Giants Country

How Giants Plan to Adjust to New Kickoff Rule

Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey clearly doesn't appear to be a fan of the new rule. But here's how he's going to try to adjust to it.

Patricia Traina

How Giants Plan to Adjust to New Kickoff Rule
How Giants Plan to Adjust to New Kickoff Rule /
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New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey must have struggled several times to hold his tongue Thursday when asked about the league's new kickoff rule that allows for the returner to call for a fair catch anywhere inside of the 25-yard line, which would result in the ball being spotted on the 25.

But it was pretty clear in watching and listening to McGaughey that he is not a fan of the new rule, which will go into effect on a trial basis this coming season.

"It is what it is. It is what it is," he said, carefully measuring his words. "It’s a situation where you’ve just got to deal with what you’re dealt. These are the cards they gave us; you just play them."

The new rule, designed to increase player safety, removes a large chunk of strategy from special teams planning. It could lead to more kickers executing a squib kick if a team is looking to gain a better starting field position.

"We’re always looking for angles as coaches, right?" McGaughey said when reminded that Giants kicker Graham Gano's ability to drop shorter kicks just outside of the end zone is now likely to be a non-factor. 

"We’re always trying to find competitive advantages. We’ll always try and find those. So, we’re looking at certain things that we could possibly do, and we’ll see what happens."

The other facet of the new rule is how the team plans to build its roster about the kickoff return team. While it's feasible that kickoffs won't disappear from the landscape, the new rule potentially affects how a team selects its return specialist and, to a degree, its coverage unit personnel.

"The rule itself is just something we'll just have to get used to," McGaughey said, shrugging. "It’s like any other rule change. You just make the adjustments and just keep moving forward. I'm going to keep coaching the guys the same way. It's not going to change. We're going to coach up the fundamentals and the techniques, the schematics will be the same, and we'll just go from there."

That thinking didn't ease any unhappiness he has with the rule.

"No one wants to lose a part of what you’re used to doing as a part of your job, to kind of go away. You want to be able to kind of coach the way you’ve been coaching and have the same kind of impact in the game that you want to have, but again, you just make the adjustments and keep moving."

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But how?

"It depends on what the other team does, like always," McGaughey said when asked what the biggest adjustment would be. "If they squib it on the ground, you just have to be able to make those kinds of adjustments. You’ve got to have something built into your scheme to where you can adjust to it."

 The real challenge for McGaughey as a coach will be in how he approaches deploying his personnel don't eh kickoff units, such as Cam Brown and Carter Coughlin, both of whom are core special teamers.

"It’s tough," McGaughey said. "It’s not an easy situation when you know, for the most part, you’re going to get anywhere from 25 to 28 plays. Normally, you get 14 to 15 of those plays, maybe 18, and half of those might go away. Naturally, you might think, ‘Okay, what is my value?’ But that’s just what it is.

"This is uncharted territory. I mean, it’s something that we haven’t seen before in our league, and it’s always going to be something that’s going to pop up within a new rule change that they didn’t foresee. So, it’s one of those deals where you’ve got to play the games to see what happens."

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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