The NFL has revolutionized the kickoff, turning it in the blink of an eye from a dead play to something that will be largely undead. And the consequences of the new approach, which has 19 or 20 players huddled together and not moving until the ball is caught or hits the ground in the landing zone, remains largely unknown.
On Wednesday, 49ers special teams coordinator Brian Schneider spoke at length about the new rule and the big changes it will bring to the game.
“In the offseason, when you get the news, there’s a lot of anxiety because what you’re seeing is the only thing you really have to watch is the XFL and it’s different than that, too,” Schneider told reporters. “So you really try to do everything you can until the players get here. Because before everything was in my brain and one thing led to another and then all of a sudden I think it’s all here now for me, in terms of once we get the fundamentals together, once we ask the players to communicate with us. , talk to us, what do you see? And once we break it down that way, I think some fundamentals will hold in terms of how to get there, and now we have to see where it goes. Because it’s different. That is sure.”
He said he watched “a ton” of XFL tape, although there are differences between the XFL’s approach (which was not adopted by the UFL) and the NFL’s setup. One big similarity is that once the ball is kicked, most players will not move at all.
““I think everyone who sees it for the first time, it’s really strange because you see the kickoff and I’m standing here and it’s like you’re in space,” Schneider said. “You never see that happen without everyone moving. And then, it’s like the music plays and everything, I was like in the Twilight Zone and then when it happens, it’s very fast. So the players will get used to all that and it will continue to evolve.”
Schneider sees this evolving throughout the offseason, training camp, preseason and regular season.
“I think you’re going through the whole season,” Schneider said. “I mean, to me, if you don’t see this as a totally different play than anything we’ve coached, I think you’re going to have to catch up. So . . . contact speed, like last year, those guys run at full speed and a lot happens in terms of what they can and can’t do just because of the speed at which they run. That also came to light now. So all those things, you have to figure out how it works when it’s alive. And we won’t know until the first preseason, like when it will be live, live. But you know, that’s what makes it interesting.”
One of the most interesting wrinkles will be the decisions made by the returns specialist. Schneider echoed previous comments from Broncos coach Sean Payton about the baseball skills that might be needed to catch a ball that comes in hot, given that time out won’t mean anything if no one can advance until the ball be caught or touch the ground.
“It’s all about the ball,” Schneider said. “And that’s where we always start. So you always try to anticipate what the kickers are going to do and it could be anywhere. So that’s where we start to prepare. So will he be like a shortstop? Do you know what kind of fielding balls you’re going to get? What kind of boys are there? And then what type of runners are there? I mean, would it be better to have a bigger back where you can overcome arm tackles? Because everyone is going to be committed. Will he be a faster guy? But it all starts with football. So that’s where you build everything and really try to figure out where and how they’re going to do it.”
Schneider said everyone is still figuring it out.
“There are 31 other coaches like me who don’t know exactly if we’re on the right path, what it’s going to be like,” Schneider said. “So, more than anything, it will be an adjustment. And so, right now, I’m finally feeling good with the players, getting their feedback and working on everything. But that will be… exciting. I mean, I’m excited. This is the best thing that has happened to me in my coaching career because it’s… what are you going to do? You have a great opportunity to do something that has never been done before. So it’s a race to find out and it will have to be constantly adjusted.”
Either way, Schneider sees it as good news for field position and scoring.
“I think an easier way to explain it is that every team that returns the kickoff has an advantage,” Schneider said. “Every kickoff return team, just because of the way the kickoff team is set up. If you think about it, we’re at the 40-yard line with the same width that we were when we were at the 35-yard line. So almost in geometry, I’m not very good at math, but those guys are almost eliminated just by alignment, if that makes sense. So where it becomes, that’s what everyone is trying to figure out. So all the fundamentals are there, but then depending on what body types there are, we just have to see what works. And we have our plan, but I think you have to be prepared to adapt whatever that looks like.”
This is an excellent and overlooked point. The initial team will be deployed in a fan. Then, once the ball is caught (or hits the ground), they will have to move.
If the defenders do not realign, favoring one side of the field, a returner who can break through the first line of defense will have to beat only the kicker. If, on the other hand, the coverage team converges in a way that creates multiple levels for the returns specialist to navigate, an opening toward the back end could leave everything open.
So wake up, football fans. As I said today on the Pat McAfee show, this is a very important thing. It’s perhaps the biggest change in the game since at least the adoption of the two-point conversion 30 years ago.
It may be bigger than that. Especially since it involves taking a play that was MINE and giving it an ENEMA.
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