I'm just noting that I don't see any correlation between success in PR and larger on-field success. ND is #81 in punt returns. What does that mean, big picture? Not sure. You could do the same thing with KRs. The top 10 statistically in KR is a collection of mediocre-to-bad teams. Meanwhile, Oregon is statistically worse than ND (#81 ) and Alabama is at the very bottom statistically (#118).
I completely understand that better field position is better than worse field position. That is definitional. Some commenters have posited that many HCs take the position that resources are better spent on things other than PR and KR. Sure, starting a drive at the 35 is preferable to starting at the 20. But I'd rather start at my 20 and gain several first downs rather than start at the 35 and go 3-and-out. At the end of the day, I just don't know that the familiar lines about ND's low statistical ranking on punt returns and kick returns amounts to much.