The question sent Ravens special teams coach Gary Zauner scrambling for a visual illustration rather than a verbal explanation.

Zauner rumbled through a folder and finally pulled out a pamphlet. On the cover was George Allen, the former Washington Redskins coach who hired Zauner at Long Beach State in the early 1990s. A quick glimpse at Allen prompted a one-word reason of how Zauner can routinely spend 14 hours a day at the Ravens' complex.

"George always used the word passion," he said. "I think I have a passion for what I do. It's not just a job.

"I get paid and it's great, but I really enjoy what I do. I love to coach, and I'm here late at night."

He arrives at the Ravens' complex shortly after 6 a.m., and his long days extend to 10 p.m. There is no wife and kids to go home to, so Zauner's lifestyle is a simple one.

"If I'm not coaching, then I'm playing golf, or with my lady friend," said Zauner, who has been married twice. "There are only a couple of things in life that I like doing."

Zauner, 51, spent the past eight seasons as special teams coordinator in Minnesota, where he coached punter Mitch Berger to the Pro Bowl and helped guide Gary Anderson to the first perfect season by an NFL kicker in 1998.

Former Vikings coach Dennis Green resigned before the final game last season, and Zauner was not retained by the current coaching staff.

After Russ Purnell left the Ravens after last season to coach special teams for the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Brian Billick quickly hired Zauner, whom he worked with when Billick was offensive coordinator of the Vikings.

"He's very enthusiastic, very fundamentally sound, and approaches [special teams] a lot of different ways," Billick said.

Zauner is a proponent of marginal players carving a niche by standing out on special teams - appropriate considering he has made his living coaching only that facet of the game.

Brigham Young University coach LaVell Edwards hired Zauner in 1979 as a special teams assistant, then promoted him to coordinator the next year. Zauner has held the same position at three other colleges and with the Vikings.

Before his coaching career, Zauner spent seven years as a high school teacher after getting cut in training camp as a punter with the Vikings (1973) and Houston Oilers (1974). Though his professional career never started, Zauner credits his years as a teacher as the reason he takes such a detail-oriented approach to coaching, combining that with a creative flair.

"When you have 30 kids in a room, you have to adjust to all those different personalities," Zauner said.

That is what Zauner is doing, looking at a completely different set of faces for the first time in years.

The team may be different, but his approach, which often steps beyond the realms of NFL normalcy, remains the same. At one practice, Zauner substituted volleyballs for footballs and had players practice not letting the ball break the plane of the goal line.

"Gary's got a different style about him that I think players will feed a little more into," kicker Matt Stover said. "He's energetic, vocalizes his opinion on guys."

Just yesterday, Zauner scattered so many practice dummies on the field during a session for covering kicks that it looked like an obstacle course at an amusement park.

"The drills ... work on all your fundamentals, all your basic techniques," cornerback Alvin Porter said. "And that is something that we didn't do in the past.

"You can tell that special teams is a passion for him. When we do well, he does well."