Are new NFL rule changes coming to college football? Don’t be surprised…

How long will it be until college football falls in line with the NFL in terms of kickoff formats and hip-drop tackles?

The current hot topic in the world of sports is the recent rule changes that were passed in the National Football League earlier this week at the NFL owner’s meetings. It came out earlier this week that the NFL is making two major rule changes starting in 2024: the league is banning the “hip-drop” tackle where a player uses his weight to bring the ball carrier down to the ground by his waste; the NFL is also overhauling the kickoff format, adopting an XFL variation that will completely change the look of things going forward.

Kickers will continue to kick from the 35-yard line, but the other 10 players must line up at the opponent’s 40-yard line. At least nine members of the return team will line up in the “setup zone” between their own 30- and 35-yard lines, and up to two returners will line up in the “landing zone” between the goal line and 20-yard line.

Here’s a diagram to help you visualize the NFL’s new kickoff play:

While this is obviously an NFL topic, it isn’t hard to see a future where these changes trickle down to the college level as well. Earlier this week, I talked on the Sco-ing Long Podcast to my co-host Jonathan Stewart, an Oregon legend and former Pro Bowl running back with the Carolina Panthers, to get his take on the changes.

“First of all, I understand. But, what are we doing here? Are we becoming the XFL?” Stewart said. “I understand it from the standpoint that there was this dead product on the field in kickoff returns. Everyone was kicking it out of the endzone. The problem with that is that it’s now going to be harder on the kick-off unit to stop the kick-off return. It should be hard to get first downs. It should be hard to get yards. It should be hard to score points. Now you’re taking the element of defense out of the game.”

Ultimately, we are likely to see an uptick in production from an offensive perspective, not only due to the kickoff rules leading to better field position, but because of the banning of the hip-drop tackle that led to injuries over the years.

Personally, I don’t know that this is a bad thing, because kick-offs did become irrelevant over the years. It was a touchback every time, which led to viewers tuning out after a touchdown and going to get refreshments or use the restroom. I don’t know that I’m completely against this. It’s going to take a little bit to get used to the look of it and to see where these guys are lining up now, but the end product may see a marked improvement.

If we do see that improvement at the NFL level, how long until we see the changes at the college level?

“If this sticks around for 2-3 years in the NFL, I can definitely see it transferring,” Stewart said.

For those who aren’t excited by the potential change, I don’t think you have anything to worry about for the next couple of years. At this point, it feels like the world of college football has enough going on, from name, image, and likeness, the transfer portal, and conference realignment, to an ever-expanding College Football Playoff. The bandwidth simply may not exist currently to put these new rules into place in due time.

A few years down the road, though? Things may look different.

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As Oregon and Washington head to Big Ten, a new chapter in the rivalry begins

The Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies will likely enter a new chapter of their long-standing rivalry as new members of the Big Ten.

The landscape of college football is going to look a lot different in 2024 than it has in the past, and that is especially true for the Oregon Ducks.

While the expanded College Football Playoff will have an impact on every team in the nation, Oregon is one of several teams that are moving to a new conference, joining the Big Ten along with Washington, USC, and UCLA.

The new expanded conference offers a ton of exciting matchups for the Ducks, but it could potentially change some things that Oregon fans have come to know and love over the last several decades. In particular, there’s a good chance that rivalries will look quite a bit different in the future.

Oregon will still play the likes of Washington, Oregon State, and USC going forward, but with the addition of games against Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, and several other Big Ten teams, there’s a chance that some of the existing rivalries get watered down.

This past week on the Sco-ing Long Podcast, co-hosts Jonathan Stewart and Zachary Neel discussed this. In particular, they talked about Oregon’s rivalry with the Huskies. While it definitely stood as the biggest rivalry for the Ducks throughout their time in the Pac-12, Neel argues that it might lose some of its steam going forward, for various reasons.

“I think that going into the Big 10, this rivalry loses a little bit of juice,” Neel said. “The rivalry is at its best when both teams are good and competing for a conference championship. I don’t think that we’re going to see that again for quite some time with Oregon being at the top of the Big 10. I don’t think Washington’s there right now. They won’t be this year, and they likely won’t be next year. Five years from now? Maybe, but that kind of depends on where Jedd Fisch is and how long he stays at Washington.”

While the Huskies made it to the national championship game in 2023, the departure of a number of their best players to the NFL draft hurts, and the subsequent destruction of the roster, once head coach Kalen DeBoer left to take the top job at Alabama, left Washington with uncertainty going into 2024.

The past few years have been great for the Oregon-Washington rivalry, as the two teams competed for conference championships. Earlier this century, though, the Ducks had a massive advantage, which led to a watered-down hatred between the two schools.

