The NFL's Final Attempt To Save Kickoffs, Bring Back Returns? | NFL Coach Breaks Down Hybrid Kickoff 

Devin Hester looking at this like - These MF'ers!

I ain’t gonna lie, I really like this. They didn’t totally mess it up. I love the incentive to kick it into the zone and not just kick it into the endzone on a fly.

I like everything but I think they should add that the kicker has to do a shot just before each kickoff

I'm sad the that this would eliminate the surprise onside kick, but it makes sense

I really hope that this gets approved! I really miss the kick offs, it was the most exciting play to watch every game, because you never know when somebody was going to take a return to the house.

those crazy wind games would certainly make this interesting

I love the new rule proposal. But one change I'd make is onside kicks should be allowed, but the ball must strike the ground in the neutral zone, and players can't move until it hits the ground in the neutral zone. If the ball lands before or after the neutral zone, it's penalty and ball gets placed at the 40.

Coach Rizzi was my HC at the University of Rhode Island for 1 season before leaving to coach for the Dolphins, wish they had the transfer portal back then smh but dope to see he's still in the NFL

If they want injuries lowered how about instead of ruining kickoffs why don't we just get rid of turf and have every team have the same type of grass. That way all of the fields are the same

I want to like this. It's definitely better than the current NFL kickoff setup, but I feel it disincentivizes kickers from doing what they do best: Booting the ball as far as they can down the field. I think the UFL has the right idea of moving the kickoff back, and not allowing the kicking team to get a running start, but I personally would want the ball teed up at the 25 to prevent more generous field positioning. But all of this is ignoring the fact that in order to make kickoffs relevant, they have to become valuable. The best way to do that? Take notes from our friends up north, and implement the rouge! I'm dead serious. Kickoff is downed in or goes through the endzone? 1 point for the kicking team, and receiving team gets the ball at the 30. Do the same for punts as well. Incentivize your kickers to score points for your teams in ways other than field goals or PATs.

I hate in the nfl how many rules there are on how many players have to be inside the numbers. Or hashes etc, you should be able to have whatever number of players in whatever formation

To hear Pat do a complete 180 on the XFL hybrid kickoff is hilarious. This is why they say media opinions are compromised. When the small league you really don't need to follow does this, it's completely trash. But when the major league adopts the hybrid kickoff, great idea to save the kickoffs.

The problem with not allowing the kicking team to kick deep on the onside attempt means it becomes even harder to recover. Almost impossible, without having to keep those two players deep to cover that ground.

It's amazing how Pat was trashing the XFL kickoff less than a year ago.

Oh man I hope they adopt this. It would be fun to watch and adds some real strategy back to the play.

Thanks Coach for putting this together and potentially saving the kickoff!

Lame, not declaring onside is what makes them work

I miss the old run up kickoff, Ya ya Concussions and all that I get it but I still miss the excitement.

Punt returns are more dangerous, when a guy standing still is being hit full speed. Turnovers are more dangerous when linemen are being lifted off their feet by blindside hits.

Having played bullet man and return man I honestly like this. I feel like the speed at point of impact will be slowed down but you’re still gonna want to return it. This could be a win win just gonna look weird.

Pat is the man!!!!

this sounds complicated asf lol

Kickoff team was my favorite thing in high school, streak down the field at top speed and lay a hit. This doesn’t sound fun. 😅

As a Colts fan it is wild to see the Saints push for something that eliminates the surprise onside

God bless you for trying to do what you can. I see the baby face effort type putting in. I'm behind it

Watching someone return a kick was always awesome and really a GameChanger sometimes so this would be great

It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.

They're trying to reinvent the wheel...how convoluted do they want to make it? Either go back to the '90s rules, or eliminate the kickoff completely.

This made him feel like an old-style rootbeer float smells.

For years I’ve been saying the onside kick is the only thing keeping the kickoff from being removed completely. The fact that it gives losing teams a chance to comeback keeps the game interesting and thus keeps people watching. The league clearly wants to get rid of the kickoff but doesn’t want to lose that small chance of comeback and they haven’t come up with a suitable alternative.

