JACKSONVILLE – The change is as dramatic as it is historic.
But while the NFL's new "dynamic kickoff" could help revive what was once one of the league's most exciting plays, it means uncertainty for Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell to go along with opportunity.
"We're going to learn every single day," Farwell said. "Every single day is different."
Farwell, in his third season with the Jaguars, said that early in 2024 Training Camp and it remains true as the team prepares to play the Kansas City Chiefs in '24 Preseason Week 1 at EverBank Stadium Saturday.
But while Saturday marks the Jaguars' first game since the league implemented the new rule this past offseason, Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson said he expects teams to be guarded in their approach to kickoffs until the regular season.
"This is going to be obviously a big weekend," Pederson said of this weekend's first full schedule of 2024 preseason games. "There's going to be a lot of tape after this weekend to dive through. I still don't think a lot of teams are going to show what they're going to do schematically. But it'll give you an idea of maybe how to prepare, how to plan and what to look forward to."
The league long has sought to make kickoff returns safer, with the play long considered one of the sport's most dangerous. But while previous rules changes have served to reduce the number of returns, this offseason's changes seek to increase the number of returns by changing the violent nature of the play.
"The fact that we can bring the play back, we're super excited," Farwell said in the offseason. "It's going to be a lot of fun to see how it fits and how it works. I'm learning every day, though that's part of it."
The NFL kickoff rule for 2024, similar but not identical to one used in recent seasons by the XFL, essentially is as follows:
Kicks now will be from the kicking team's 35-yard-line, with the 10 non-kickers on the kicking team lining up on the receiving team's 40-yard line. Nine players from the receiving team must line up in a "set up area" between the receiving team's 35- and 30-yard lines. There also now will be a "landing zone" for kicks between the 20-yard line and goal line.
Any kick short of the landing zone is blown dead with the receiving team receiving possession ball at its 40-yard line. Any kick in the landing zone must be returned. A kick bouncing into the end zone can be returned or downed by the receiving team with the receiving team receiving possession at its 20.
A kick into the end zone downed by the receiving team will result in the receiving team receiving possession at its 30 with a kick out of the back of the end zone – in the air or after a bounce – also resulting in the receiving team receiving possession at its 30.
"It's football, and any time you get an advantage, you're going to do it," Farwell said. "There are going to be opportunities. As we learn more, what type of coverage we're going to see, we'll have some wrinkles. There's a lot of unknown. How are teams going to cover it? Are other coaches seeing it the same way?
"We think we have a good idea what we can anticipate, but that's not exact. There are going to be some fantastic coaches that have been doing this a long time that are going to come up with some great schemes and some great ideas. Hopefully, we come up with some of those great ideas as well."
Farwell said the rule has been a constant discussion point among special teams coordinators this offseason, adding that he consulted with former Jaguars special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis – now the special teams coordinator for the University of South Carolina – on the issue.
"We're going to have some wrinkles," Farwell said. "If we can gain some advantage, and gain some field position by doing something a little uncharacteristic, we're going to do it. This is a new play. There are going to be some different wrinkles.
"We're always trying to anticipate what we're going to see and prepare our guys and try to stay ahead of it. This is a little bit different because there's no history to it."
