It’s as common a scenario during a National Football League game as a tackle for loss: an aficionado of the game tries to explain the rules to a curious onlooker. Deep into a murky pool of unfamiliar terminology and rules, when asked if they understand, the novice’s mouth says, “yes,” but the eyes say, “whoa.”
Football rules have for decades required an interpreter for what can seem like another language to those new to the NFL, which saw its teams open minicamps this week. The game is complex and newcomers benefit greatly from explanations accompanied by film, visuals and, importantly, time to absorb it all.
That’s one reason coaches and their assistants spend enormous amounts of time in their offices, poring over statistics and studying play after play.
Players, coaches and fans will have to devote serious time to what has usually been a quick no-need-to-watch event that starts a series. Teams have placed heavy emphasis on kickoffs, and the media is just as focused on how the changes will impact the viewer experience.
“Mics everywhere! This is the most I’ve ever had here,” Los Angeles Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn quipped during his media availability early in June.
Blackburn also joked that the new rule will have high-priced athletes playing “freeze tag.”
“You’re frozen until the ball’s touched or hits the ground,” he said. But Blackburn quickly admitted the Rams are still developing how they plan to deploy players during kickoffs.
So are other special teams coaches.
Dave Toub, special teams coordinator for the back-to-back reigning Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs, sees the profile of the kickoff returners changing. Yes, returners. Plural. Teams will likely have two men back instead of one to try and field kickoffs to maximize field position.
“They’re going to be more like a running back-style-type guy, because the other returner, the guy who doesn’t return the ball, has got to be a good blocker,” Toub said in his late-May press availability.
“So they have to be not only a good returner, solid, but be able to take a hit [and] bounce back from a lot of tackles, because there are going to be a lot of tackles. But they have to be a really good blocker because there’s going to be guys coming free. There’s too many guys down the field at the point of attack.”
That somewhat rambling comment suggests the fluid situation across the NFL as teams inch toward preseason games and observers’ first look. The basic concepts for the rule change came from the XFL, or Spring Football League, but the NFL has put its own spin on the approach as it tries to diminish high-collision plays and head injuries.
The learning curve will be long and winding.
“Every time we practice, we learn something new,” said Toub, who added there has been a certain amount of trial and error. “I drew up a play and it looks great on paper, [but] you can’t do it. You can’t get the blocks you think you can get, so you throw it out.”
Blackburn also said the adjustment to the rule is organizational for the Rams and is analogous to a scientific experiment, in that each team will be racing to find what works best for its roster.
“You may not want to show everything if you think you have a head start,” Blackburn said about preseason games. “And I think that’s one of the coolest things about the role that we’re in right now as special teams coordinators, is whoever can get in front of this the fastest is probably going to have an advantage to win one or two games early in the season and have a big difference in maybe the outcome of what your season looks like in the long term.”
Toub and the Chiefs reconfigured practice schedules to help players absorb the information coaches are conveying about the new rules.
Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said his club is also breaking the information into bite-size pieces to make it easier for players to digest.
“I think the biggest thing is – which really kind of helps from a practice standpoint – is you’re really able to get a lot more reps,” Daniels said during his press availability late last month.
“Because essentially, you’ve eliminated 25 yards of running, so that really helps out big-time.
“We’re all new to this. And the teaching phase of it—you have to be very specific and focusing on one phase at a time because it’s so many nuances that’s into the rule, from a kickoff standpoint, formation standpoint, from a kickoff return standpoint, and so it’s hard to kind go dual.
“You kind of have to have a day where we’re solely focusing on kickoffs and another day where we’re solely focusing on kickoff return, just because it’s so many nuances that’s built into the new rule.”
The kicker profile might also be affected, because these traditionally noncontact players might be more often involved in tackling plays.
When the upcoming season kicks off, the already-multifaceted game of football will have a new look and kick off a whole conversation about rules.
