JustRules

The most important rule in the rule book is Rule 2 - Definitions. They aren't always the same as they are in Webster's Dictionary.

No different than now other than the fact we now have a real reason to bag fumbles behind the LOS. There aren't that many in a season. Remember by definition a backward pass isn't a fumble so you still won't bag that behind the line of scrimmage. And a snap is by definition a backward pass. They are fumbles in the stat book, but stats guys use different rules. I think a muffed punt recovered by the kicking team is considered a fumble.

The press release for the new rule changes are here. Some are uniform related (don't we all love uniform rules?). The most significant change is something that doesn't happen often, but could impact action around the line to gain. Forward fumble out of bounds will come back to the spot of the fumble. It doesn't happen often, but I have seen teams gain a first down this way. The press release doesn't state it, but I would expect the rule to not apply on fumbles that go into the end zone and out of bounds. If they are consistent with other rule sets, that will still be a touchback. https://www.nfhs.org/articles/player-equipment-changes-highlight-2025-high-school-football-rules-revisions/

That went off the rails fast. I skipped most of the conversation. Back to the original question. Swim clubs don't have their own pools. They rent from existing facilities. Many of the clubs in Indiana work with the local HS. I'm not sure if there is a financial relationship involved (i.e. the clubs pay rent), but I imagine there is. It's very common for the high school coach to also be the club coach. Some of the assistants will be the same as well, but the club likely has several more. The practices and events however are kept separate. For the HS kids, if there is a moratorium week, they will still have swim practice, but the HS coaches won't be involved. My kids were lifeguards, and they were usually paid by the club or the high school depending on which entity was using the pool. If other organizations rented the pool (i.e. scuba diving training, water polo, swim lessons), then the lifeguard was paid by the high school. So the swim club does have a different relationship than those other entities. I believe some HSs also rent out their pool to smaller HSs who don't have their own pool. For example, Chatard may rent out North Central's pools for practice. The high school has a vested interest in supporting the swim club as that is their feeder system. If they don't have the capacity to host all the practices and events for the club, they will either have to limit the number of swimmers in the club. It appears the existing pool did not have capacity to host all of those so they will keep the existing pool to help with that size. Schools truly are community facilities used for a lot more things than just school. Our officials associations have our meetings at schools around the state. I know there was a regional middle school tournament in December at Noblesville HS. They hosted teams from around the Midwest who qualified for a national tournament in Florida.

There are several very impressive pool facilities in Indiana. Several Indy-area schools have 50-meter pools. They may not have all the features this Carmel pool has, but they are still very nice. The size of their swim club and HS swim team justify having two pools.

It's hard to keep track of specific players who leave or enter. We have several responsibilities during dead ball period and aren't always going to see substitutions let alone remember who did it. It's easier to do when it's a full substitution like a kicking team coming on and then off or someone like a QB.

The part he did have right is you can't leave and return during the same dead ball period or enter and leave. That applies to one player or 11 players. When he was called for it in 2017, he probably subbed all 11 players and then had them return and thought the 11 players was the issue. He should know better though because he's the co-chair of the NCAA rules committee!

It's not unusual for coaches to ask a specific question to get a specific answer and then not realize the nuance of a similar situation that has a different ruling because of something that changes.

Never believe anything you read from coaches or the media when talking about rules. This was NEVER about 11 on and 11 off. If that's what Coach Smart thought was the issue in 2017, he is completely wrong. The actual issue is players leaving the field and returning during the same dead ball period or substitutes entering and then leaving during the same dead ball period. This is one of those things that's a foul in both NFHS and NCAA rules, but in most cases, it's hard to keep track of which players and leave and enter on each dead ball. It's much more obvious in a situation like this. It's still rarely called though, especially now with the substitution match-up rule in NCAA. I've learned this week the B1G/MAC supervisors have told their crews not to call it in a situation like this, but the SEC. In that regards, Coach Smart was correct in his statements. He's the co-chair of the NCAA rules committee so he should know it better than he does, but this is something that comes up rarely. This very specific play though was not an issue with this rule however. The reason is because there was an officials time out for replay review. That means anyone that enters the field after the review can become replaced players. There was a review so that's why the crew would not have a flag here even if they were enforcing the rule as written. That's an example of subtlety I wouldn't expect a coach to know. When situations like this happen, it's likely to be a point of discussion with the rules committee. If nothing else they need to get the conferences on the same page. I wouldn't be surprised to see the NCAA drop the rule entirely since the substitution match-up rule make it obsolete. If Notre Dame had done it too late in the play clock and the play clock expired while Georgia was matching up, that would be a delay of game foul on the offense. You'll notice the U stayed on the snapper telling him he couldn't legally snap it, but backed away with plenty of time left on the play clock.