This sounds like a cool idea. Assuming it passes I am looking forward to seeing how teams adjust and which teams figure out early ways to get substantial gains.

Sounds like hard linedrive squib kicks are the play then. Hit in the landing zone hard and skip it into the end zone make it hard for the returners to pick it up clean

The light in his life was actually a fire burning all around him.

Why is everyone super worried and concerned for Hamstring injuries? Its football! A game built on quick 3-10 sec bursts or power and speed! Its apart of the game! If theyre concerned about hamstring injuries, then maybe reassess your strength and coordination approaches. Next thing: penalty for running 100% and potentially hurting your hamstring. These guys are pro athletes. Injuries happen. They are paid and compensated well. Geez. Let them play!

Does the team have to declare if they are going to run or pass?

I don't hate it. It isn't a "Kickoff", it's never going to be a "kickoff", but the NFL just isn't gonna let us have the OG Kickoff, so it is what it is. As far as alternatives go, I don't hate this, it isn't a pointless waste of time like they reduced the kickoff to the past few years, there's real opportunity for some teams to really screw this up and other teams to really make something happen which his a positive, ST coaches are going to be busy with this which is a positive, and the ST skill position players are gonna have to be on their game(this is a brutal change in rules for kickers lmao) which is awesome. I'm not gonna say that I want this in place of the OG kickoff, but they could do worse than this at least, I'm legitimately interested in seeing how this plays out this year. Only thing really lame is the 'neutral zone', that's kinda dumb, but other than that lets see it.

I think we will see teams that are up multiple scores late try to place kicks in the back of the endzone to try to draw the 20 yd touch backs. If it goes out on the fly it ends at the 35 anyway so there's not much risk in that plan.

I have a proposal to offset the loss of the surprise onside kick. When a team declares an onside kick, both of their returners (last two players back) are not allowed to recover it. So this way the kicking team has a fighting chance to get the ball

I love the idea, but the red guys on the 35 who have to be lined up on the 35 but have to also watch to see when the ball hits the ground 20 yards behind them and then snap around and start blocking which seems rough

Maybe instead of changing the kickoff in any way, the players should wear increased protection (e.g. special helmets) on a kickoff play.

I like this proposal. I hope we see it next year.

observations: penalty on coverage team for moving, a line drive one hop kick could be huge play, endzone play on kicks wow, hands team will be critical, thumb guys better get some gloves lol wow this is new feels fun

I'm excited to see this bring back the kickoff return. The only part I think could use a rework pending how it goes next year. I don't think the onsides needs to be a penalty/announcement situation. I think it would bring back some of the creativity and surprise element to simply change the rule to allow but disincentivize the traditional formation, but still allow it. Namely, add the rule that anything touched back off a traditional formation after the +40 yard line is moved to the 40. This would allow a squib kick, if you don't mind giving up a 40 yard start. It would allow the long onsides, plus an endless number of other creative ideas with a high risk.

This could be awesome! ❤

Now kickers will kick line drives to try and get the bounce into endzone. No need for airtime now.

Taking surprise onsides kicks out of the game is exactly what I saw.

They still need to fix the onside kick and make it a viable play. At least 10-25% (depending on how good special teams and coaching is) should be working. Like 3% or something pityful are successful now.

His get rich quick scheme was to grow a cactus farm.

Is it just me or does this heavily favor a good return with an average to the 27(?) with good chance for more plus the possibility of a house call? Wouldn't that scare every kicking team and they force touchbacks again?

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.

The only thing they need to fix in this, is the ability for the kickoff/return teams to run once the ball is kicked. That stagnation, between kick and movement, makes this play feel off. They just need to move the starting position to the 50, instead of the +40, in order for movement to begin once the ball is officially kicked.

