Kickoffs and punts are Mike Westhoff’s bread and butter. So any news the NFL might be thinking about tinkering with either of those areas gives the Jets’ special teams coach pause.
Westhoff said yesterday he is OK with a few adjustments to that part of the kicking game, but doesn’t want kickoffs eliminated as they would be under a proposal made by Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano and run up the flag pole recently by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Under Schiano’s plan, developed in the interest of improving player safety, and which Goodell floated in an interview with “Time” magazine, kickoffs would be done away with and the ball would be spotted after a score.
“I hope not,” Westhoff, who is set to retire this offseason after 12 years with the Jets and 29 in the league, said following yesterday’s practice. “And the player safety things I’m much in favor of. … But I like the kickoffs. I just believe in it. I know the collision part, and I think that’s something you have to be careful of. If you teach it the right way, it can be done properly.”
According to the magazine’s website, under Schiano’s proposal, after a touchdown or field goal, instead of kicking off, a team would get the ball on its own 30-yard line, where it would face a fourth-and-15. The options would be either to go for it and try to retain possession, or punt.
If a team goes for it and falls short, the opposing team would take over with good field position. In essence, punts would replace kickoffs, and punts are less susceptible to violent collisions than kickoffs.
Westhoff said he knew nothing of that proposal. He added he and Ben Kotwica, the Jets’ assistant special teams coach, put together a list of suggestions from NFL coaches that were submitted to the league office last spring.
“Some were not so good and we came up with one that was a really good one,” Westhoff said without revealing the specifics of that proposal. “The league liked ours.
“We had another way of doing it, making a kickoff a little bit more like a punt. So there are different ways. I would hope that before they just put the ball down. … Can you imagine the Super Bowl? You’ve seen the pictures with all the bulbs flashing. ‘Here we go. Let’s put it down.’ C’mon guys.
“I love to play. I would hope that before they would do that they would explore alternative methods. I know there are several and one that’s really good, in my opinion. I hope it doesn’t happen.”