Tag: rule change

Helmet communication, 2-minute warning coming to college football

The NCAA approved a proposal that will allow for on-field helmet communication during games as well as the inclusion of a 2-minute warning.

College football is a constantly evolving environment. NIL, the transfer portal, and conference realignment have been at the forefront of the conversation for the last several years. On the field, the game is changing too.

On Friday, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the use of helmet communication and tablets on the sideline. Additionally, starting in 2024, there will be a two-minute warning added to the end of each half.

The addition of helmet communication comes after a trial run during bowl season that seemed to go off without a hitch.

According to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, one player on the field can use the helmet technology. The player will be identified with a green dot on the helmet, the same designation used by the NFL.

Teams will have until the 15-second mark on the play clock or the snap of the ball to use helmet communication, whichever comes first. For a team like Oklahoma that wants to go fast, this may not impact them much. But there will be critical downs that Seth Littrell and Jackson Arnold will take more time. Though teams use an elaborate display of hand signals and billboards to relay the play or any adjustments, this new communication model will allow the offensive coordinator to speak directly to the quarterback. Defensively, Zac Alley will have a voice in Danny Stutsman’s ear, which should only benefit the Sooners defense.

Last year, the NCAA made a change that kept the clock running in the final two minutes of each half. The two-minute warning rule at the end of each half provides a little more gamesmanship at the end of games, allowing defensive teams to use their timeouts in an attempt to get the ball back.

College football as we knew it is long gone. Coming are Saturdays that feel more like Sundays as networks and conferences work to get games played in tighter television windows.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Cowboys’ John Fassel: New kickoffs will ‘feel like a real football play’; KaVontae Turpin could explode

From @ToddBrock24f7: Fassel called kickoffs “a dying play.” New rules should give a speedy return man- like the Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin- a huge advantage.

The Cowboys felt like they found a secret weapon when they signed KaVontae Turpin away from the USFL after his MVP season of 2022. While he went on to make the Pro Bowl his first year in Dallas, it has felt like Turpin has still been kept largely under wraps, thanks to a set of rules that somewhat limited the blazing speed that had made him so dangerous.

With revised kickoff rules in place for 2024, Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel believes the league is about to see what the 27-year-old is truly capable of.

Fans got a breathtaking preview in a 2022 preseason game against the Chargers, when Turpin returned both a punt and a kickoff for scores.

Since then, Turpin hasn’t taken a kick back to the house. In fact, he’s barely gotten to try. Last season, he logged just 10 kickoff returns the whole year.

But… his per-return average was a jaw-dropping 29.2 yards, the highest of any player with double-digit returns.

That could become the norm rather than the exception, now that kick returns are set to make a return of their own.

“It was a dying play,” Fassel said Thursday on Good Morning Football. “And it feels like it’s back, and it’s back in a big way. I must say, I’m proud of the NFL for being bold, because this is a big change.”

Touchbacks last season were up a whopping 373% over what they had been just 14 years prior, and in the name of payer safety, kickoffs themselves had become a ceremonial formality.

Fassel was instrumental in developing the new rules, which were approved by owners last week at the annual league meeting.

“We were losing the play,” he lamented, “and there’s a lot of history behind the kickoff and kickoff return.”

Just not much recent history.

There were just four kickoff-return touchdowns leaguewide in all of 2023. The last one for Dallas came on Thanksgiving Day 2021, when Tony Pollard brought one back 100 yards versus the Raiders. Prior to that, if you take out CeeDee Lamb’s half-field scoring dash after scooping up an onside kick attempt against the 49ers in 2020, the Cowboys’ last kick return for a TD had come from Felix Jones.

In 2008.

Now, kickers will essentially be incentivized to keep the ball in play rather than blast it through the end zone. Tacklers and blockers will start closer to one another but be forced to remain stationary until the returner has the ball.

Gone are the high-speed collisions and injuries that often result from ten cover men sprinting full-steam and face-first into a wall of charging blockers. And with no one getting a head start on the play, a speedster like Turpin should suddenly have the advantage. (The Steelers, not coincidentally, signed veteran return ace Cordarrelle Patterson just hours after the new rule was approved.)

The NFL’s new-look kickoffs will be on trial in 2024 but could remain permanent past that. And the rule could trickle down to all levels of the sport.

“If this thing gets adopted by college football, high school football, the lower levels, I think we’ve done a great thing for the game of football,” Fassel said. “We’ve made it better, we’ve made it safer, and I just can’t wait to see where it goes. I think everybody’s really going to love it. It’s a unique look at the start, but once that ball gets caught, man, it’s game on and it’s going to feel like a real football play.”

