“It gives us a chance to play special teams and with everything reduced, it takes away the impact,” Campbell said. "And then it’s just about the unknown, which is awesome. Let’s coach it up. It can’t be any different – that much different than what it was in the old kickoff rule that we had. So I’m fired up, I’m ready.”
Speaking before the rules were passed, Campbell said the Lions were “absolutely in favor of” the changes “cause it gives us a chance to play special teams.”
“I mean, what happened last year, really you felt like that took a significant number of plays out of the game, and those were from special teams,” Campbell said. “And you don’t really make it up really anywhere else. And so just we put an emphasis on it, so I believe in it. And I think the arguments for, ‘Well, you’re bringing more plays back in, so now injuries could go up.’ Well, yeah, because you are (playing) more plays. But it feels like what we’ve done with it, it’s been so condensed that the impact is out of it. Doesn’t mean there won’t be an injury, but – and so I think what’s got a lot of people spooked a little bit is the unknown of it, and that’s what excites me.”
“That’s part of the trick, right?” Campbell said. “You want to feel like you’re doing something that is a little unique, or something they’re not prepared for. And really that’s what it is. You want to find something they’re not ready for, not prepared for, whatever that is. Maybe it’s been done, maybe it hasn’t. But yeah, that’s the exciting part of something new, and the coaching aspect of it. Fipp and I are like excited. I mean, we can’t wait.”
“The unknown is what the coaching’s for, like to mess with it,” Campbell said. “You tinker with it and you figure out what’s the best way to do it, how do you do it? So I’m excited about it.”
Campbell said he and Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp already have spent time watching clips of XFL returns and talking through what the new rules might mean for scheme and personnel.