The NFL changed the kickoff rule this offseason in an attempt to promote more returns. Bill Belichick doesn’t think it’s going to work.
Belichick told Pat McAfee that he expects most teams to kick the ball into the end zone for a touchback, even though the new rule means the ball goes out to the 30-yard line on touchbacks. Belichick said that for the kicking team, the risk of giving up a long return isn’t worth kicking it to a spot on the field where the receiving team will have a chance to run it out.
“I think what we saw in preseason was most teams kicking the ball so it would be returned so they could evaluate their coverage,” Belichick said. “Once you get into the regular season, just touchback ‘em. I mean, you put the ball on the 30 instead of the 25, big deal, I’d rather do that than kick it to one of these guys who’s got a chance to change field position on you in a hurry. I think we saw more returns in the preseason, percentage-wise, than we’re going to see in the regular season.”
Belichick wishes the NFL hadn’t made such a radical rule change on kickoffs and instead had just promoted more returns by moving the kickoff back far enough that kickers won’t be able to put the ball in the end zone.
“It’s pretty hard to get used to,” Belichick said. “Just move the ball back and kick off from the 20 or 25 or put it wherever you want to put it. If you want kickoff returns, just move the ball back.”
The new rule, however, wasn’t only designed to promote returns. It was also designed to reduce injuries, and the low-impact nature of having the coverage players and the blockers lined up only five yards apart, without the chance to get a running start, should work to make the play safer. But Belichick doesn’t think safer means better.