College Kickoff's Rule Change
It was just announced that starting next year, College kickoffs will be from the 35 yard line now, like what the NFL did this year. Any thoughts on the issue? I personally don't like the move, I think limiting the head start the kicking team gets would be fine
Link:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7611324/ncaa-moves-kickoffs-30-yard-line-35
February 24th, 2012 at 1:02 PM ^
I think kick returns are among the most exciting plays in football, but it's not my brain sloshing against my skull, so I'm for it...I doubt that limiting the kicking team's head start would reduce injuries as much as just having more touchbacks, but that would be interesting to see.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:03 PM ^
...Why the rule that if a player loses his helmet, he has to sit out for a play? Are players intentionally losing helmets? Are they not getting them back on properly? I'm confused. Seems like this will just encourage Spartan defenders to pull even harder.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
My guess is that they want the guy to take time to get his headgear on correctly, but I don't see that as something that needs to be legislated, so to speak. As you suggest, nobody wants to play without a helmet.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:21 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 1:23 PM ^
I think the idea is that, generally, when a helmet comes off, it's due to some large amount of force to the head. Forcing them to the sidelines allows for the medical personnel to do a quick concussion check before they can play again.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^
The kickoff rule is good...if anything, just some consistancy between the NCAA and NFL. We should come up with consistant hashmarks and kicking tee length too if you ask me. As for the rule, the NCAA shouldn't be MORE dangerous than the NFL. These guys don't get paid, why should they be at more risk than the guys who do?
I'm not going to argue if the NFL should've moved it up or back...but if the NFL moved kickoffs to the 35 for player safety, college HAS to do the same. Wouldn't have made sense not to.
HOWEVA!!!
Helmet rule = BAD! I wonder if the people who make these rules know anything about what they're ruling on. Helmets are DESIGNED to come off! This rule pisses me off. If you're a player, you WANT your helmet to come off if some guy is grabbing you by the facemask and running in the opposite direction. You don't want your neck twisted and you don't want to get hurt.
Also, what does this do? If it's 3rd and goal and Alabama goes for a QB Sneak...as a coach, I'm telling my entire DLine to unsnap his helmet and knock that thing 10 yards away.
Now the QB has got to sit for a play.
You've got a RB who's destroying you? No worries. Take his helmet off and he's got to come out of the game.
Any time you get a pile up? You guessed it...find a way to get those helmets off boys. Now we can play against the 2nd team for a play. Okay, that was dramatic.
Is it going to be a dramatic shift of guys going for the other teams' helmets? No. But if it's an impact play...don't think for a second a coach won't coach this. If coaches are teaching faking injuries to slow down the game and putting big ass lineman on the sideline so the gunners can't run out of bounds, they can think of this.
Don't provide a comeptitive advantage for something that's supposed to happen like a helmet coming off.
February 24th, 2012 at 6:21 PM ^
I think this is more for when a back or receiver's helmet come of due to a big hit, to do a quick concussion check.
February 24th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
...and it wasn't due ot a big penalty or a big hit?
Again, it's a dumb rule. Helmets are SUPPOSED to come off.
You can just dive for a deep pass and hit the ground hard and your helmet could fly off.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^
How about adding to the rule that the player that knocks the helmet off also has to sit out a play?
February 24th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^
Now THIS doesn't make sense to me. Touchbacks in the NFL were way more common before they moved it up, so yes, it did limit the amount of run-outs. However, touchbacks in NCAAF are not that common, so all this rule is going to do is cause more run-outs from the front of the endzone/<5 yard line. This will give the gunners more momentum and the returner more momentum also, which might even increase the amount of injuries.
Makes no sense...
February 24th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
If a kicker can't kick the ball 65 yards, moving it up 5 yards isn't going to change how much momentum the gunners and returners have. The returner is going to still have ~15 yards of run up before contact and the gunners are going to still have ~50 yards of run up before contact. If a kicker can kick the ball 65 yards, then there is more incentive to take the touchback. If the kicker decides to shorten the kick and add hangtime, then you are decreasing the momentum of the kick returner.
February 24th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
if the gunners and the returners are both moving 5 yards, there is no more momentum gained. it will be the same.
i get what you're saying though
February 24th, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^
Seems to me like this will have less of an effect compared to the NFL. The college kickers aren't nearly as good as they are in the pros, and many college kickers barely get it to the goal line as it is - so we'll just see more returns starting from 2-3 yards into the endzone and inside the 5.
EDIT: I type slower than Woody apparently
February 24th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
I hate this. Hate it.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:07 PM ^
College kickers I imagine kick it less far than NFL so touchbacks won't be as frequent.
Plus it's a health concern. If it reduces injuries and helps players stay on the field and be healthy then its a good move. If that's overstated and it has little impact or none- then you could argue that it takes away fro mthe game too much- but this is a classic better safe than sorry- and safety and health of UM players is key
February 24th, 2012 at 1:10 PM ^
Boooooooooooo.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^
Just printed that and passed around the office. We are all crying right now.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:20 PM ^
Football is going to be extinct in 20 years unless steps like these that improve player safety are implemented.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:38 PM ^
It seems like the NFL realized just in this past year that the sport itself is in danger in the long-run if they don't start taking some pretty big steps to protect players. It seems like there is a tidal wave of damning evidence on the way that will show that the cumulative effects of concussions are very, very bad.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
I appreciate the safety element of this whole thing, but let's be honest. This is a contact sport. A VERY contact sport. I don't see how they can keep implementing rules like these.
