JustRules

Correct on that point for NCAA. The difference though is the ball would remain live in NCAA if it crossed the plane or landed in the end zone if it has been touched by a receiving team player prior. In both NCAA and NFHS it's where the ball is. In the NFL, it's where the feet are or were. In NCAA if the kicking team member batted it back to the field of play from the end zone, the ball remains live, but you do have a spot of illegal touching so the receiving team could still have the option of a touchback at the end of the down.

Bob Lamey probably contributed to more incorrect rules knowledge for Colts fans than any other announcer ever. I loved him as an announcer, but he was so frustrating this his knowledge of the rules and horrible judgement on other calls. I would listen to him while mowing the lawn and think the crew must have a horrible miss on a holding or PI call as he described it. And his descriptions often involved the firing of the official, possibly incarceration and banishment of any immediate family member. Then I would see the call and it was 100% obviously correct. How could someone who has watched football that long be that wrong about the rules or understanding of the rules? But fans always think the announces know the rules so many fans think he's right. But other than that, I loved listening to him doing Colts games.

R got the ball with clean hands so they can decline the K foul for the facemask to keep the ball. Their block in the back could be enforced and there would be an untimed down. K has the choice of declining that block in the back and the half would end. If R chooses to accept K's foul this would result in a double foul. The penalties would offset, and we would replay 4th down with an untimed down. It's possible R does this to force another punt and a possible return. If they are ready to go to half then they may decline and the half is likely over. I doubt K would accept to give R a free down regardless of where it is.

Most good crews I know all 5 guys have a watch with a timer. We rarely have to use, but we will if the game clock goes out or we feel the need to keep a backup on the field. Most game clock operators do a good job.

It was a change in 2020 with the COVID changes and it has not been changed. Apparently the state likes it and probably has feedback from the coaches to keep it. If you are still doing the old method with captains, you have been wrong for a few years.

They probably do more than you realize. I attend a lot of scrimmages, middle school all-star tournaments, and 7v7 competitions. Coaches are there. They are talking to students. They are sometimes coaching them in those other activities. Parochial schools are often criticized more than they deserve, but at the end of the day they have to recruit all their students at some point. Students transfer to and from them all the time. Some of them are athletes. Many who attend did grow up in that deanery, but they will all still have a handful that didn't. Some of them chose to attend on their own. Some may have been contacted by a coach, parent, administrator, etc. I talked with a middle school coach from an Indianapolis district. He was telling me that all 3 middle schools in their district (with 1 high school) had really good QBs. He was hoping they would retain one for the freshman team the following week, because there were several coaches trying to convince them to attend their school. Some of those schools were private schools.

One difference between HS and college is the "entertainment" factor of large numbers of fans attending the games. You follow your favorite college teams because you have a connection to the players on the team even if they are only there for a short time. The more they change the less you have that connection. That could ultimately be what causes college sports to eventually become more popular. I understand why the ability to transfer is important for the student-athlete, but it may ultimately lead to the demise of the sport from a fan perspective. It may still exist but much more like rugby or swimming or baseball exist. At the HS level, it's more of a personal connection for fans either because they have kids in the school or they live in the community and know the families. They will probably support the school regardless of what kids are there. It's much less of a fan-driven so I don't see them as equivalent situations. My issue with constant transferring is that it creates a lot of instability and the wrong focus for a young person at that age. Yes, going from school A to school B could help influence your ability to participate at the next level. But will it change it significantly? Recruiting is an educated guessing game so there are no guarantees regardless of where you go to school. HS athletics should be about participation and competition, and i prefer to see kids compete in the community where they live. Coaches shouldn't have to be recruiters as much as they are today.

There are many that do. Sadly I hear many officials use those terms as well. The other big one that is nails on a chalkboard - lateral. There is no such thing. It's either a forward pass or backward pass.

I watched the broadcast and the stands were both full with the one end zone full of coaches from around the state. I talked with several coaches at our clinic on Saturday, and they said it was a great event. Sounds like the players, coaches, officials, and fans who attend thought it was a great event.

They are probably one of the longest standing home school programs in the state. I remember officiating one of their first games about 10 years ago. Dedicated coaching staff with decent numbers for a program playing against weaker 1A schools. I would imagine if they are still playing, they have stability in organization.

I think he was saying the streaming options were doing a better job because they were broadcasting games live making it more difficult for WHMB/WHME to sell ads for tape delay broadcasts that likely lost viewers because they had already watched the live stream. I hope all sports fans understand the importance of advertising in a broadcasters ability to deliver content at little or no cost to the viewer.

I appreciate your interest as a broadcaster to try to learn and understand the rule. Just having the book won't be enough though. Many situations involve multiple rules, and you have to know all that apply. To do this you have to review and understand the rules. Having the rule book is a great first step though. Most announcers mean well when trying to explain rules to fans, but the first thing I learned when I became an official is announcers are the #1 source for incorrect rules knowledge. Unfortunately most fans (and even coaches and players) get their rules knowledge from announcers which makes it hard on officials when we actually apply them correctly. Good luck, and I hope you are able to gain a better understanding of the rules with a copy of the rule book. I wonder if your station couldn't contact the IHSAA and request a couple rule books. It's worth a shot! Thank you and good luck!

Bobref is correct. A big portion of the NFHS revenue is selling rule books so they don't provide them for free. The iHSAA distributes them to licensed officials as part of their dues every other year. I believe they provide them to coaches as well. But the IHSAA purchases them from the NFHS. They also provide us access to the NFHS portal that has a digital version that is only available through their app or the portal site.

