SerpApi.Org
The phrase “Great play by the special teams unit from Florida” was not used often during the Billy Napier Era. Infamously, Napier employed Chris Couch as his GameChanger Coordinator, and when it was clear that wasn’t working, his solution wasn’t to fire Couch, but rather to add Joe Houston as his special teams coordinator.
As 2025 played out, the Gators had far deeper problems than special teams, and for the most part the unit avoided some of the gaffes that cost Florida games in the past. Perhaps more surprising is that the way Florida operated its punt unit in 2025 may actually pay dividends in 2026.
Florida’s special teams may have been one year ahead of the rest of college football
Speaking at SEC Media Days, the SEC Coordinator of Football Officials, John McDaid, launched into an array of examples from the 2025 season and outlined how officials will approach things in 2026.
The area he spent the most time on was a rule change that only the most hardcore of hardcore football fans will probably even notice. The new rule is set to crack down on “numbering exceptions” on punts, which teams have been exploiting to sneak players downfield who normally wouldn’t be allowed downfield. In a very technical rule, if a team now uses a player not wearing 50 through 79 for a punt and they are considered an offensive linemen for the purpose of the play (AKA they are not eligible to go downfield on a trick play and catch a pass), then that player has to line up in a traditional offensive lineman spot on the field so they can be easily identified.
In another way, teams have to use a two‑by‑two formation around the snapper (two players to each side of the snapper within arms reach) when using numbering exceptions.
So where does Florida get involved with this rule change?
Well, according to McDaid, the Gators spent the 2025 season lined up in the formation all teams will have to be lined up in this year and had success doing it:
“This is just a random punt from the 2025 Florida team punt unit. You'll see here that they're in a pretty-easy-to-officiate formation when it comes to numbering exceptions. They have that two-by-two formation around the snapper.
Why do I show you this? I'm not even going to show you the play. Why do I show you this? The University of Florida had the top-ranked punting unit in all of FBS last year. Now, you could say, John, they had Tommy Doman as their punter. He was one of only two punters that were drafted to the National Football League. That's what helped them be the punt unit they were. And you wouldn't be wrong.
But when you are measuring all the statistics, such as not just gross yards, but net yards, number of punts inside the 20-yard line, the number of kicks that were not returned by your opponent, the net average return yards, it just doesn't take one excellent punter to create the statistics. It takes a team. It takes ten other athletes on the field. It takes a scheme and technique to make that happen.
Florida was able to be -- a Pro Football Focus and the calculus they use to try to come up with the most effective punting unit, Florida was No. 1 in the nation. They did it schematically with a two-by-two punt formation and a three-man shield.”
Now, one could argue that Florida’s lack of innovation was part of their problem, but it is notable that, moving forward, the Gators aren’t going to require a ton of adjustments compared to some of their fellow SEC companions.
Today's best reads
- Greg Sankey wants credit for SEC schedules, but Florida still cannot count on sympathy
- Oklahoma just gave Florida the blueprint for beating the Sooners in The Swamp
- The complexion of Florida’s matchup with Missouri could change with Ahmad Hardy’s uncertainty
- Florida’s transfer portal overhaul was not as extreme as it first appeared
- 5 times that the Florida-Georgia rivalry became a Gators display of dominance
This article was originally published on hailfloridahail.com as A major special-teams rule change may hurt Florida less than the rest of the SEC.