Using similar logic, punters/kickers should immediately exit the field once the ball has left the tee so as to avoid getting crushed. Actually, that won't be necessary because we can just require the kick receiver to take a knee to avoid these types of collisions.
I could go on, but I think the point is clear. You can't prevent contact in a contact sport, and it's just as difficult to reduce/eliminate heavy contact in a sport with so many different facets.
Is it fair that a 160lb punter might have to try and stop a 275lb lead blocker? No. But that's the game. And we've been playing it for years. Why stop now?
February 24th, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^
At the risk of being redundant, there is medical evidence now that the cumulative effects of repeated concussions are very bad. It seems like the more research is done on the subject, the worse the picture will be...More, we now have former players (like Harry Carson) coming forward to talk about how bad things have been for them b/c of head injuries that they suffered while playing.
A brief aside: The NFL was able to avoid this issue for a long time b/c Gene Upshaw, union head, insisted that there was no cumulative effect from multiple concussions. The NFLPA stopped insisting that when he died, and it's going to be hard to ignore the evidence as (presumably) more and more former players come forward.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
Agree with Erik... the other, maybe more motivating issue being money. Part of the reason the NFL is realizing the long term effects of consussion is because they are getting sued for not doing more to protect players. So, this rule change can also be seen as a pro-active move for the NCAA to cover its legal ass.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^
Absolute parallel. People don't get into boxing because it's dangerous. If you have a freak athlete child, you push him towards BBall rather than football... multiply that by 100 years. Boxing was the most popular sport 100 years ago, it's not out of the question that football isn't so popular in 100 years due to the dangers if things don't change.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
The NFL average life expectancy of 58 years sucks and definitely do not wish that on Woodson, Breaston, Woodley, Denard etc. The quality of life of NFL players is so low after they play it's hard to see the game lasting unless things change.
I love Michigan football like everyone else here and I hope my next of kin do so as well. Everyone keeps going coming back to the hit Colt McCoy took vs the Steelers and if that was my kid or brother I'd rethink my passion for the sport.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
You my friend...have been watching PTI.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
This is dumb, I don't like it.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:40 PM ^
I do not like this change at all. Football is turning into two hand touch football.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
Guys -- you missed the other big change on kickoffs -- it's not just that the LOS is moved from the 30 to the 35 for kickoffs, but now touchbacks come out to the 25, not the 20.
So this is a HUGE change, because there is extremely little incentive now to run it out. The odds of getting 25+ yards on the return, with the gunners coming at you from the 35 on the kick, is much, much lower.
I am starting to be all-in with Scianno's idea -- instead of kickoffs, put the ball on the 30 or 35 and make it 4th-and-25 (or 4th-and-30 or whatever). Most teams will punt, but if you're desperate you can fake it, or go all shotgun-and-five-wides.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:21 PM ^
I vote these rules changes only apply to when the game is FBS vs. FCS.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:16 PM ^
No you guys dont understand.. this kickoff rule is not INCREASING safety... It's actually DECREASING it because you're increasing the amount of kickoffs returned from the beginning of the endzone and kickoffs returned from inside the 5 yard line. These are the most dangerous types of returns because the players have so much momentum when they collide.
Personally, I think the 30-yard line kickoffs are fine because there are a good number of touchbacks, but a good number of returns from the 10 yard line to fifteen yard line. But if safety is the primary interest, then they should take out tackling, and move college kickoffs to the 40 yard line.
EDIT - Now that I read the post above me, I'm totally in agreement with this change. Safety is definitely very important, and this will definitely reduce the amount of kicks run out of the endzone.
February 24th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^
I wonder if the additional change that superstringer posted will reduce the amount of run-backs from five yards deep, though. I have to believe that it will.
February 24th, 2012 at 3:02 PM ^
Wasn't college kicking from the 35 before they moved it back to the 30?
For some reason I remember High School was 40 yard line, College 35, Pro 30. Then they started changing things up.
February 24th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
The touchback move to the 25 is ONLY for free kicks, correct? i.e. turnovers (and punts, which are scrimmage kicks) in the end zone still come out to the 20?
February 24th, 2012 at 6:30 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
I'm fairly certain that in 2006/7 they moved the kickoff spot from the 35 and reduced the size of the kicking tee to decrease the number of touchbacks...
February 24th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 4:57 PM ^
Boy are you looking for silver lining. That's like reducing the sting from 1000 sting points to 990 sting points. We lose half the experience at the wide out position cuz of his personal issues. I think Norfleet is probably the obvious replacement for him on KOs.
February 24th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^
So basically what they are saying is that they want to keep the artifact of the kickoff but want to all but eliminate the kick return?
Not entirely upset about this, not super happy either though.
February 24th, 2012 at 5:02 PM ^
I agree with the need to make the game more safe, but I wonder if coaches will adjust kickoff strategy to negate the effect of the new rules.
They say that moving the ball to the 25 yard line for touchbacks is going to encourage more touchbacks (i.e. player will take a knee instead of running out of the end zone). However, if my coverage team is 5 yards closer and I give up an additional 5 yards when the ball is kicked to the end zone, do I just coach my kicker to kick the ball to the 5-10 yard line with more hangtime? I'm thinking with that strategy I'm going to pin the opponent inside the 25 more times than not.
February 24th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 6:23 PM ^
February 24th, 2012 at 6:37 PM ^
It didnt kill the NFL this past season, and the above average kick returners still got theirs. So with the NCAA and some kids not having the strongest legs as it is I still see the returns happening and still wont make every kick a touch back. Safety should be an issue and if this helps I am all for the extra 5 yards.
February 24th, 2012 at 8:14 PM ^