Seattle Seahawks Assistant Jay Harbaugh 'Having a Blast' Scheming to NFL's New Kickoff Rules

The National Football League is about to see a major shift on special teams. After doing everything they could to take the kickoff out of the game in recent years, the NFL has completely reversed course for the 2024 season.

The league is implementing a new kickoff rule which makes the kickoff return more important than ever. It borrowed the format from the United Football League, which was using it when the league was the XFL. The rules of the kickoff return are simple:

• The ball is still kicked off from the 35-yard line
• The kickoff team will line up at opponents 40-yard line
• The return team must line up nine players between their 30 and 35-yard line
• Both teams can't move until the ball is caught or hits the ground
• The ball must land between the 20-yard line and the goal line

Touchbacks will still be a factor, but the ball will go to the 30-yard line if they get kicked into the end zone. This will lead to a significant amount of kickoff returns in comparison to year's past, making it more valuable than it has been in years.

The Seattle Seahawks can take advantage of this with their group of running backs, as the play will likely resemble a zone running scheme. As he told reporters after Monday's OTA session, special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh is having a blast scheming for the new play.

“Having a blast. We're really excited about it. It's totally new for everybody and just cool to see what different ideas people have and being able to take what we know from the old world of kickoff and kick return and see what's still true, what's not true. And it's just a fun process as you go. Just trying different things and then realizing, ‘Hey, this might not be what we thought. And it's organized trial and error.”
Seahawks ST coordinator Jay Harbaugh

As it is with every new rule, there can be some dissension among players and coaches, but not with Harbaugh. He is excited about it.

“Yeah, I'm excited about it. I think it's really cool. We are pumped about it. Anything that's more football and we're going to be for it. And there's so many great people, coaches and players that have made a great living on fourth down and in the special teams phase. So for that segment of the game and the people that love that part of the game, it's exciting. There's more opportunity to show what you can do to separate yourself and to make an impact on the outcome of the contest.”Seahawks ST coordinator Jay Harbaugh

The difficult part about the new kickoff rule is that we won't be able to see it implemented until training camp practices and preseason games. It will be interesting to see how the Seahawks are going to implement strategies and personnel and how other teams will try to make the most of the rule changes as the NFL tries to make the kickoff an exciting play once again.