5 things college football should steal from the revamped XFL

The XFL is back with some interesting new rules and methods to increase the fan experience, and college football should be stealing some of their tricks.

The opening weekend of the XFL was a pretty big hit with excitement in the stadiums and among fans tuning in for the first four games. This league should have staying power unlike the AAF or the first incarnation of the XFL and fills the void for football fans needing something to keep them entertained after the Super Bowl and before the NFL Draft.

But it’s also something for college football fans to check out over the next few weekends to see how their new rules and modified gameplay can influence the college game.

Naturally, the first thing they should do is, uhh, pay the players, but as far as actual gameplay, here’s where I’d begin raiding their concepts and adopting them into the college football game as early as the 2020 season.

New kickoff rules

I think within the next five years the kickoff will be completely different from what we’re used to in both the NFL and college football. The kickoff is one of the most violent, dangerous, injury-inducing plays in the sport, so I think it’s going to be modified to protect the players and still provide an actual play without resorting to an automatic touchback.

There are too many touchbacks and they’re boring and it’s a perfect time to go to the bathroom, get a snack or change the channel to another game.

The XFL recognizes player safety is an issue but still wants to deliver a play that can pick up chunk yards and score if executed properly. The XFL kicks from the 30 and the ball must land between the 20 and the end zone.

If it goes out of bounds or short of the 20, the ball will be spotted at the 45. If it’s a touchback, the ball goes out to the 35.

Coverage teams line up on the return side 35-yard line and the returning team lines up on the 30. Teams can’t overload to one side or the other and must have three players outside the hashes on both sides of the field. Most important, the two sides can’t move until the ball is caught by the returner.

Here’s how the first kickoff in the XFL 2.0 looked.

Kickoff returns are exciting but more often than not, the play results in a boring touchback. We need less boring and more plays that matter. The revamped kickoff is going to infiltrate the NFL, college and high school football in the coming years. The XFL is ahead of the game on this and it’s here to stay.

New punting rules

One thing that drives college football fans nuts is when coaches elect to punt when they’re at the enemy 40 rather than going for it on 4th down. The XFL wants to reduce the number of points from the plus-side of the field while boosting the chances of a return.

The punting team can’t get past the line until after the ball is kicked. The gunners can only move laterally once the ball is snapped until it’s kicked. Plus, defenders can’t cross the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked when they’re lined up over the gunner. All of this is designed to increase the space the returner will have when fielding the punt. In short, this should cut down on the number of fair catches, punts in enemy territory and reward teams for going for it on 4th and manageable.

The tricky part is the strategy of the punt — yes it’s a thing — will be neutralized. There won’t be any more coffin corner punts, although it’s a dying art form, because if the ball goes out of bounds inside the 35, it’s ruled a “Major” touchback and the ball is spotted at the 35-yard line. The same if it is punted in the end zone.

So for example, if you have a 4th and 5 from the 41, teams will be choosing to go for it rather than punting to try and pin the opponent inside the 10. The difference in field position in this example would only be six yards if the attempt was unsuccessful. Kirk Ferentz and David Shaw may not like this rule, but everyone else will love so much they’ll get down on a knee and propose.

Transparency between coach and player

The biggest thing I loved about the opening weekend of the XFL was how transparent everything was. While college football and the NFL often feels like you need to get special security access to get any insight from coaches about a particular decision or play call, the XFL is an open book.

It was so awesome to hear coaches communicate with the quarterback in the lead-up to the snap. I felt like I was in the huddle and I was in control of the offense. How many times have you been watching a game and wondered what Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney or Lincoln Riley was thinking before that play happened? How often have you wondered what they’re thinking at that exact moment after a big touchdown?

With the XFL, that guesswork is eliminated because you hear the play coming in the headset just like you’re Cardale Jones or PJ Walker. And when you come off the field after a big touchdown, you get the knee-jerk emotion pouring out into the microphone for all to hear.

In college football, you’re lucky to get anything out of the Sabans, Swinneys and Rileys of the world before they dart off into the locker room for halftime. After the game, it’s a mixed bag depending on the outcome of the game.

Transparency in the replay booth

One thing all college football fans can agree on is the refs stink. It doesn’t matter what conference they’re affiliated with because they’re all bad. It’s a tough job, sure, but at least the XFL is being transparent — it’s the buzz word of the league — between the replay booth and viewers.

Have you ever watched a game and thought the call was an easy one to make and the review official will only need 1.2 seconds to make his ruling to uphold a call or reverse the ruling on the field only for the ref to do the complete opposite? Now, we’ll be able to hear the whole process in the XFL replay booth to see and hear what they are seeing and hearing.

It’s a common-sense approach that should be adopted by college football immediately. The most important thing is getting the calls correct and this will go a long way in doing that.

The increased pace of play

We all love watching college football. None of us love watching college football games that take longer than The Irishman. Devoting four hours to the SEC on CBS or the primetime game on ABC is a test of endurance and it takes some of the fun out with non-stop breaks in the action, endless reviews, timeouts and a 15-minute halftime.

The XFL has a 25-second play clock, which is the same as college football, but the clock doesn’t stop after every first down. I don’t think that’ll be changing and I don’t want it to change, but the other ways the pace of play is being sped up is exciting.

Halftime will only be 10 minutes instead of 15. It’ll be a quick turnaround so fans will keep their interest and not check out or change the channel and move to a different game.

Teams will only have two one-minute timeouts at their disposal per half vs. the three in college football and the NFL. That means each half should have two less elongated stoppages in play for a total of four fewer commercial breaks. Fewer commercials mean more football.

The goal with these rules and tweaks is to have games played in three hours or less.

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