Typically when the NFL implements a major rule change, it doesn’t take long for that same change to happen in college football.
When the NFL moved its kickoff line from the 30 to the 35-yard line, college football did the same. When the league eliminated wedge blocking, college football followed suit. And now that the NFL is adopting a new hybrid kickoff format, it feels likely the NCAA will do so as well in the not-too-distant future.
Many special teams coordinators are already bracing for the kickoff rule change as early as the 2025 season, and some are already working on getting ahead of the curve.
“A lot of the special teams drills that I’ve used in practice really end up playing out a lot like what the NFL is doing, because you’re trying to reduce the amount of space to reduce the impact,” University of Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo told 247Sports. “You’re trying to reduce the space to increase the number of reps that you can get in a short period in practice.”
