Richard Hightower Was Reportedly Pivotal To Recent NFL Rule Change

The Chicago Bears made plenty of notable changes to their coaching staff this past winter. However, they did hatch a minor surprise when they elected to retain special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. His players were thrilled. They and many around the league feel he is one of the best at his job but rarely gets the credit he deserves. If you didn’t think that was true, then learn what the NFL recently said. According to Albert Breer of MMQB, he and fellow coordinator Darren Rissi were brought to owners meetings to discuss a possible rule change.

This would involve tweaking the kickoff rule so that a touchback starts at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. The idea is to further encourage teams to return more kicks.

The changes to the kickoff also need to be worked through, and to address it, special teams coordinators Darren Rissi (Denver Broncos) and Richard Hightower (Chicago Bears) made the trip to Palm Beach to work through the mechanics with owners, GMs and head coaches.

At a baseline, there’s agreement that last year’s monumental changes largely worked. Returns were up. Injuries were down. There were returns for touchdowns. That’s all good.

With that has come a feeling, from commissioner Roger Goodell and others, that the league should try to continue to increase the amount of returns. The proposal now on the table—which moves the touchback from the 30 to the 35—would presumably do that, by creating a strong deterrent for kicking the ball into the end zone.

Whatever they said must’ve worked.

The NFL announced a series of rule changes in March. One of them was moving the touchback line to 35. That should result in more returns moving forward and, hopefully, more excitement for the fans. Things bottomed out in 2023, with only two players exceeding 20 returns. Last year, it was only three. Keep in mind that in 2006, during Devin Hester’s time? It was 36. It’s clear the league wants to bump that number back up.

Richard Hightower understands the benefits of his work.

Few things can transform the outcome of a game more than a well-time big return on special teams. Hester proved it countless times. Even during the down period of the past three years, the Bears were always sparked by big returns. Richard Hightower has strived constantly to keep the play alive. Now it appears he won a major victory, and he even made sure to prepare the Bears for that eventuality. Wide receiver Devin Duvernay was one of their key additions in free agency last month. He has averaged at least 24 yards per return in three of his five career seasons and made two Pro Bowls. The 27-year-old is well-equipped to take full advantage of this rule change. His new coach appears to have set him up beautifully for it.