“There was a stretch when Oregon beat Washington 12 times in a row,” Neel said. “I’m not saying that’s going to happen again over the next decade but I think we will see a bit more Oregon dominance because of where Oregon is and where Washington currently is. The game definitely matters. It’s very important for fans, there’s so much heart and so much history there. I just don’t see the rivalry really gaining importance now that you’ve got Oregon up against teams competing for those conference championships like Ohio State, like Michigan, like Wisconsin.”

Stewart, who experienced the Washington rivalry up close and personal, and never lost to the Huskies in his career, had different thoughts on the matter.

“I’m always going to go down to the history,” Stewart said. “The history is more than just football. It’s a local battle, a battle on the gridiron, and a battle between two states. I think it’s just an important game as far as bragging rights go, as far as recruiting goes.”

Even if the era of dominance returns for Oregon, and they do find a way to get past Washington more often than not over the next decade, that doesn’t change how big of a rivalry this should be to Stewart.

“You can play a team 10 times and beat them 10 times and still hate them,” Stewart said. “That’s kind of the tradition that I think you’ve got to carry. Oregon must look at UW as a threat through recruiting and its existence in the Northwest.”

We will see how the rivalry feels in the first year of the new expanded Big Ten for both Oregon and Washington in the final week of the regular season. The hate and vitriol may be there, but it’s hard to say that there will be a ton on the line when it comes to season outcomes.

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Which Big Ten teams will be the biggest rivals for Oregon going forward?

A look at which teams in the Big Ten will likely be the biggest rivals for the Oregon Ducks when it comes to the new expanded conference.

For the past several decades in the world of the Pac-10, and then the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks have been comfortable in the fact that they knew who their biggest rivals were. You had Oregon State, you had Washington, you had Stanford, you had USC, and you even had Utah to an extent later in the lifespan of the conference.

Things are going to change in the future, though.

With Oregon’s jump to the Big Ten Conference, we are losing a lot of rivalries that became commonplace over the years. The Ducks will still play the likes of Washington, USC, and Oregon State going forward, but now they have a new pool of teams that will be on the yearly schedule, and a whole pool of potential rivalries to jump into.

This past week on the Sco-ing Long Podcast co-hosts Jonathan Stewart and Zachary Neel discussed which teams in the Big Ten would end up being the biggest rivals for the Ducks going forward.

To decide who the best candidates were, both Stewart and Neel assigned a number value to each team in the conference from 1-10 (10 being the strongest) for how fierce the upcoming rivalry would be.

Here’s what they came up with, and some of their reasoning.

Former NFL players react to video of Cam Newton brawl

Guys who have played with and against Cam Newton think it’s a bad idea to try to fight Cam Newton.

So, is trying to fight Carolina Panthers legend Cam Newton a good idea? Well, maybe we should see what some of his old teammates and opponents think.

On Sunday, a video of Newton appearing to be attacked by multiple individuals at his 7v7 event in Atlanta went viral. The clip made the rounds to former NFL players, who had the following to tweet about the wild incident:

What should Oregon Duck fans make of Chip Kelly’s move from UCLA to Ohio State?

Jonathan Stewart and Zachary Neel break down Chip Kelly’s move from UCLA to Ohio State, and what it ultimately means for the Oregon Ducks.

The landscape of college football has been changing so rapidly over the years, that there are few news stories anymore that are truly surprising.

Stanford and California playing as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference? Sure, why not? Oregon and Washington traveling to New Jersey to face Rutgers in conference games? I guess it makes sense.

But a head coach of one Big Ten team leaving to become a coordinator for another Big Ten team?

I can’t say I’ve seen that one many times before.

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That’s the path that former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly recently chose to take, leaving the Bruins to take over as the new offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes. While this move may not be directly newsworthy for the Oregon Ducks other than the fact that it involves a beloved former head coach, it will certainly impact them going forward, destabilizing one of their conference rivals in the short term while offering a huge boost for a new conference rival in the long term.

It’s an interesting move for Kelly, who was the HC at UCLA for six years after spending several years in the NFL following his wildly successful stint in Eugene.

Was it a difficult decision to take a step back on the coaching ladder, though? That’s something that Zachary Neel recently talked to Oregon legend Jonathan Stewart about on the latest episode of the Sco-ing Long Podcast. 

“Do you really think that was a hard decision for (Chip Kelly) to go?” Stewart posited. “That was definitely an easy decision. You’re going to the Big Ten. The Big Ten is about to be larger than life next year. You’re going to be able to have a team that’s already been there and is established. As far as being a part of the powerhouse, you are now part of that.”