There's nothing wrong with the kickoff. There's no reason to eliminate it. I don't remember seeing a whole bunch of injuries during kickoff

I think they should redo the onside kicks. Maybe make it into a scrum. Put both teams on the line of scrimmage. Both teams can't move until the ball is kicked and force the kicker to kick it within 10 yards of the line. You still give a massive advantage to the receiving team but having everybody close prevents some injuries and gives the opportunity for a team to retrieve it.

Even in high school we kick the ball to the end ozne if you have the right kicker. But kick off for me was my favorite thing to do in football. Oh play DB.

2-3 more seasons of this stuff and we'll be watching professional flag football.

Sounds interesting will have be curious to see it in action

I think we should just eliminate all dangerous stuff from football and make it one hand touch but you can't run at full speed. You can only jog

I think South Park did an episode on this. I think it was the one where the players wore bras and held ballons.

The only thing I would add is a kick through the uprights is a touchback to the 10yd line, that could really punish the unsportsmanlike penalties after TDs & FGs. And if you have an absolute weapon like Justin Tucker you can risk some monster kick offs in tight games for 25 yds of field position

On side should be an arch ing kick into that neutral zone (40-35)

I like the idea of shortening the field and making the kicker kick the ball inbounds. However, don't split the kicker and the kicking team 30 yards apart. Just place the ball on the 50 with everyone. That way you could always threaten an onside kick.

This is going to add a lot of excitement back into the kickoff. Layely its been a snooze fest.

Green Bay was already turning out to look like one of the best teams in the nfc. Now they are looking like a real Super Bowl contender since teams will now have to actually kick the ball back to, back to back, 2x 1st team all pro Keisean Nixon. That dude is awesome to watch in the return game

They’re going to have to eventually change the onside kick rule. Without the ability to kick it deep and or behind the players you’re essentially making it impossible to recover an onside. The receiving team now has nothing else to worry about other than simply recovering the ball within the 25yd area.

So would the game clock start when the returner catches the ball? Or would it start when the returner carries the ball out of the landing zone? Also, we still see a decent amount of squib kicks at the end of the halves and in games where the field conditions are too poor to get good footing… Depending on how you kick it, it’s a good clock management strategy that’s now gone. What were the safety issues with squib kicks? One more thing… if there’s a scoring drive and the defense commits unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, usually the scoring team will accept a 15-yard penalty and it counts toward the ensuing kickoff. If the kicker kicks off from the 50, where’s the advantage for better defensive field position when touchbacks on the fly are an automatic spot on the 35 yard line?

There is something not addressed which I think is quite important: it doesn’t happen often but what happens when it is so windy that the ball keeps falling off the stand? This happens every now and then and someone usually comes to hold it. But since all members of the kicking team must be at the neutral zone, what is the solution if this happens?

they should put in a rule that if the kicker lands the ball inside the 1 yard line but the ball stays in the field of play the ball in placed on the one so kickers can still pin a team back on the one.

I like it use guards and tackles and make a crazy blocking line

I wish they would move the extra point back to the point where a 2 point conversion is a reasonable consideration each touchdown.

How is the return team supposed to know when the ball hits something? They are facing the other way... Are they just supposed to rely on watching the kicking team?

ironic that a coach from the team with the most iconic surprise onside kick of all time proposes a new kick rule that eliminates the surprise onside kick. still, i like this idea.

This is why i dont watch much NFL. I just watch through Pat. When do we start the Mississippi counting before being able to rush the qb 😂.

*Onside kick idea:* _"If kickoff doesn't go to the landing zone or goes out of bounds it goes to the 40 _*_unless recovered by the kicking team_*_ "_ In my head I'm thinking of the kicker trying to land the ball between the 30 and 20 with enough spin for the bounce to give the kicking team a chance of recovering it. Might need a pretty tall tee!

I've traveled all around Africa and still haven't found the gnu who stole my scarf.

Do the receiving teams blockers gotta turn around and watch the ball until it touches something and then turn back to block? Don’t know how I feel. The onside needs to be replaced completely.

3:00 someone subtly moves coaches and pats feeds off of the border. Love it

Why not make it a fun mini game? The kicker gets an unobstructed try from 60 yards out, if they make it opposing team starts on the 20, if they miss opposing team gets it on the 30.

