Kickoffs kicked out?

[Infield Infidel]

Preliminary discussions have begun within two influential college football bodies into possibly removing kickoffs from the game, CBS Sports has learned.
Both the American Football Coaches Association's board of trustees and the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee have at least had informal talks about the possibility.
The reason: player safety.
"I don't think there is any doubt it is the most dangerous play in the game," said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, chairman of that oversight committee. "How much that's the case and how we can fix it is unknown."

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/discussions-about-eliminating-kickoffs-in-college-football-have-begun/


Ivy League is moving kickoffs to the 40 yard line

The Ivy League is moving forward with an experimental rule that will move kickoffs up to the 40-yard line in an effort to improve player safety. Standard kickoffs in college football come from the 35-yard line, and moving them forward five yards is an attempt to boost touchbacks and decrease the number of dangerous hits that frequently happen on return plays. As part of the rule change, touchbacks will result in the ball being placed at the 20-yard line, moving it back from the 25.

The change could serve as a pilot program of sorts, considering both the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee and the American Football Coaches Association have had discussions on the topic, according to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd. The Ivy League will be tracking kickoff and injury data this season and reporting their findings to the NCAA Football Rules Committee after the season.
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http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/7/20/12243846/ivy-league-kickofs-40-yard-line-player-safety

 

[bowiac]

That's a pretty compelling piece of data (presuming it's accurate).

 

[mauidano]

When you come right down to it, kickoffs are just one play between 7 minutes of commercials anyway. Stop pretending by moving it up to the 40 yard line for a kickoff. Just start the offensive play at the 20 and let's go.

 

[axx]

When you come right down to it, kickoffs are just one play between 7 minutes of commercials anyway. Stop pretending by moving it up to the 40 yard line for a kickoff. Just start the offensive play at the 20 and let's go.

Well, you don't want to remove the onsides kick from the game. Putting it at the 40 makes just puts you that much closer to FG range if you recover too.

 

[savage362]

Is the problem the speed at which players are coming down the field and making contact?

What about moving the spot of the ball back to the 30 to take away more of the touchbacks, but letting the players from the kicking team line up at the 40 with no running start? That's less distance to run down the field and without the running start less momentum for the eventual tackle/block.

What about adding 1-2 special teams players to the receiving team on kickoffs (11v13)? While "unfair", wouldn't the extra blockers help prevent someone from the kicking team coming untouched and destroying the kick returner?

 

[berniecarbo1]

It's all about physics. The game is played on the same dimensions it was 100 years ago but the players are bigger,. stronger and faster than they were then. As the modern athlete has increased in mass, volume and velocity, the area in which this larger moving object is operating has remained the same so the force has increased. If you want to cut down on injuries you have to reduce the impact of the force. One way of course is to do away with something like a kickoff but what does that do for the onside kick, the pooch kick, the squib and other non traditional kicks? Special teams are a third of the game. They set up the offense and defense. Starting from the 20 yard line as opposed to the 40 yard line changes play selection, rotations and other things on the offense and defensive schemes are adjusted as well. Doing away with a kickoff will alter the game much more than you think, IMHO.

Another option is to change the size of the playing field to adjust for increased size and speed of the athletes. That is, reduce the size of the playing field to compensate for the increased mass and force generated by athletes sprinting down a field. If a player weighing 250 lbs hits something at 5 mph, the impact will be less than if it hits something at 10 mph. And when the objects collide the impact exerted by the larger force will transfer to the smaller force and produce a reaction, such as below:



Force is mass x acceleration (F=MxA).

Force is what gives you the big hits. So, either change the rules and take much of the strategy out of the game, or lower the mass or acceleration to reduce the force and impact and lower potential injuries. You do that by either reducing the size of the players or reduce the ability to accelerate by reducing the playing area and reducing the acceleration path.

 

[Bosoxen]

What about adding 1-2 special teams players to the receiving team on kickoffs (11v13)? While "unfair", wouldn't the extra blockers help prevent someone from the kicking team coming untouched and destroying the kick returner?

This would make things worse, as you would see more devastating double team blocks. There's a reason why they outlawed the wedge in the NFL.