I believe it may be called a fair catch kick in the NFL rule book however. So they may have actually been using the correct term in that context.

Very possible and easily justifiable either way. Both are excellent players. It's hard for a G6 player to win the award, but he did come very close.

Maybe if Travis Hunter's schedule included Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas, and Penn State. That's the equivalent of Ben Davis' schedule. If you watched any Travis Hunter games, he's as good anyone in NCAA. I would have been fine with Jeanty as well. Both were deserving. It's tough for a G6 player to win it.

Not at a 6A program. Each of the top 10-12 teams (and especially the top 3-4) are loaded with similar talent. BD was still an excellent team despite their record. Other than Avon (which was a game played over two days due to storms and a huge rivalry), their other losses were to the top teams in the state. The only local teams they didn't play were Westfield and HSE.

Tough competition. He has an argument, but I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. This is not a slight on his son at all.

I think the OP was confused. I've heard it referred to as the Harvard of Muncie which is entirely true!

It was illegal substitution and not illegal participation. The referee and umpire sometimes can't get their count until the offense breaks the huddle or lines up. If they get a count of 12, they'll do another count to make sure the first count is right (I've often had a 12 count and on second count had only 11). If nobody has tried to leave the field by then, they'll shut it down for an illegal substitution. If the offense snaps the ball before you are able to get the count, and they play with 12, then it's a foul for illegal participation. The difference is 5-years vs. 15 so it's a pretty significant difference. Always better to get the count before and shut it down if possible.

Checking out Harrell's site to get a feel for how these games may go this week. The first thing I noticed is 4 of the 6 games are predicated to be 1-3 point games. The two that aren't are 3A and 1A and they are still only 11 point spreads. Good chance none of these games are big blowouts. Both the underdogs in the 11-point games are the private schools. The other interesting observation is 5 of the 6 games include teams that have never played each other (at least not in the history of Harrell's database). This could be one of the most interesting state finals in many years. Good luck to all the teams and congrats to the crews selected to work the games.

Generally by the time the pancake happens and the blocker would be able to get up, the runner is long gone. The exception might be a T who blocks a DE and they are still on the ground with the passer in the pocket. But for the most part this situation would not result in a holding foul. But it could definitely turn into a personal foul if the blocker doesn't get up efficiently or the defender gets rough trying to get him off. When I see this I get to them ASAP and tell the blocker to get off. If they know we are there, neither play is likely to do anything. You can usually prevent this from turning into a foul, but sometimes the players will do what they do.

From what I heard, the ones who got paid were paid separately by the home school and not reimbursed by IHSAA. Not sure if that's 100% true, but it may be why there are inconsistent answers if it is true.

That wasn't WNDY broadcasting. It was ISC Sports Network who simulcast it on WNDY. I don't know the ins and outs of how those agreements work, but there must be a reason the cost is much greater to broadcast that to over multiple stations around the state. Not sure if ISC is directly involved with the state finals, but it's a lot of the same announcers on the games. I'm guessing ISC is doing a lot of the production work for IHSAAtv.org.

Please don't get your rules knowledge from announcers. They don't do it intentionally, but they are the biggest cause for the lack of rules knowledge by fans. The college rule changed this year to remove the exception for the runner in the pocket. NFHS has never had that exception that i recall.

I've seen both teams and both are very good. I wouldn't be surprised if either team wins. It should be close but momentum is huge in these games. If one teams gets on a roll or gets a couple defensive/special teams scores, it may not be as close. New Pal will be very good regardless of how strong their schedule was this year.

Most of them have to do with confusing NFL and NCAA rules with NFHS rules. For example, defenders in the neutral zone before the snap, but they got back. Uncatchable pass on a DPI. Returner bringing a kick out of the end zone. Breaking the huddle with 12. The other one is something coaches don't realize is a waste of energy: yelling "hold" on almost every play as if we aren't watching for illegal blocks. The only thing that does is result in us not listening to much of anything else you have to say.

Yes when you factor in all games at all levels. It's still a struggle to find someone to cover the sub-varsity, middle school, youth leagues, flag leagues etc. Somehow we are covering the varsity games each week. I didn't hear of many games that had to get moved off Friday due to a lack of officials. But I do know crews were scrambling to find subs some weeks, and I believe there were some who worked 4-man crews.

That is correct unless you were going to try some winter or spring sports. If you are only doing football there wouldn't be any games left this year you could work that requires a license.