Pat with the demon onside kick 👀

I’m pretty pissed because this whole rule change takes out the element of surprise! The Saints kicked an onside kick to start the second half in the Super Bowl!! If they didn’t recover that, total momentum swing. Basically my same argument for not moving the PAT line back to where it currently is. Takes out the possibility of catching your opponent sleeping

This does bring it to be actual competitive kickoffs

I like everything except the 35-yard touchback and the "No Surprise Onside Kicks." Surprise onside kicks are fun, and a 35-yard touchback because the kicker has a leg the size of a freight train is ridiculous.

no wonder the refs can't figure out the rules. it's amazing how much they're trying to do instead of simply putting real grass into their stadiums.

Bottom-line: increase the on-field product - the display of strategy and athleticism by the players & coaches. So increase returns, surprises, onsides recoveries and options for both kicking team AND recovering team to utilize. Why not give the kicking team 2 or more options of where to kick it from? Same with returning.

The only thing I wish was different was allowing surprise onside kicks

alternate proposal move the kickoff back to the 30 like it used to be so balls land inside the 10, wedges are allowed again but special teams players have to wear the training camp bubble helmets to prevent the concussions. and while were at it, adopt cfl punt fair catch rule. no fair catches but players cannot be within 5 yards when the returner catches(but can be running towards them to tackle still)

No mention of whether the receiving team has any option other than taking the ball on the 40 in case of a kick out of bounds. A team with a late lead might very well want to kick out of bounds deliberately to prevent any chance of a runback. The free kick rules have always allowed an enforcement option to prevent such a deliberate foul.

as a colts fan, I did not need this dude reminding me about the surprise onside kick after halftime in the SB

I think this is wayyyy beter than what weve been watching and getting from the Nfl. Kick returners used to be a big part of the team and important players. Guys used to build careers off kick returns guys like Devin hester, Dante hall, Allen Rossum, Mel Gray, Josh Cribbs, Eric Metcalf, Cordell Patterson, Desmond Howard (returned 2 in a super bowl game and became a Superbowl MVP). These guys could change a game with one kick return. the past few seasons Kick offs have been non existent. Something needs to be done to make it relevant again. Other wise whats the point. Im glad the Nfl is trying to do something instead of just cutting it out all together. I hope this does something to make it a important play and important position again.

If it goes out of bounds after hitting the landing zone it should be a live ball. If goes out of bounds it’s spotted where the ball went out.

Teams have the entirety of four quarters to win a game, so therefore teams should be able to do an onside kick whenever they want to. It's also an option for a team to be able to win by a lot of points. I care about player safety, but to get rid of the kickoff, and/or to greatly alter it, would make football more like baseball, where they normally have only nine turns to win. Football is supposed to be more like tennis, where you can score on a serve, and in football, you can score on a kickoff (or at least get the ball back). Also, maybe instead of changing the kickoff in any way, the players should wear increased protection (e.g. special helmets) on a kickoff play.

drop hip feels like the 12-to-6 elbow of the nfl

My only hope is that they do not ban hip drop tackles

This ain't far off from a punt. I still say do punt formation from the 50 yard line. 4th and 10 or 20 and you can take a shot to keep the ball.

I miss kickoffs so yes let's get it going.

Going to be so many house calls!

The onside kick needs to be replaced outright. Do the 20 yard play thing or whatever they can come up with. There should be a way for teams to come back that is as hard as the onside was but more possible than it is now.

Instead of implementing a complicated kickoff, they should just change the configuration/formation of the kickoff to be more like a long field goal/punt, where the offense and defense are at the line of scrimmage, the ball is snapped, held, kicked like a field goal try, except it's kicked to a return man, and covered like a punt. This would eliminate the high speed collisions in the kickoff but not make it look like an XFL game. This would also also for some very interesting onside kick options where the ball is pooched and there's more options for the offense to recover.

the only thing i don't like is the 35 yard line if you kick it on the fly touch back, seems like too much of a punishment IMO.