And it's probably 5 D1 kids and 10-15 D2/D3 kids including kids who could play D2/D3 but choose not to for whatever reason.

That's a very good question. Some overzealous rules editor at the NFHS.

We've been allowing players to line up the so-called "no-mans" land for decades. As long as it's obvious which player is on the line and which one is a back I see no reason to inject too much technicality in this situation. It's never been something I've heard coaches or players complain about and fans have no idea what the actual rule says. It seems like a silly thing to be concerned about with a POE. It won't be hard to do, but why does it need to be done?

I really hope we don't get too technical on #2. It will create unnecessary problems especially if some crews get technical and others don't. The first few association meetings could be interesting and telling.

Some states have a true weekend "state" tournament the end of the tournament. You qualify through weekly conference/district/regional tournaments. But 8 teams qualify and play quarterfinal Thursday, semi-final Friday, and finals Saturday. Each class often has their own weekend so they are spread out or in different locations. It makes for a fun and exciting weekend. They will also play consolation rounds so each team still plays 3 games on the weekend.

A common approach is teams are placed into sections, sectional, districts by the state just like Indiana. Your schedule is largely determined by those categorizations plus whatever non-section games you play. You play everyone in your section/sectional/district and seeding is based on record within that group. The idea of conferences and long-term scheduling contracts don't exist. Certain teams qualify for the post-season based on the records with common opponents. There is either a section/sectional/district tournament or sections/sectionals/district play each other. For example, #1 in District A hosts #4 in District B and so forth. Teams still get to play their geographic rivals either because they are in their section/sectional/district or they schedule them directly. This is easier in sports that play more games, maybe a little more difficult in football with only 9 or 10 games.

Correct. But you were proposing if someone is breaking the waist of the nearest linemen, they should be a lineman. I was showing you why that doesn't work or what the result would be. The current rule works fine as it allows for the intent of the rule to be enforced. If 82 is on the end and breaking the waist of the snapper and the wideout or possibly a wing back is technically breaking the waist of the end but they are clearly in as a back then treat him as a back. Unless they are obviously on or obviously off, the official is going to put them where they are legal. This also most commonly done for two wideouts that are staggered. HS won't be as liberal as the "blade of grass" difference to make the formation legal, but if there is an obvious stagger between the two it's not something to be too technical with. The biggest issue is usually that T that cheats back too far or the teams who like to have the entire line as deep as possible. That's where warnings are usually given if they are close.

The issue is he's using the term "back" as a player wearing an eligible number and referred to as a running back on the roster. Roster positions do not exist in the rule book though. All offensive players are defined as either a lineman or a back (unless they are in no-man's land). #68 is clearly a back if he's lined up behind the QB in front of the tailback. He's a lineman on the roster, but by rule on that play, he's a back. He's not eligible due to his number, but by definition he's a back. And the WR lined up on the line of scrimmage because he's breaking the waist of the snapper is by rule a lineman. The other issue with the example cloudofdust is using is let's say the guard is breaking the waist of the snapper, he's a lineman. Then the tackle is breaking the waste of the guard but not the center, he's a lineman. Then the TE is breaking the waist of the T but not the snapper, he's also a lineman. If the LOS is the +20, you now have a TE lined up with his feet on the 16 but by his definition a legal formation. And the wideout on that side who needs to be a back is on or inside the 15. That's quite the V formation.

I agree. Random draw with all-in does still determine the ultimate champion. It's just a very odd way to do it. Nobody would ever come up with this system if they were creating a new system from scratch. We just have too many people who grew up in this system and feel it's the only logical way to do it. People are inherently resistant to change regardless of how crazy the current system is.

I think a lot of states do it that way. My home state does. There isn't much variability year to year in the districts like we may have in Indiana, but even then they probably wouldn't change much more than they do already. That is probably the the most logical approach though because then you have your schedule set for you most of the season and you are determine seeding entirely based on the results on the field. Some will argue against it because some sectionals will have travel issues, but that's only for a couple games each year and the road trips are fun for the students. They were some of my favorite memories competing in high school. Every conference road game for us was a 2-3 hour drive. I remember getting home from basketball games at 12:30am! That would be a much bigger change I think would be hard for people to accept, but there are many states that do it without thinking about it. And it still leaves 3-4 non-conference games for traditional rivals that aren't in your district.

I think the reason the all-in only works with a random draw is the teams at the bottom are very unlikely to be competitive in the first round. With a random draw they have the hope they'll draw another team at the bottom so they have a competitive game. That's what helps keep them motivated once they are out of conference title contention. The argument many make against a qualifier is once a team loses 3 or 4 early games they have nothing to play for. That's one of the key reasons I think there are some coaches opposed to seeding. They know they could always be that lower team praying for a lucky draw.

If you make it a qualifying tournament you add a 10th game so everyone is still guaranteed 10 games. Nobody loses a game. This does improve and promote Indiana HS football because as Bobref mention it creates a playoff atmosphere for more regular season games either because it involves earning a playoff spot or possibly seeding for hosting a playoff game. I've worked many week 8 or 9 games that feel more like an exhibition game or scrimmage because the result has no impact on conference championship or anything playoff related. The players still play hard and to win because that's their nature. But you can't deny a playoff atmosphere is different than a regular season. And the test I give is explain this process to anyone not familiar with it. 100% don't believe me when I explain it to them. They can't fathom anyone would have an all-in with random draw. Even as I try to explain why it works for people in Indiana they still think I'm making it up. They always ask, "why do you play a regular season?" This is the most illogical way to do a tournament that could ever be conceived, and there is a reason nobody else does this or considers this.