Of all the differences in the way college football and the NFL are officiated, pass interference infractions may be the most significant in terms of how much impact they have on the game. On Saturdays, defensive infractions result in a 15-yard penalty whereas Sunday’s illegalities are enforced at the spot of the foul. It’s one of those things that one doesn’t think about all that often but is sort of strange when considered. And it’s not that hard to look around and find examples of NFL contests that have swung severely on a 50-50 call that suddenly turns into a 50-yard penalty and seven points.

Jon Gruden, a former Super Bowl-winning coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, imagines a world where the professional game takes a page out of the college rule book. Asked on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take what change he would make to the way NFL games are officiated, Gruden made his case for defensive pass interference to switch from a spot-of-the-foul penalty to the 15 yard punishment it is in college.

“That is a penalty right now that has, I think, taken over a lot of these games,” Gruden said.

Gruden also spoke about his time in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth, where he worked with former NFL referee Jerry Austin.

“Jerry Austin taught me that pass interference should call itself,” he said. “We should all be sitting in a bar in Chicago and go ‘that’s PI’. That’s how it should be. A common, obvious pass interference. Otherwise, let these guys play. That’s my feeling.”

Gruden might be on to something. Minimizing the penalty yardage would make it a smaller part of the game. No one watches football to see defensive pass interference calls. On the other side of the coin, we see a lot of plays in college where the defender realizes he’s beaten and simply pulls the receiver down. It’s a smart play but it also takes away a big, exciting play.