The start of the 2025 Colorado football season did not go as planned for Deion Sanders, with the Buffaloes losing 27-20 to Georgia Tech. However, he thinks they are fine. One issue that prompted Sanders to appeal to the NCAA in his weekly press conference was what happened with the Colorado special teams. He said that he wants the NCAA to change the return rule.
The Colorado football program is looking for its first win against Delaware this weekend, and when talking about how the Buffaloes can improve from Week 1, he cited the need for better returns. That remark prompted him to say that he wishes the NCAA would change the return rule to resemble the NFL or move the kicker back.
His full quote from the presser was, “I wish the NCAA would come up with the rule… why do we keep lining up and everybody is kicking the ball out of the endzone? What is the purpose of that? Let's make it like the NFL or move the kickers back to get some action. We have some freshmen who can line up. Everybody has guys you want to play on special teams, but they don't get an opportunity because everybody is kicking it into the band.”
Sanders' quote makes sense overall, especially considering his college and NFL returner success. He would know how to improve the strategy. The quote is selfish because Colorado has many athletes who would excel if they could take the return back from a return, but there is also a lot of reason in what Sanders is saying.
In college football, the ball is kicked from the 35-yard line, the same as in the NFL, but the players can not move until the returner touches the ball. The goal is to minimize the risk of collisions, so Deion Sanders is talking about moving the kicker back even more. This would reduce the number of kicks in the end zones and increase the action in the return game.
The primary goal is safety, but one of the more exciting aspects of football is the kick return, so Sanders' reasoning makes sense even though anything is unlikely to change. They will look to improve more this week against Delaware.