While Kelly was already part of the Big Ten with his spot atop the UCLA coaching tree, the move to Ohio State better situates him for future success, with the Buckeyes entering the 2024 season as one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

“As far as their strengths go and as far as development goes, you don’t really have to develop much going into next year,” Stewart said. “You can go in there and ride the wave, and then put your marking on it. I think that is clearly an easy win.”

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Another thing to consider when evaluating this decision for Kelly is ultimately what his aspirations are. For someone who wants to be a big-time college football coach, or potentially an NFL coach once again, then it may be seen as a step-down, going from a Power 4 head coach to an offensive coordinator. However, if you are considering quality of life, and a desire to simply coach football and not have to deal with recruiting and the unending aspect of the transfer portal, then this is a move that makes sense for Kelly.

“Part of this thing with Chip is that he hated recruiting,” Neel said. “I think he wanted to get away from the transfer portal and recruiting, and he wanted to go somewhere that he could just coach ball. That’s all he has to do at Ohio State because they’ve got a recruiting machine there.”

During his time at Oregon, Kelly was known for being one of the best offensive minds in the world of college football, and he helped revolutionize the game with his spread offense being copied from college all the way to the NFL. Pairing him with the talent that the Buckeyes have is definitely something that should be a cause for concern in Eugene, especially if he doesn’t have aspirations to level up in the coaching world, and simply wants to stick around and coach ball for years to come.

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“They get some of the best players in the nation, so he can just draw up X’s and O’s,” Neel said. “I’m just curious to see what his aspirations are. Does he want to be a head coach again? Does he want to be an NFL coordinator? Or is he just happy to be the Ohio State offensive coordinator for the next 15 years? I think that’s the scariest answer. If he is just happy drawing up these plays for one of the best teams in the nation, I think Oregon fans should be a little bit worried.”

We will see what the dynamic with Kelly as an OC at Ohio State looks like this fall, and it will be great to see him back on the sideline in Eugene once again when the Buckeyes travel to take on Oregon in October.

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Oregon Ducks legend Jonathan Stewart joins Sco-ing Long Podcast as new co-host

Oregon Ducks legend Jonathan Stewart was announced as the new co-host of the Sco-ing Long Podcast, part of the Bleav Podcast Network.

One of the most popular Oregon Ducks in school history is getting into the media game, bringing his extensive football knowledge and experience to the podcasting world in Eugene.

Jonathan Stewart, a former Pro Bowl running back with the Carolina Panthers and one of the most prolific RBs to play in Eugene was announced as the new co-host of the Sco-ing Long Podcast on Monday morning, joining Ducks Wire’s Zachary Neel. The two kicked off their partnership with an episode previewing the upcoming NFL Draft, finding perfect landing spots for all of the future Pro Ducks who are expected to get drafted.

This is not Stewart’s first podcasting experience; he is currently also a co-host on Bleav Network’s ‘Bleav in Panthers’ podcast.

Stewart played for three years in Eugene, from 2006-2008, where he rushed for 2,891 total yards and had 31 touchdowns. Currently, Stewart is the fifth-highest leading rusher in school history.

Throughout the remainder of the offseason, both Stewart and Neel will record episodes of Sco-ing Long on a weekly basis, bringing former Ducks players and coaches on to get a new perspective on the team. Once the season starts this fall, Sco-ing Long will be released on a bi-weekly basis, with post-game reaction shows and mid-week previews.

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Picking a perfect landing spot for members of the Oregon Ducks in the 2024 NFL Draft

Hand-picking perfect landing spots for the members of the Oregon Ducks who are projected to be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.

One of the most intriguing things about the NFL draft each and every year is the fact that a lot of talented players likely never see their full potential based on where they go to play their professional ball. Unlike at the college recruiting level, where players get to pick and choose which coaches they want to play for, and select the system that best fits their skill set, the NFL doesn’t work that way.

Instead, a team could draft someone based on their talent, but for various reasons, a fit may never end up happening, and that talented player may never see that high ceiling that they left college with.

In a perfect world for players, they would get to choose the teams they go to, but that isn’t the world that we live in.

On Monday’s episode of the Sco-ing Long Podcast, though, hosts Zachary Neel and Jonathan Stewart took a trip to that “perfect world” and tried to figure out where the best landing spot would be for each member of the Oregon Ducks who is anticipated to get drafted this year. From Bo Nix to Khyree Jackson, the two considered coaching, fit, scheme, and location, among other things, to pick where each Pro Duck should ideally land.

Here’s what they ended up with:

WATCH: Luke Kuechly surprises Cam Newton during live stream at Super Bowl

Check out this must-see moment between Panthers greats Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly from Thursday:

Go grab your tissue box, Carolina Panthers.