And if all the stars align, the secret weapon the Cowboys have kept stashed for two years could be that real play’s next real poster child.

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NFL adopts a smart bylaw change to eliminate roster chicanery

NFL adopts a smart bylaw change to eliminate roster chicanery at the 53-man roster cutdowns, allowing players to be placed on IR earlier

The NFL smartly approved a bylaw change to the way the initial 53-man roster gets constructed at the end of the preseason. Proposed by the Lions, the new rule will eliminate some of the roster chicanery that teams have been forced to do.

In the past, players who were injured during the preseason or training camp had to make the initial 53-man roster before they could be placed on injured reserve. If they weren’t on that initial roster, they were ineligible to come back in the season; being placed on IR before the season effectively meant the season was over for that player with that team.

That procedural method led to some chaos every summer, with teams cutting veterans with the explicit purpose of creating a place on the 53-man roster for a player they were going to place on injured reserve. The Lions did this last August with Craig Reynolds; they released the running back in order to open a roster spot for Julian Okwara, who was subsequently placed on injured reserve immediately after making the roster. Reynolds was re-signed as soon as Okwara’s move to IR was processed, as was the plan the whole time.

The new rule allows teams to avoid this sort of roster sleight of hand. During the final roster reduction to 53 players, teams can move up to two players to injured reserve while maintaining their eligibility to return during the season.

This is a smart change, one that will prevent the task of having to tell a player who made the 53-man roster that he’s got to suddenly be unemployed for a couple of days because one of his teammates is injured.

Dan Campbell ‘absolutely in favor’ of the NFL’s new kickoff format

Lions coach Dan Campbell ‘absolutely in favor’ of NFL’s new kickoff format and has already worked with ST Coordinator Dave Fipp on ideas

The NFL approved a fairly radical change to the way kickoffs and kick returns will be handled this week. During the NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando, the league effectively replaced the existing kickoff format and structure with the innovative kickoff and kick returns used by the XFL (now part of the UFL).

Effectively, the league is trying to bring back the excitement of the kick return while making it safer for players.

At his Tuesday morning press conference, Lions head coach Dan Campbell voiced strong support for the change.

“Absolutely in favor of it,” Campbell said when asked about the new kickoff. “Because it gives us a chance to play special teams.”

Campbell elaborated,

“What happened last year, felt like it took a significant amount of plays out of the game. And those were from special teams and, you know, you don’t really make it up anywhere else.”

The coach continued, focusing on the safety aspect of the new play.

“We put an emphasis on (kick return) and I believe in it. I think the argument is, ‘well, you’re bringing more plays back in so now injuries could (increase)’. Yeah, because there are more plays. But it feels like what we’ve done with it — it’s been so condensed that the impact is out of it. Doesn’t mean there won’t be an injury.”

In fact, Campbell expressed his excitement over the potential of exploiting the unknown. After noting that some are afraid of the unknown, he and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp see a big opportunity.

“Fipp and I have already been back there talking about — watching all these XFL clips and you’re looking at different body types and looking at returners and you’re look at scheme. I think the unknown is what the coaching is for. You mess with it, you tinker with it … I’m excited about it.”

The Lions haven’t had a kickoff return for a touchdown since Jamal Agnew took one to the house against the Eagles back in September of 2019. Detroit only attempted 19 returns on 83 kickoffs during the 2023 regular season. THe rule change should make that figure and percentage skyrocket in 2024.

 

Dennis Allen may be more aggressive challenging plays after rule change

The NFL has lowered the bar for coaches to receive a third challenge. Will Dennis Allen be more aggressive with the red flag going forward?

The NFL banning the “hip drop tackle” is the rule change generating the most headlines, but the league approved several other major rules changes at league owners meetings this week. Coaches will now be given a third challenge as long as they won at least one of their first two challenges. This is a small, yet major, shift from the norm.

And it could be a big moment for New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen. He has never taken two challenges in the same game, only throwing the red flag on 7 plays in 34 games with New Orleans. Allen could be the perfect coach to use as an example. In his first year as head coach, he was a perfect 4-for-4. This would guarantee him a third challenge under the new system. In Year 2, he lost all of three of his challenges. Under the new rule, he would still have another shot to earn a third challenge.

