left) and clean it up. … It’s like a golfer. You’re always trying to clean up stuff.”
Smyth’s problems from the left side initially stumped Galiano — to the point that the special teams coordinator said he reached out to a friend in the business to see if he had any ideas on how to help. The friend did, suggesting the Saints use a tape measure to track whether Smyth was lining up the same way every time.
They found that a few inches can make a huge difference.
“When he would step with his left foot, he was getting too far toward the goal post,” Galiano said. “What that was doing was it was closing his hips off and forcing — he wasn’t able to get the ball to go straight. He was pushing the ball to the right because his plant foot was too far down the field.
“I think we have that fixed.”
Galiano said the Saints have since used a tape measure to drill muscle memory, so Smyth’s alignment has become more consistent. If it holds, Smyth might finally give the Saints the stability they’ve lacked at kicker in recent years.
Sunday marks the beginning of Smyth’s second chance. The Irishman, who only began kicking in 2023 and joined the Saints a year later, took over from Blake Grupe last season and made 75% of his field goals in six games.
“Let’s just ball out,” Smyth said. “That’s what it’s time for.”
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