Now that he’s a full-fledged YouTuber, franchise great Cam Newton has been setting up shop at radio row this week from the site of Super Bowl LVIII. And during his second outing on the job, he got a heartwarming surprise from an old friend . . .

Former linebacker Luke Kuechly—one of Newton’s “favorite teammates of all-time,” per Newton—joined his pal on the set for a few minutes. Cam wasn’t stingy with more superlatives either—also presenting to some and introducing Luke to others as the “epitome of an ultimate teammate,” “a professional,” and, of course, “Captain America.”

Newton would then ask Kuechly how, during his illustrious eight-year NFL career, he could turn the switch from Clark Kent to Superman.

“You wanna compete, man. You wanna win,” Kuechly replied. “You work so hard and you wanna win. And I think that’s really what it comes down to is the competitive side of guys is ultimately what makes ’em a good football player.

“And you know how it was in Carolina—we had the best dudes. Whether it was Thomas [Davis] or G.O. [Greg Olsen] or [Ryan] Kalil or you or Chuck [Charles Johnson] or K.K. [Kawann Short] and Star [Lotulelei], and I’m missin’ guys, Roman [Harper] and Peanut [Charles Tillman] and Josh [Norman]—everybody on our team was so doggone competitive. Stew [Jonathan Stewart], [Mike] Tolbert, Fozzy [Whittaker]. And it was just kinda an understanding of like, this is how we do things in Carolina and if you don’t wanna be a part of it, then go on and get out.”

The way they did things resulted in the most sustained success in franchise history. With Newton and Kuechly leading the way, the Panthers captured three consecutive NFC South titles and an NFC championship between 2013 and 2015.

So, hopefully this new era in Carolina starts stacking up some competitors, or dawgs, of their own.

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‘He’s going to be a secret weapon;’ Jonathan Stewart sees Bucky Irving having a great NFL career

Assessing how Oregon Ducks RB Bucky Irving will fair at the NFL level with former Carolina Panthers’ RB Jonathan Stewart.

As we transition away from the college football season and start to focus on the upcoming NFL draft, the idea of future success and different fits in certain schemes at the next level come into play.

Much of our attention has been on quarterback Bo Nix, wide receiver Troy Franklin and defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus in the Oregon Ducks universe. We shouldn’t be quick to look past running back Bucky Irving, who also declared for the 2024 draft. He had a highly productive two years in Eugene: almost 3,000 total yards and 21 total touchdowns. Irving is ready to head to the next level and hopefully have a successful professional career.

But how much success can a 5-foot-10, 195-pound back have at the NFL level? That’s something I asked Oregon legend Jonathan Smith, a former Pro Bowl running back for the Carolina Panthers, on the latest episode of the “Sco-ing Long” podcast.

“I think that at the next level, he is going to be able to, you know, be a secret weapon in a lot of guys’ eyes,” Stewart said.

One of the things that was most impressive about Irving’s time at Oregon was his ability to play through contact, always keeping balance and gaining extra yards long after many other backs would go down. Though he is smaller in stature, there was a power Irving always ran with.

Because of that, I compared Irving to Kansas City Chiefs’ RB Isaiah Pacheco, or Jacksonville Jaguars’ RB Travis Etienne when talking to Stewart. He agreed, but said there also is a mix of Austin Eckler and Darren Sproles due to his pass-catching abilities.

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“He’s a bit shorter in stature, but he delivers blows unexpectedly for his size,” Stewart said. “The strength is there. He’s obviously a great pass catcher, which is going to be something that you know, a lot of teams at the next level will love and be able to utilize as far as his skill set and offense and make him more of a double threat.”

No matter what type of mold the Oregon RB ultimately fits into at the next level, Stewart has an important piece of advice that he always looks to give young NFL players.

“One of the things I like to tell guys is, you know, you can have your favorite players and you can have a picture of them on your wall for motivation. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to invent yourself,” Stewart said. “You have to be someone who is different than anyone else has ever seen. And I think, you know, to Bucky, the University of Oregon’s never seen him running back like him.”

At this point in the predraft process, Irving is projected to be a mid-round pick during the NFL draft in April. However, he could greatly improve his stock with solid performances at both the NFL combine and Oregon’s pro Day.

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Every Pro Bowl selection in Panthers franchise history

Let’s take a look back at every Pro Bowl selection in Panthers franchise history

It took a bit longer than it should’ve, but defensive tackle Derrick Brown rightfully became the latest Pro Bowler in Carolina Panthers history.

So, as we gear up for the rest of the festivities this weekend, let’s look back at Brown and every other Panther who has been selected as an all-star.