The NFL’s new kickoff rule did not receive universal support from coaches around the league.
Andy Reid came out against the measure, which will result in every fair catch beyond the 25-yard line giving the receiving team the ball at their own 25.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh also said Wednesday that his team voted against the rule.
“The fair catch rule, we had a chance to weigh in on that with all the special teams coaches,” Harbaugh said, via Pro Football Talk. “We had a long talk and discussion about that. We weren’t for it. We voted against it. We think it’s going to create more high-speed head trauma than not having it in there. That’s our position on it. But we’ll see. They want to give it a shot and take a look at it.”
Harbaugh also said he thought “there were better ideas,” but did not expound on what those were.
John Harbaugh said #Ravens were opposed to the new kickoff/fair-catch rule.
“We voted against it … They want to give it a shot and take a look at it, then we’ll give it a shot and take a look at it. … But we thought there were better ideas.”
— Bo Smolka (@bsmolka) May 24, 2023
According to The Dallas Morning News, the NFL predicts its return rate on kickoffs will “drop from 38% to 31% and that the rate of concussions on the sport’s most dangerous play will be reduced by 15%.”
Time will tell if the change will have its intended effect, but it’s not surprising that a former special teams coach like Harbaugh would be against minimizing such an important part of that phase of the game.