By Bryan DeArdo
Bill Belichick used a golf metaphor to explain how the NFL should handle kickoffs in light of the league’s dramatic altercations to the play.
The six-time Super Bowl champion head coach, admitted that the new kickoff is “pretty hard to get used to” before he offered his alternative to the new rules that include the ball being placed on the returning team’s 30-yard-line if the ball is kicked into the end zone.
“Look, my thing would be, just move the ball back,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I mean, this is like golf. You know, the 400-yard par fours are no longer 400-yard par fours or 500-yard par fours. So if they can hit it further, just move the ball back and kick off on the 20 or 25 or put it wherever you want to put it. But if you want kickoff returns, then just move the ball back.”
The ball used to be kicked off at the 30, but the NFL moved it up to the 35-yard-line in 2011 in order to decrease the number of returns for player safety reasons. That led to such a dramatic drop in returns that the league decided to make drastic changes to the kickoff ahead of this season.
The changes to the league’s kickoff rules were made with the hope of getting more kick returns. And while that was the case during the preseason (78% of kickoffs were returned this preseason, up from just 22% percent during the 2023 regular season, according to ESPN). Belichick, though, feels that kickoff returns will go down when the games count.
“I think what we saw in preseason was most teams kicking the ball so it would be returned, so they could evaluate their coverage,” he said. “I think, once you get into the regular season, if the (opposing) team’s got good returners, it’s just gonna be touchbacks. That’s all it’s gonna be. You put them on the 30 instead of 25 I mean, big deal. But I’d rather do that than kick it to one of these guys that can change field position on you in a hurry.”
As Belichick alluded to, the average starting point to begin a drive this preseason wasn’t much different than if a team elected to kick the ball out of the end zone, thus giving the opposing team the ball at the 30. The average starting point for drives this preseason was the 28.3 yard-line. Sure, you’re giving the opposing team a slightly better average starting point by kicking the ball into the end zone, but by doing that, you eliminate the chance of a big return.
The possibility of the opponent making a game-changing return, Belichick said, is not worth the risk.
“I’d kick it out of the end zone,” Belichick said.
Belichick said he would likely reconsider if the ball was spotted at, say, the 35 or 40-yard-line following a touchback. But the NFL has stated that it is “unlikely” that they will make changes to the touchback spot this year.
It’ll be interesting to see how many coaches agree with Belichick’s logic. If too many do, don’t be surprised if the NFL makes yet another change to the kickoff sooner rather than later.