Coaches no longer need to be perfect to get the reward of a third challenge. You will likely see coaches be more aggressive with their second red flag if they win their first challenge. Maybe Allen will even lean away from his conservative nature. Coaches are less likely to hesitate when throwing the flag after a successful first challenge.

This should help get more calls correct in the long run. Teams were less likely to challenge close calls because they wanted to play it safe. Lowering the prerequisites for a third challenge will lead to more challenges which should lead to more correct calls.

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The NFL’s new kickoff format: Everything you need to know

The NFL’s new kickoff format: Everything you need to know about the changes to kickoffs and kick returns adopted for the 2024 season

The NFL adopted a radical new kickoff and kick return format for the 2024 season during the annual owners’ meetings in Orlando this week. The changes effectively transform what has become a yawning procedural touchback into the exciting, potentially impactful play it was in the XFL.

In fact, the new NFL kickoff is taken straight from the XFL’s innovative twist on the special teams play.

New NFL kickoff diagram (Courtesy Eric Galko on X)

It’s going to look quite a bit different. Among the primary changes:

  • Kickoffs are now from the 35-yard line.
  • Rather than all members of the kicking team lined up at the 35, now they’re advanced to the opposing 40-yard line, or 25 yards in front of the kicker.
  • The receiving team starts out more condensed. All the players on the receiving team, with the exception of one or two designated returners, start out between their own 30- and 35-yard lines.
  • Kick returners, no more than two of them, line up anywhere behind the 30-yard line.
  • No players other than the kicker and the returners are allowed to move until the ball is either caught by the returner, lands inside the landing zone (between the 20-yard line and the goal line), or is brought out of the end zone by the returner.
  • Any kick that hits the landing zone must be returned, including if it bounces into the end zone. The returner can kneel for a touchback on kicks that bounce from the landing zone into the end zone, and that touchback goes to the 20-yard line.
  • If a kick doesn’t reach the landing zone or goes out of bounds either on the fly or via bouncing out, the receiving team gets possession at its 40-yard line.
  • If the kicked ball enters the end zone on the fly, the receiving team can either return it or kneel for a touchback that goes out to the 30-yard line.
  • No fair catches.

This is a sample kick return from the XFL, which is now merged into the new UFL, that is effectively what the NFL kickoffs will now look like.

As for onside kicks, they are now only allowed in the fourth quarter of games and must be declared to the officials before the onside kick attempt. No more surprise onside kicks.

NFL bans hip-drop tackle 14 months after Tony Pollard injury

From @ToddBrock24f7: Cowboys fans know well the dangers of the hip-drop, but many believe it shouldn’t be officiated out of the game. The NFL will try in 2024.

The NFL’s owners have taken a step toward what they believe will be a safer game, but the decision is sure to cause uncertainty during play this season and has already caused an uproar among players and fans.

The so-called “hip-drop” tackle will be illegal starting in 2024, according to reports coming out of the league meetings in Orlando. The controversial technique was a talking point of major emphasis all of last season after several players suffered severe injuries as a result of its use on the field.

Cowboys running back Tony Pollard was the victim of a hip-drop tackle in the January 2023 playoff loss to San Francisco, carted off with a fractured fibula and high ankle sprain.

Owners unanimously voted Monday to ban the tackle beginning in 2024. For the purposes of officiating, a hip-drop tackle is defined as one in which a player “grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms” and then “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.”

The competiton committee reportedly showed owners a video montage of hip-drop tackles in which the Pollard play was featured prominently. The committee’s Rich McKay said that after reviewing film of 20,000 tackles, the hip-drop technique was shown to have resulted in an injury rate “20 times the others.”

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The NFLPA had already come out in opposition of the ban, calling it too difficult to enforce with any consistency. While the on-the-field penalty for the technique will be a loss of 15 yards and an automatic first down, it is believed that the league will largely attempt to enforce the new rule through monetary fines for guilty players after the fact.

Many players, coaches, analysts, and longtime football traditionalists have called the move to ban the hip-drop tackle a softening of the game, something many said about the horse-collar tackle technique that was similarly outlawed in 2005 after a rash of injuries during the 2004 season, when Cowboys safety Roy Williams used the move frequently.

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Cameron Jordan criticizes NFL’s rule banning hip-drop tackles

The NFL ignored complaints from the players association and voted to ban the hip-drop tackle. Cameron Jordan took issue with the rule change:

A big change is coming to the NFL. League ownership ignored complaints from the players union and voted to ban the hip-drop tackle on Monday, and big names around the league weren’t happy. New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan took issue with the rule change on social media.

