JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano recently offered up an idea that may at first seem crazy but after deeper consideration might make some sense: Eliminating kickoffs from college football.
As you can read at that link, Schiano began to contemplate this notion while spending some time at the beside of a paralyzed player. Such incidents make you evaluate everything in your life, and for Schiano, football is a big part of it as is mentoring young men.
Here is Schiano's idea, from the article linked above:
-Replace all kickoffs with a punting situation, including after the opening coin toss and to start the second half. So, as an example, when Team A scores a touchdown, it immediately gets the ball back on a fourth and 15 from its own 30-yard line.
-It can punt it back to Team B — the most likely outcome and a safer play since the bigger collisions usually happen on kickoffs.
-Or it can line up and go for the first down, essentially replacing an onside kick with an offensive play that would require more skill than luck.
I intentionally stopped reading the article after getting to this point with the intent that the thoughts from here on out would be my own and not influenced by anything else I have read...so if my thoughts line up with some expressed in the article, it's coincidental; I ain't going out like Woody Paige.
This is an intriguing notion within notions...let's start with replacing the kickoff team with the punt team...
Ever since I began playing tackle football in the 7th grade in 1984, members of the kickoff team had a nickname; The Suicide Squad. Most of the 'insane in the membrane' members of every team I played on were a part of the kickoff team, which was more the case at the high school level than in junior high due to numbers. Once we got to high school, many of the 'nut jobs' were on the Suicide Squad because they played fearlessly and without regard for their person.
That's because even at the high school level, the most violent contact plays came on kickoff returns...you have people running near full speed down the field to tackle the player with the football...you have people running near full speed down the field with the sole job of 'blowing up the wedge', also called wedge busters. Then you had guys like me that were not muscle bound at that age who had the wimpy role of outside containment...which was the safest place to be.
Bad things can happen anywhere and at any time on a football field, but if you eliminated the kickoff aspect, you would exponentially decrease the likelihood of serious injury.
Punting situations are not as violent, especially at the collegiate level..they might be worse at the high school level because you don't often have punters that can create great hang time and therefore induce more fair catches.
Last year, Iowa's opponents had just 21 punt returns with the rest being touchbacks, fair catches or punts out of bounds. By comparison, Iowa's Suicide Squad took the field 75 times, with 58 kicks returned..and there can still be serious contact at the wedge when there are touchbacks.
Wisconsin scored a lot of points last year, which meant more kickoffs...their Suicide Squad took the field 96 times!
The other aspects of Schiano's ideas are interesting as well...not many teams are going to go for the 4th and 15 at your own 30 yard line option, unless its late in the game and you are behind...it would add some spice in circumstances like that, replacing the onside kick. I would have to take a look at some situational conversion stats, but you don't have to play a prevent defense in that situation and who knows if the conversion rate would be similar to that of onside kicks. In other portions of the game, the risk is probably not worth the reward.
I do agree that the onside kick quotient is mostly luck...if it were a repeatable skill, there would be a higher rate of conversion for onside kicks than what we see. The vast majority don't work but we certainly remember the ones that do work.
Some will argue that this is some wussification of the game of football. I can understand that, but we don't watch the games to see people get seriously injured. I am not sure if punting the ball from the 30, and having it be a free kick, is going to lessen collisions however...you can't have it be a free kick. Perhaps line up at the 40, with the other team having a chance to rush the punter as a normal punting situation, and punt away. Then you have the aspect of fake punts to take into account, etc...lot's of parameters here.
However, the spirit of a rule change related to the kickoff team is understandable and worth considering, at least in my opinion...and Schiano's.
As you can read at that link, Schiano began to contemplate this notion while spending some time at the beside of a paralyzed player. Such incidents make you evaluate everything in your life, and for Schiano, football is a big part of it as is mentoring young men.
Here is Schiano's idea, from the article linked above:
-Replace all kickoffs with a punting situation, including after the opening coin toss and to start the second half. So, as an example, when Team A scores a touchdown, it immediately gets the ball back on a fourth and 15 from its own 30-yard line.
-It can punt it back to Team B — the most likely outcome and a safer play since the bigger collisions usually happen on kickoffs.
-Or it can line up and go for the first down, essentially replacing an onside kick with an offensive play that would require more skill than luck.
I intentionally stopped reading the article after getting to this point with the intent that the thoughts from here on out would be my own and not influenced by anything else I have read...so if my thoughts line up with some expressed in the article, it's coincidental; I ain't going out like Woody Paige.
This is an intriguing notion within notions...let's start with replacing the kickoff team with the punt team...
Ever since I began playing tackle football in the 7th grade in 1984, members of the kickoff team had a nickname; The Suicide Squad. Most of the 'insane in the membrane' members of every team I played on were a part of the kickoff team, which was more the case at the high school level than in junior high due to numbers. Once we got to high school, many of the 'nut jobs' were on the Suicide Squad because they played fearlessly and without regard for their person.
That's because even at the high school level, the most violent contact plays came on kickoff returns...you have people running near full speed down the field to tackle the player with the football...you have people running near full speed down the field with the sole job of 'blowing up the wedge', also called wedge busters. Then you had guys like me that were not muscle bound at that age who had the wimpy role of outside containment...which was the safest place to be.
Bad things can happen anywhere and at any time on a football field, but if you eliminated the kickoff aspect, you would exponentially decrease the likelihood of serious injury.
Punting situations are not as violent, especially at the collegiate level..they might be worse at the high school level because you don't often have punters that can create great hang time and therefore induce more fair catches.
Last year, Iowa's opponents had just 21 punt returns with the rest being touchbacks, fair catches or punts out of bounds. By comparison, Iowa's Suicide Squad took the field 75 times, with 58 kicks returned..and there can still be serious contact at the wedge when there are touchbacks.
Wisconsin scored a lot of points last year, which meant more kickoffs...their Suicide Squad took the field 96 times!
The other aspects of Schiano's ideas are interesting as well...not many teams are going to go for the 4th and 15 at your own 30 yard line option, unless its late in the game and you are behind...it would add some spice in circumstances like that, replacing the onside kick. I would have to take a look at some situational conversion stats, but you don't have to play a prevent defense in that situation and who knows if the conversion rate would be similar to that of onside kicks. In other portions of the game, the risk is probably not worth the reward.
I do agree that the onside kick quotient is mostly luck...if it were a repeatable skill, there would be a higher rate of conversion for onside kicks than what we see. The vast majority don't work but we certainly remember the ones that do work.
Some will argue that this is some wussification of the game of football. I can understand that, but we don't watch the games to see people get seriously injured. I am not sure if punting the ball from the 30, and having it be a free kick, is going to lessen collisions however...you can't have it be a free kick. Perhaps line up at the 40, with the other team having a chance to rush the punter as a normal punting situation, and punt away. Then you have the aspect of fake punts to take into account, etc...lot's of parameters here.
However, the spirit of a rule change related to the kickoff team is understandable and worth considering, at least in my opinion...and Schiano's.
