Seahawks coach explains how new rules could alter kickoff teams

Aug 6, 2024, 7:41 PM | Updated: Aug 7, 2024, 8:49 am

Seattle Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh...

Special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh of the Seattle Seahawks during a 2024 practice. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The annual Hall of Fame Game that kicks off the NFL’s preseason carried a little more excitement than most, especially to someone like new Seattle Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh.

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The preseason is always important for special teams. It is a part of the game where coaches are getting a look at a number of their younger or new players fighting for roster spots, and it can be make-or-break phase for those on the bubble of the roster.

This year’s preseason also offers the bonus of the first look at the XFL-style rule changes to kickoffs in the NFL.

The new rules will still feature the ball being kicked away from the coverage team’s 35-yard line, but how the rest of the coverage unit is line up is a drastic difference. The remaining 10 players will lineup at their opponent’s 40-yard line. Those kick coverage players won’t be allowed to move until the ball touches the ground, the end zone or a kick returner in the landing zone, which is from the goal line to the return team’s 20-yard line.

Meanwhile, the coverage team must lineup nine players inside its own 30- and 35-yard lines (the setup zone), with seven of those players needing to have at least one foot on the 35. Players in the setup zone have the same restrictions on when they can move as the kickoff team. Up to two returners can be placed in the landing zone.

“I think the Hall of Fame Game the other night was probably the most anticipated preseason viewing maybe ever, that I could think of at least,” Harbaugh said after the 12th day of Seahawks training camp Tuesday. “So that was fun to see, and we’re really excited to see our guys bring what we’ve practiced to life. Should be cool.”

How new rules could change personnel

Harbaugh and the Seahawks are set to get their first live, in-game look at the new kickoff in their preseason opener Saturday at the Los Angeles Chargers, but some aspects of the new return already stood out to Harbaugh from watching the league’s preseason opener last weekend.

“I think maybe the one thing that stood out more than anything else was just the speed that everything happens in terms of the first contact – the cover guys and the return team blocking – just how fast that occurred,” Harbaugh said. “You know it’s going to be fast. They’re only five yards away, but still in a game situation with adrenaline flowing, the speed at which that occurred was still a little surprising.”

That means less running downfield for kick coverage units and a closer point of contact for blockers on the return team.

“I think in general you’ll get bigger guys on the field maybe than you had in the past, just because you’ve taken away a good chunk of the running that may have precluded a guy that was 275, 285, 290 (pounds) from being on the unit before because they didn’t have the speed,” Harbaugh said. “So now that’s not an issue. Those guys can be on the field. So I think in general you might see one or two more guys like that per team.”

Harbaugh doesn’t think the new rules will change much about who is returning the ball. He said ball security will be the biggest factor in the Seahawks determining their returners.

“That’s kind of the price of admission to be on the field,” Harbaugh said. “You got to be a guy that’s great at fielding the ball and then super trustworthy decision-making-wise (with) all the game situations and the rules and all that stuff. So I would say once you’ve satisfied that, you’ve checked that box. Then after that, of those remaining players, you want someone that’s got some explosiveness and the ability to hit the home run.”