Though Barry Odom appointed longtime assistant Andy Hill to be Missouri’s first dedicated special teams coordinator in more than a decade, the Tigers’ coach said his staff is still collectively strategizing how to approach one of college football’s recent rule changes.
In mid-April, the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved new rules for kickoffs that should increase the number of touchbacks. The rule change, aimed at player safety, allows a fair catch anywhere inside the 25-yard line — rather than just the end zone — that will start a team’s drive at their own 25.
“It’s going to change our game,” Odom said after an athletic department promotional stop in Memphis, a northeast Missouri town near the Iowa border.