Earlier this week, the NFL made a drastic rule change that will forever change the way football is played. With the new changes to the kickoff, many records will no longer be reachable, and teams will begin to strategize much more to take advantage of the new rules.
However, one has to wonder: Will college football follow the same pattern? There are actually quite a few good reasons it may or may not.
Reasons For Not Following the NFL
Injury Depth
College players are not as big, strong, and fast as NFL players. While many injuries do occur in college, the number of injuries is significantly lower than in the NFL. Additionally, a team can only have 53 active players on its roster. That means that at worst, second—and third-string players are the ones blocking and running down the field to return and cover kicks.
In college football, coverage teams often consist of third—and even fourth-string players, with a few specialists who may be actual starters.
Lack of Touchbacks
There aren’t as many touchbacks in college, and there are more kicks out of bounds. While some teams still decide to take a touchback (fair catch) every possession, the percentage of kicks actually being returned are still significantly higher than in the NFL.
Last season in the NFL, teams got nearly 90% of the kickoffs, resulting in a touchback. In college, Bowling Green led the nation with only 66% of their kicks resulting in a touchback. Until that number averages about 75%, there may not be too many calling for a change in the rule.
Reasons for Following
Consistency Between the Game
There was a time when the two leagues were two very different sports. Clock rules, tackling rules, and playcalling rules were different. While there are still some differences between the two leagues, the lines are starting to blur together in many ways. Clock rules have made it so that they are essentially the same now between the two leagues. Hard hits and tackling have become essentially the same, and players are now even looking at getting radio communication in their helmets.
Seeing the college football kickoff follow the NFL in a year or two wouldn’t be shocking if the model proves popular. Let’s be honest: It will be very popular since we will no longer watch 85% of kickoffs, resulting in a touchback.
College 🏈 teams, including the #Gophers, are preparing for in-game helmet communication.
I asked P.J. Fleck and QB Max Brosmer about the new technology. Find out how Minnesota is practicing and implementing helmet communication during spring ball: https://t.co/PXcwCb7UVz pic.twitter.com/3ZJA4ZGm2X
— Daniel House (@DanielHouseMN) March 25, 2024
‘Politically’ Correct Thing to Do
One major injury is all it will take for critics to get very loud, demanding a change in the kickoff rule. It isn’t a matter of if a significant player will be injured, but when. We’ve seen it happen before when the NFL started to get very strict with blindside blocks. Once the rules were more clearly defined in the NFL, it didn’t even take it a month for college to follow suit.
When it comes to player safety, college football does not mess around. If the NFL seems to have a safer way of doing things, college football is normally not far behind.
Final Projection
I’d be shocked if the college football rules committee adopted the new style before the start of the season. It is already Spring Football for most teams, with a few already finished. Having them change up an entire game phase at this point would be very drastic and probably too much.
However, if the change is popular in the NFL, don’t be surprised when college adopts the same or a very similar-looking style going into the 2025 season.