Lions coach Dan Campbell calls NFL kickoff rule changes 'highly frustrating'

The NFL approved a major change to kickoff touchbacks at owners meetings this month, bringing them out to the 25 yard line going forward. The rule change passed with eight franchises voting against it and the head coach for one of those dissenting teams — the Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell — sounded off on his frustration.

Detroit will end up needing to live with the kickoff rule, just like every other team in the league. But Campbell and Co. will definitely be doing so begrudgingly.

“I’m highly frustrated, it’s very frustrating. But, look, I don’t make the rules. And so we’ve — if that’s the new rule, then we’ll live by the new rule. We’ll find a way to adjust, adapt and still get what we want. That’s what you gotta do. But I hate that we continue to take away from the game,” Campbell said.

Safety is the main motivating factor behind the kickoff changes. By increasing the value of a touchback by 25%, the league is incentivizing returners to call for a fair catch more often. The new 25-yard touchback also lines up with the college football rule, which increased the touchback several years ago.

Campbell isn’t alone in his opposition to this rule. Former NFL kicker and current media personality Pat McAfee has been on the warpath to oppose the rule and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid thinks it’s a slippery slope.

But don’t mistake opposition to this new kickoff rule as opposition to making the game safer. Several people opposed to the 25-yard touchdown have proposed the NFL should adopt an XFL-style kickoff, where the lines of respective gunners and up-men are lined up much closer to each other to prevent high-speed (and high-force) collisions.

Others have suggested eschewing the kickoff entirely, though that doesn’t satisfying many football traditionalists who value the kickoff as a clear signal that the game has begun. Plus, special teams has grown better and more advanced each year — the new rule likely changes how effective any kickoff coverage or return team can be.

And Campbell, like Reid, worries about other rule changes seriously changing the complexion of the sport so many know and love to the point it might not be recognizable.

“That’s what really worries me. We continue to bleed this league. If we’re not careful, it won’t replenish at one point,” Campbell said. “But listen, it’s the rules. And we’ll make do and we’ll adjust.”