“Something that we preach here, and a lot of the bigger programs do as well, but a big thing is special teams is a direct reflection of your team’s culture,” he said. “Because it’s a bunch of things you can control, whether it’s attitude, your effort. It doesn’t take the most talented, or skilled guys, per se to play special teams. It takes football players, (which) is the term we use. Guys that are good with fundamentals.”

Milbrath looks for certain types of players to lead his group.

“The blocking, the tackling, the pursuit, those are the guys that stand out on special teams,” he said. “When we open things up, whether it’s at the beginning of fall camp, or as we’re getting into a game week, important things that we talk about is, again, what are we putting on film? What’s our team culture? If we think it is what it is, everybody’s bought in.

“For us, it’s the things, like I said, it’s your attitude, your effort, it’s your pursuit. It’s all the details that we want to be oriented around. All those show up on special teams.”

Michigan Tech punter Brenden Lach (85) holds the ball for Drew Wyble (32) during a game against Hillsdale on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

The good news for Milbrath is that, essentially, every football player who comes to Michigan Tech is chock full of all of those things.

“It’s been nice here at Michigan Tech, because not only for myself as the special teams coordinator, but all of our assistants that help out with special teams have all had coordinator roles in the past, whether doing special teams, or have helped out with special teams and coaching in some capacity,” he said. “So, everybody’s got the buy-in, and little things that we even preach in the off season, like your details, and your effort in the weight room. Those show up directly when we’re talking about special teams.”

For Milbrath, special teams is both a place for young players to prove themselves worthy of a longer look in their natural positions, and a place for veterans to showcase their effort level so that younger players get a sense of what it takes to succeed at the collegiate level.

“I think it’s important that we do have older guys and starters that do represent themselves on special teams, because it trickles down, and shows the younger guys, especially your freshman or second year-type guys,” he said. “Where they understand that, ‘I’m never going to be in a position where I’m not going to be asked to contribute on special teams.’ At the end of the day, everybody here also understands that it’s an important part of the game.

“Controlling field position makes things easier for a defense to stop other teams from scoring and offenses, if we get good field position, to get to touchdowns and scoring opportunities. So, they all understand that it’s all part of the game. It’s a third phase (of the football game), if you will.”

The Huskies return a big chunk of their impact players on special teams, and none are more important than senior Brenden Lach. Originally recruited as a wide receiver, Lach did some punting in high school. So, once he approached the coaching staff with that, he went to work on focusing solely on the kicking game, and earned All-America Honorable Mention last season.

He averaged 44.5 yards per punt on 49 punts, for a total yardage of 2,184. His longest of the season was a 72-yarder, and he had 16 fall inside the 20-yard-line.

“He’s done a really nice job there,” Milbrath said. “He’s done a really nice job, understanding the schemes that we use, and why we need balls in certain places in certain areas. From the moment that he became a punter, from a wide receiver, he’s really bought into that, learned that, ‘Hey, this is my significant role. This is how I can affect the game.’ Ultimately, (he) flips the field quite often for us.”

Lach is also valuable in the place kicking game, as he serves as the holder when the Huskies attempt field goals and extra points, so he will be invaluable to freshman kicker Avery Kucharski, who won the starting job to begin the season.

Kucharski grew up playing soccer and football, so he carries a lot of confidence in his leg. Ultimately, that is what helped him win the job over fellow freshman Chris Lemus.

“We brought in two freshman kickers,” said Milbrath. “We had a little bit of a competition early on, and just kind of gauged out more on consistency. That’s the big thing we ask here out of our specialist group is that they’re consistent, because then we can kind of set things around, and move things, to tailor to what they do consistently.

“Avery did a nice job. He got up here early, before fall camp, so he was working out with the guys, crashing on couches, everything else, but he got a chance to kind of see the attitude here. The work ethic here. What our culture, as we mentioned earlier, is. So, he bought into that real early.”

Add to the mix long snapper Chandler Ward, who is a senior this year, and Kucharski has a lot of help around him as he learns how to be an effective kicker at the college level.

“Those guys (Lach and Ward) know how to hold Avery accountable,” Milbrath said. “They understand if Avery does a misstep here, or he’s pushing a ball here, pulling it here. Because of experience on the field, they’re able to translate, and share, that information back with Avery, along with the film stuff that they go through to kind of relay and say, ‘We need to work on this versus this. We need to work on this versus that.’

“So having those two guys be a part of it, and be experienced with it now for four years, going into their fourth year, I think that’s a big help for Avery.”

Milbrath said that several other consistent Huskies will see a lot of time on special teams, including sophomore running back Jake Rueff, sophomore defensive back Junyoung Chung, senior defensive back Hunter Buechel, senior inside linebacker Owen Watson, and senior running back Patrick Castner. Having players like Buechel, Watson, and Castner willing to go out and work to help the team through 50, 60, 70 snaps on offense or defense, and also go out and work through special teams, is more than Milbrath can ask of them.

“Those guys are communicators, right? They do a lot for us on teams on field, where I can’t be, where they’re getting, if things are out of alignment, they can help get guys fixed,” he said. “They understand the schemes inside and out. Those guys carry voices in the locker room. When we go to meeting rooms now for special teams, it all kind of trickles down, from seniors right on down to freshmen, all bought into what those older guys are saying.”

Chung, who missed most of last season with an injury suffered in the first game of the season, is a young player who Milbrath believes could have a significant impact this season, whether in the return game, or in helping with field position.

“He’s a guy that likes to be physical,” Milbrath said. “He’s a fast kid, athletic kid. He wants to do whatever we ask so that we can be successful. That’s a big part of it. But, as far as our coverage units goes, he’s a gunner on a punt, covering down on kickoffs. A guy that’ll be mixed into the return game a little bit this year, because of how dynamic of an athlete he is. He’s going to be able to make a big impact for us, and guys are going to have to keep their eyes on him.

“The other thing with Junyoung, too, is since his injury last year, (he) has really put an amount of work to rehab his body, get himself back, better and faster, than what he was.”

Milbrath and the Huskies’ special teams will have their first big test on Thursday night when they travel to face Bemidji State, who won two NCAA playoff games last season and finished ranked in the Top-25.

“Any time where you’re going to take off on a season, and play a top-quality opponent, it’s a good measuring stick,” he said. “Our guys feel like they should be able to stack up with anybody in the country. That’s the attitude we want our guys to have. That’s the way we’re preparing for everything. So I do think, yeah, once we get to next Thursday, the 29th, and that ball gets kicked off, then everything gets settled.

“At the end of the day, even for a lot of our Wisconsin guys, a lot of the guys that are on their team, they played against (each other) in high school, or (they were) high school teammates with. So, you get a little bit of the inner rivalry there.”