Kickoff returns in college football could have a new look beginning with the 2010 season.

Thursday, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a proposal to eliminate wedge-blocking formations from special-teams play.

According to the NCAA Football Rules Book, a wedge is defined as two or more players aligned shoulder-to-shoulder within two yards of each other during kickoff returns.

The rule change, which prohibits wedges of three or more players, comes after growing concerns about safety in kickoff coverage. The NCAA Web site indicates that one of every five injuries that occur on kickoffs results in a concussion.

For the Kansas University football team, the increase in safety figures to be the only area of impact.

“I have never been a wedge person, so it won’t be a real big deal for us,” KU special-teams coordinator Aaron Stamn said. “It will be a lot safer for our kids now. There have been some pretty nasty collisions in the past. I agree with the rule change, and I am glad they are doing something about it.”

Any violation of the new wedge rule will result in a 15-yard penalty.

In other football news from the NCAA Thursday:

• The same panel ruled that, beginning with the 2010 season, players no longer will be allowed to post symbols or messages on their eye black.
• The PROP also approved a proposal that will turn unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties into live-ball fouls beginning in 2011. The Web site provided the following example: “If a player makes a taunting gesture to an opponent on the way to scoring a touchdown, the flag would nullify the score and penalize the offending team from the spot of the foul.”