Agreed. Though I'd imagine it was more attributed to things like it being Jose's last season before going pro aka his money year, and Hedley is like 26 years old, so he's a grown *** man. Patke said in an interview that he treated them like pros and they basically told him whether or not they were practicing haha. That leads me to believe them getting better was more related to them having the other intangibles (such as an improved strength & conditioning situation as compared to their prior situations, etc)
I have no ill will towards Patke, and he is probably a great strikers coach, but ST is definitely lacking imo. Us going out and getting already good punters & kickers doesn't have anything to do with his ability as a ST coach.
The team had some holes last year (O line, WRs that could catch, LBs, etc) and I think PR/KR and kicking coverages were one that was suspect.