Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub isn’t holding back when it comes to President Donald Trump’s take on the NFL’s recent kickoff changes.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Nov. 20, Toub, 63, was asked about Trump’s public criticism of the league’s dynamic kickoff rule. The adjustment, introduced for the 2024–2025 season, was designed to reduce full-speed collisions while encouraging more kickoff returns.
Toub dismissed the president’s comments outright.
“He doesn’t even know what he’s looking at,” Toub said. “He has no idea what’s going on with the kickoff rule. Take that for what it’s worth. And I hope he hears it.”
Toub, who also serves as assistant head coach under Andy Reid, has been with Kansas City for 13 seasons and oversees the team’s special teams unit.
Under the dynamic kickoff format, all members of the kicking team except the kicker line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. The 10 kicking-team players can’t move until the ball either hits the ground, reaches a player in the landing zone, or enters the end zone; the kicker also must stay behind the vicinity of midfield until the ball is touched.
League officials say the change has made kickoffs safer, and the return rate has reportedly climbed to 81.3% during the 2025 season.
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Trump, 79, criticized the rule during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Nov. 11, calling it “terrible” and “demeaning.” He argued it takes away from the spectacle of the game and doesn’t improve safety.
“I think it hurts the game and hurts the pageantry,” Trump said. “I’ve told that to [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell. And I don’t think it’s any safer. I mean you still have guys crashing into each other.”
He also took issue with the timing of player movement on kickoffs, adding, “The ball is in the air and nobody is moving. It’s supposed to be when the ball is in the air, when the ball is played you’re supposed to be moving.”
While Trump said he doubts the NFL will reverse course, he emphasized that he doesn’t want the rule adopted outside the league.
“The NFL, they do what they want to do. I don’t think they’ll change,” he said, before adding that he hopes college football keeps traditional kickoffs. “Because the power of the kickoff was so beautiful… But it is not football.”
