Editing Onside kick (section)

===College football===
These were also referred to as "onside kicks from scrimmage."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1923/03/11/page/22/article/onside-kick-from-scrimmage-killed-by-grid-rules-body/|title=Onside Kick From Scrimmage Killed by Grid Rules Body|date=March 11, 1923|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> [[Vanderbilt Commodores football|Vanderbilt]] coach [[Dan McGugin]] was a prime innovator in this field,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090708aab.html|date=September 6, 2008|title=McGugin's legacy stands strong|website=Vucommodores.com|access-date=2017-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015182553/http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090708aab.html|archive-date=October 15, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in fact in [[1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team|1921]] tied [[1921 Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia]] for the Southern crown on such a play.<ref>{{cite news|work=Atlanta Constitution|author=Fuzzy Woodruff|author-link=Fuzzy Woodruff|date=November 13, 1921|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1906427//|page=3|title=Onside Kick In Final Quarter Ties Struggle For Commodores|access-date=March 2, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

[[Saint Louis Billikens football|Saint Louis University]] coach [[Eddie Cochems]] described the play after the 1906 season:

::"Instead of keeping the ball in the air it should be kicked to the ground as soon as the case will permit, since the moment it touches, the whole team is on-side.  The longer the kicker can delay kicking the further down the field the team can get to either recover the ball themselves or form interference for the player who is supposed to recover."<ref>[[Eddie Cochems|Cochems, Eddie]], "The Forward Pass and On-Side Kick", Spalding's ''How to Play Foot Ball''; [[Walter Camp|Camp, Walter]], editor, page 49, 1907</ref>

In these early years and into the 1920s, all players of the kicking team except the kicker were permitted to recover the ball once it hit the ground beyond the neutral zone.  Later, the rules were modified to require it be at least 20 yards downfield, before recovering one's own kick was eventually eliminated outright.