New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn’t only causing headaches for opposing head coaches this offseason.
Belichick’s approved proposal to raise goal posts by 5 feet has manufacturers scrambling.
“It’s actually pretty significant,” David Moxley, director of sports construction sales at Sportsfield Specialties, told AZcentral. “It isn’t as easy as putting 5-foot extensions on each side.”
Moxley is trying to figure out if the goal posts they supply to the NFLÂ can be altered or if they have to be replaced. Gilman Gear, another goal-post manufacturer, has already determined that most of the goal posts they supply have to be replaced.
“There are safety issues here,” Gilman Gear president Neil Gilman told AZcentral. “We’ve been making goal posts for 50 years. If the NFL does it, will the colleges be close behind in adopting this rule? And in the college game, there is a lot of rushing the field (and) jumping on the goal post.
“We have to engineer this the right way so it’s stable, durable. Weather is our most important concern because wind is a huge, huge factor.”
The NFL approved Belichick’s proposal so officials could more accurately determine whether field goals and extra points are good. Goal posts were raised from 30 feet to 35 feet.