Now, officials will be penalizing defenders for tackling offensive players around the waist and leaving the ground with both feet — resulting in a 15-yard foul and automatic first down for the offense. It’s a change in the name of safety after some high-profile players were injured on routine tackles last season.

But implementing it will be a challenge. Officials already struggle to get many penalties and penalty-worthy plays right, and this is something that can’t be practiced given the limited contact at training camp and summer workouts. It’s an unpopular move with players and a difficult task for officials, but team owners are determined to see it through anyway.

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Rule change proposed by the Lions gets approved

Rule change proposed by the Lions gets approved that will allow a third coaching challenge if one earlier challenge is sucessful

One of the functions of the NFL owners’ meeting every year is the approval of new rules. This year, the league adopted one of the rules proposed by the Lions.

While it’s not the rule change that has everyone talking, it’s a good one for Detroit head coach Dan Campbell. The new rule gives coaches an additional challenge if one of their first two officiating challenges is successful. Previously, a team would have to have two successful challenges to earn a third.

It hasn’t come up for Campbell yet, as he’s unfortunately been one of the least successful coaches in challenging calls on the field. Per Pro Football Reference, Campbell failed on all four of his coaching challenges in 2023.

Cowboys’ John Fassel spearheading new kickoff rule that could pass for 2024

From @ToddBrock24f7: The special teams coordinator has been working to make kickoffs more exciting while keeping players safe. His proposal is up for a vote.

A big change is likely coming to the NFL, radically altering a play that has become in recent years little more than a formality. And one of the Cowboys’ own is leading the way.

League owners are expected to be presented as early as Monday with a proposal to make the kickoff a real football play once again, with a re-imagined set of rules designed to encourage kickoff returns while maintaining player safety to the highest extent possible.

It’s a project Dallas special teams coordinator John Fassel has been spearheading for some time.

“John’s been working on this for a couple years,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said Sunday at the league meetings in Orlando, where Fassel and Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi have been putting the finishing touches on their proposal.

Under the revamped rules, the idea will be for kickers to place the ball inside a designated “landing zone” that extends from the goal line to the 20. Any kick that hits here must be returned. A ball that hits short of the landing zone comes out to the 40. A kick that hits in the end zone or goes out the back goes to the 30. A ball that hits in the landing zone and is then downed in the end zone by the returning team goes to the 20.

As for the kicking team, no running head start. Everyone but the kicker will line up at the receiving team’s 40, with nine of the receiving team’s blockers lined up between the 35 and 30. None of them can move until the kicked ball hits the ground or a player in the landing zone. Two returners can be stationed anywhere in the landing zone.

The opportunity for an exciting return should be back, but without the high-speed collisions and injuries that often result from ten cover men sprinting full-steam and face-first into a wall of charging blockers.

The new rules borrow heavily from what the XFL did with kickoffs in 2020 and again during its 2023 return.

“In the NFL right now, you kick it off, and everybody runs. But if you say, right when the ball is caught, ‘Boom, pause it,’ where is everybody on kickoff and kickoff return? What we’re saying is, that’s where we are starting the play. We’re just not running to get to that spot,” Fassel explained.

“Now with our idea, the ball gets kicked, and as soon as it gets kicked, now everybody goes. It’s really the same play once the ball gets caught. You’re just taking out all the speed and all the big collisions from all the speed in space.”

A new kickoff rule will impact other situations, too. Onside kicks, for example, will be reserved for the fourth quarter and must be announced prior to the kick. If a ball blows off the tee twice prior to a kickoff, the kicker will use a kicking stick instead of having a holder, since that holder will have to be lined up on the 40 with the rest of his team.

According to the competition committee, there were 416 touchbacks in the NFL in 2010. Last year saw 1,970. Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey led the league in touchbacks, with over 89% of his boots either downed by opponents or sailing beyond the end zone. Return specialist KaVontae Turpin got just 10 chances at a return the entire 2023 season.

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Both of those figures should change dramatically under the new kickoff- and not just for the Cowboys, but for every team.

“It was just a non-factor,” Fassel said of what kickoffs have become. “One of every five got returned. It’s like 20 percent. And that’s just not good enough.”

But whether the league’s owners will vote to adopt such a major rewrite to the rules remains to be seen. A vote is said to be set for Monday, with last-minute tweaks to the rule still possible. Or owners could elect to table the vote until May.

“It’s going to pass at some point,” Fassel said. “Hopefully the sooner the better.”

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