Free agency is slowing down, but there’s still a lot going on internally in the NFL. The NFL’s Annual League Meeting is being held from March 24-27 in Orlando, Fla. Owners, coaches, and general managers are involved in discussions surrounding playing rules and proposals submitted for votes.
One of those rules being voted upon would adjust kickoffs. Ahead of the owners’ vote on Monday, the two coaches behind the rule proposition spoke to the media. What did they have to say?
Coaches Behind Kickoff Rule Proposition Speak on Its Potential Passing
The initial proposition, which is for just one year, features new alignments for both the kicking and receiving units. It includes a “landing zone,” which would be the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line, and would prompt action off the kickoff if the ball were to land there.
Kickoffs would remain at the 35-yard line, but the remaining 10 players on the kicking unit would line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team would line up with at least seven players in the “set-up zone,” a five-yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines.
There would be a maximum of two returners permitted to line up in the landing zone.
However, ahead of a vote, the rule was adjusted slightly to make it the 30-yard line instead of the 35-yard line. “All of us are in favor of it because we want the return rate up,” John Fassel, the Dallas Cowboys’ special teams coordinator and one of the creators of the rule, said.
“It looks like they’re going to tweak where they’re saying a touchback goes to the 30, not the 35. We’re projecting the return rate to be 85-90%. We said if we make the touchback the 30, instead of the 35, we’re predicting it to drop to maybe 55-60% return rate,” Fassel said.
“It might take a little bit of time to vote on it tomorrow, so we’ve been trying to rally support,” Fassel said. “I know it’s going to [pass] at some point. This is going to be a trial.”
“It was a good day. It was one of those … explain the nuts and bolts of the proposal to the coaches, head coaches, and GMs,” Darren Rizzi, the New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator and the other coach behind the rule proposition, said.
KEEP READING: Proposed NFL Rule Changes — Breaking Down Notable Modifications Suggested From Onside Kicks to Hip Drop Tackles
“This has been a work in progress. It’s been, ‘How can we make the play safer and more exciting? How can we limit the missed time, injuries, the concussions, the leg injuries, the hamstrings pulled?'”
“And so, that’s kind of where the root of this has come from … this has kind of been a long time coming.”
Owners will vote on the potential one-year change sometime on Monday. If it isn’t passed, it will likely be tabled and brought back up next year at the same time.
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