Danny Smith ready to make Steelers successful with NFL’s new kickoff rules

His status as special-teams captain has made Miles Killebrew the go-to spokesperson in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room for all things related to the NFL’s byzantine new kickoff rules.

The reigning first-team NFL All-Pro for his craft, Killebrew is eager to take all queries. But he seemed to make special joy when asked if veteran special- teams coordinator Danny Smith had been spending plenty of time brainstorming the best method for approaching ways to exploit the new kickoff format.

“Have you met Danny Smith?” Killebrew said, chuckling. “There’s always brainstorming.

“He’ll send us texts in the middle of the night sometimes with some of the things that he is cooking up.”

Who knows how many 3 a.m. epiphanies Smith has had since the NFL’s competition committee passed new rules governing kickoffs that were recommended by something of a blue-ribbon group of eight special-teams coaches that met to find a solution to the league’s problems with kickoffs.

In short, the play had become too dangerous in the modern era of injury and concussion consciousness, but previous means to address making kickoffs safer had effectively served to marginalize the play’s frequency.

Enter the overhaul approved in March that mimics what was used in the XFL’s recent seasons.

“I love it,” Smith said from the fields at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex before a mandatory minicamp session this past week. “I am dead serious: I love it. I am excited about it. I think it’s great for football. It’s a challenge, and I love it.”

The new rules will isolate the kicker at his team’s 35 yardline, with his 10 teammates lined up at the opposing 40. The return team will have at least nine blockers lined up between 5-10 yards away from them, with up to two returners allowed inside the 20. Only the kicker and designated returners can move until the ball hits the ground or is touched by a returner inside the 20.

Touchbacks in the end zone move possession out to the 30yard line, while those that roll into it are spotted at the 20.

In all, a lot to digest for players and coaches over the rest of the summer before the games start.

“Just from a work standpoint, it’s new,” Smith said. “And we are all putting new (strategies) out there. We will have new stuff: types of kicks, the returns, the coverage. It’s all new.

“And some of them we’re gonna try and say, ‘This ain’t it. This is. This ain’t. This is…’ And we will all (across the league) do it together.”

One of the first salvos by a team in the race to exploit the new format came hours after the rule change was announced. And it came from the Steelers: the signing of the all-time NFL career leader in kick-return touchdowns, Cordarrelle Patterson.

“As soon as the rule happened, it was exciting for me,” said Patterson, who agreed to a two-year, $6 million deal. “It’s going to be very different, but we’ve been planning on it for a while so hopefully we get a jumpstart on it.”

The Steelers began on-field preparations for their approach to the rules in earnest at minicamp this past week. Smith said he has watched copious film of hybrid-style kickoffs from the XFL and football played in leagues in Europe.

“I am glad we have three preseason games to find out about it,” Smith said. “But it’s exciting. We have come a long way with our football team. And honest to God, I am really excited for it.

“I have never been one to run away from work.”