I doubt this will surprise anyone.
Kickoff returns are down about 20 percent in the first year of a new NCAA rule that gives the receiving team possession at its 25-yard line if a fair catch is made anywhere between the goal line and 25.
According to NCAA figures provided to The Associated Press on Monday, kick return men in the Football Bowl Subdivision made fair catches on about 1 out of every 10 kickoffs they received between the goal line and 25.
So, the NCAA created a rule that came up with a rule that accomplished its goal of improving player safety with a minimal impact on game flow. Well done, folks. Now you can rest on your laurels… wait, what?
NCAA national coordinator of officials Rogers Redding has said the Football Rules Committee probably will consider more changes to kickoff rules next year with the objective of reducing returns or making them less likely to result in injury.
Jeez, Rogers. Ever hear of quitting while you’re ahead? Other than gut kickoffs completely, what’s left to do?
Get The Picture 
I guess he doesn’t like “Yes” for an answer.
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We are talking about the organization that extended Emmert’s contract……
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What else are they going to do? Penalize the kicking team 5 yards by moving the ball to the 30 for a fair catch.
I would like to see how the stats play out in the lower levels because I can’t imagine D2 and D3 kickers are consistently getting the ball high and deep enough to encourage the fair catch within the field of play.
I hate that this play is pretty much officially no longer worth the risk:
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Leaked memo regarding kickoffs in 2019: Teams will have a walk-on kickoff team that will wear flags for kickoffs. If ball is returnable, kickoff team must remove a flag from return teams returner.
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Coverage teams will be selected for each school using a playoff between the Frat teams. Winner of the tournament gets to cover kicks for the season.
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Teams that kick it into the endzone should be rewarded. Let the receiving team take that to the 25 yard line. If they fair catch it outside the endzone, give it to them at the 30. That would probably make for a lot less returns.
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I would go another step. If the ball crosses the end line in the air, the ball only comes out to the 20. Reward teams with excellent kickoff guys.
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I’ve said this before, but tee it up on the 40 and give the kicking team a point or two for a kick through the uprights. And then give the receiving team a touchback. You’d see an increased emphasis on kicking then.
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Not a bad idea, some incentive to provide a point of difference is an improvement. I am not against a “place the ball of the _(X)__ yard line and be done with it, and if the only thing prohibiting it is the onside kick, do it tomorrow. Another thing, don’t let the idiot Rogers Redding have any say in what goes on in football. Another Peter Principle example just doors down from Emmert’s office.
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Another 2019 rules memo leak. A kickoff that lands in the end zone gives two points to the kicking team. This gives the return team an incentive to fair catch in the end zone.
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As usual, the enemy of good is better.
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Soon, the games themselves will carry all the excitement of a spring scrimmage.
Game attendance, especially from the students, does not appear to be a priority once the contributions, the rights, and activity fees are collected.
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I think it’s pretty clear by now that removing kickoffs altogether is the ultimate end goal. So, yeah, they’re gonna keep making steps towards that every year until it’s gone.
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I don’t see how they eliminate kickoffs. If the onside kick is no longer available, it takes one more tool away from a team who is trying to mount a comeback.
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I have read this as an alternative to onsides kicks…let the kicking team have the ball at their own 40, 4th and 10.
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That’s not a bad alternative, but I would probably make that 4th and 15 instead. 35+10 to put the chains on the 45 and then “penalize” the kicking team 5 yards for electing the onside kick option. It’s a very difficult conversion but not impossible.
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Correct, some form of this proposal is where I believe we’ll end up, as the punt is considered a much safer play than the kickoff, and there’s still a chance for the kicking team to keep the ball if they convert a long first down.
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I agree with you. I think the kickoff is gone in 10 years.
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Everyone forgets that the rules changed several years ago to bring touchbacks on kickoffs out to the 25 instead of the 20. This was done to discourage teams kicking into the endzone so more kicks would be returned, adding “excitement” back to the play. Now they want to go in the other direction. Just change it back to the 20.
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That wasn’t the intent. The intent was to encourage more guys to take a knee in the endzone instead of bringing it out, by rewarding them with an extra 5 yards to do so. Now to get around that, some teams started trying more of the high, directional kicks to force teams to have to return it. But the intent of all these rule changes has been to slowly phase the kickoff out of the game, in the name of safety.
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I have been a proponent of requiring tacklers to wrap-up the ball carrier rugby style for a long time as it requires players to take their head out of the tackle. Kickoffs would be a perfect place to see what the injury ration / profile would look like with that requirement as that is the play with the most injuries.
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If you’re REALLY about safety then do the coin toss and spot the damn ball on the 25. Stop with this half-ass BS.
While we’re on the subject- how do we let a kick return guy take considerable shots to the head and twice have to get helped off the field, on consecutive kick returns, in the same game? I’ve suffered my fair share of concussions and am probably a little slow but it doesn’t make sense to me.
Admittedly, I used to be of the ignorant “wussification of America” type but I’m still smart enough to see the lasting impact. Bigger, faster, stronger has kinda surpassed the capability of equipment and the brain. It’s really that simple to me.
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Kickoffs? Who needs them…TV certainly doesnt. Soon they will change it to 2-4 kickoffs per game per time max. until they are fully eliminated. Start testing in PC-12 and Big 12 where they dont play D.
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NCAA contracting with Grubhub to have all kickoffs delivered.
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1/2 point for every fair catch starting between 25-20 yrd line. 1 pt between 20-15 yrd line. 1.5 between…. ….
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