NFL Coach Schools Trump After He Trashed Rule Change

An NFL assistant head coach called out Donald Trump for criticizing a recent rule change in the league, saying he “has no idea what’s going on.”

During a press conference Thursday, Dave Toub of the Kansas City Chiefs dismissed the president’s complaint about what the league has dubbed the Dynamic Kickoff. The NFL introduced a version of it at the beginning of last year, and made a few tweaks before this season began in September.

“He doesn’t even know what he’s looking at,” Toub, 63, said. The special teams coordinator added: “He has no idea what’s going on with the kickoff rule. So, I mean, take that for what it’s worth. And I hope he hears it.”

#Chiefs ST Coorinator Dave Toub responds to Trump criticizing the new kickoff rules.
He says, “He doesn’t even know what he’s looking at.” pic.twitter.com/tPDPEgRA4G

— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) November 20, 2025

Trump had taken issue with how players on each team have to remain still until the ball lands or makes contact with a returner. Also, the kicker has to remain on his side of the field until that point. Under the old rule, players could move immediately after the kickoff.

“I hate the kickoff in football,” Trump, 79, said last week on The Pat McAfee Show, where he said he called in only because he had heard the host had been complimentary toward him.

“I think it’s so terrible. I think it’s so demeaning. I think it hurts the game, it hurts the pageantry. I’ve told that to Roger Goodell,” he said, referring to the league’s commissioner. “And I don’t think it’s any safer. I mean, you still have guys crashing into each other. It’s the opposite of what the game—the ball is in the air, nobody’s moving. It’s supposed to be when the ball is in the air, when the ball is played, you’re supposed to be moving. The pageantry of the game is so badly hurt.”

The NFL has said it changed the rule to facilitate more returns, which has so far panned out, according to league data from The Athletic. Also a factor was the desire to reduce injuries because of the high speeds players can reach when given more space and time to run. Whereas players on the kicking team used to line up well on their own side of the field, they now must stand at returning team’s 40-yard line. The returning team lines up nearby: between their own 30 and 35.

While Trump argued that there has been no difference in player safety between the old and new formats, NFL data from 2024 show the concussion rate on kickoffs had dropped by a whopping 43 percent. The total number of concussions—eight—was the same, but the rate was lower because many more kickoffs were being returned.