1. New Officials - 2011 Lesson 3 – Basics of (Primarily) Mid-Field Scrimmage Downs

2. Legal Linemen & Backs Offensive players are categorized as backs and linemen. Linemen and backs have specified relationships to the snapper (commonly called the “center”). In addition, the snapper is also considered a lineman and a “quarterback” in position to take a hand-to-hand snap from the center is a back even though he violates some of the other requirements for being a back. One of the first tasks of the offensive team on a scrimmage down is to establish a legal formation prior to the snap. A basic legal configuration has 7 linemen and 4 backs.

3. Legal Linemen & Backs Center (Snapper) is ONLY Offensive team player who can have ANY part of his body beyond the near point of the ball. He can have his hand over the nose of the ball. He cannot remove both hands from ball until the snap. “Lineman” is an offense, only, term. What we commonly call “defensive linemen” are actually “defensive players on the line of scrimmage (LOS)”. A legal lineman must have either his foot or his head intersecting the waist of the snapper. He must also have his shoulders approximately parallel to the goal line.

4. Legal Linemen & Backs A legal back must NOT have ANY PART of his body intersecting the waist of the nearest legal lineman. However, the “quarterback” is an exception to this if he is in position to take a hand-to-hand snap. Just because he is in such a position does NOT mean the quarterback has to receive the snap. In the following slide, all linemen and all backs are legal.

5. Legal Linemen and Legal Backs

6. Legal Linemen & Backs A minimum of 7 offensive players must be on the LOS. There may be as many as 11. That would make no sense as a football play, but snapping the ball to the ground is legal. In the following slide all 11 offensive players are on the LOS. This is a legal formation.

7. All 11 Team A players are on the LOS – this is legal.

8. Illegal Linemen & Backs A minimum of 7 offensive players must be on the LOS. There may be as many as 11. That would make no sense as a football play, but snapping the ball to the ground is legal. Here are a couple of examples of common illegal formations: – The first is having only 6 men on the LOS – The second is having a “back” illegally in “no man’s land”

9. Only 6 linemen on this LOS. This is 1 too few. In addition to be legal, 5 of the linemen MUST be numbered 50-79. Most teams have their “interior five” linemen wearing these numbers since to also be eligible pass receivers the “ends” must NOT be numbered in the 50-79 range.

10. Note the “slot back” on the right is in “no man’s land.” The area between the lines through the snapper’s waist and the waists of the other linemen defines “no man’s land.”

11. Motion by a Single Back Another requirement on the offense is that they must all be “set” simultaneously for a minimum of 1 second prior to the snap. Then ONE player may be in motion at the snap. This player must NOT be moving toward the LOS at the snap. The following slide shows such legal motion by a single back.

12. Team A is set. One man goes legally in motion. Note that the back who goes in motion is moving away from the line. To be legally in motion, he must NOT be moving toward the line at the snap.

13. Man in Motion after a Shift All offensive players MUST be set for a minimum of 1 second prior to the snap. Then ONE player may be in motion at the snap. This player must NOT be moving toward the LOS at the snap. Now we add a legal shift followed by another player legally in motion.

14. Team A is set. A shift, followed by one man legally in motion. Note that for the 2 nd man in motion to be legal, the 1 st man must become set (along with the rest of the team) for an additional 1 second until the 2 nd man in motion may legally move.

15. Man in Motion Turns Up Too Soon All offensive players MUST be set for a minimum of 1 second prior to the snap. Then ONE player may be in motion at the snap. This player must NOT be moving toward the LOS at the snap. This time the 2 nd motion man “turns up” before the snap. Looking at the following slide, is this turn up field by the 2 nd motion man an illegal motion or a false start? Why do you have the opinion you have? What makes the difference? How does the difference impact the timing of the whistle signaling dead ball?

16. Team A is set. A shift, followed by one man legally in motion; but he turns up before snap. How is this illegal? Our choices are dead ball false start or live ball illegal motion. Which of these is this an example of? Why do you think this?

17. Balanced and Unbalanced Lines A “balanced line” generally means there are 3 linemen either side of the snapper (center). These are commonly called the guards, tackles and ends. In the following slide, there is an additional player on the line to the right who used to be on the left. The wing officials must detect this and signal to one another across the line.

18. Unbalanced formation to the right.

19. Wings Step Downfield at Snap On this balanced formation, the wings step downfield multiple steps at the snap. The purpose of this move by the wings is to avoid being “straightlined” in their view to action on or by their keys.

20. Balanced line. At the snap, wings step downfield.

21. Wings Are Responsible for Goal Line One of the biggest challenges for the wing officials in a 3- or 4- Man crew is that they are responsible for the entire length of the field. Unlike the typical 6-Man crew for a Varsity game, the Sub- Varsity crew has only one official to handle “everything” that happens on his side of the field. In the following slide the wings must move down the field, be prepared to be on the goal line in advance of the potential score and then “square in” to the dead ball spot (mirroring each other) when the runner is down at the 2 yard line.

22. Wings move to the spot all the way to the goal line. The goal line MUST be covered. But the dead ball spot is important, too. This is especially true if this happened to be a 4 th down play and the line to gain was near the 2 yard line (where the runner was down). Wings must be able to cover BOTH the goal line and the dead ball spot. This can be a real challenge!

23. Wings’ Positioning Wing officials must effectively straddle the ball for scrimmage downs. Each is responsible for “his side” of the line from the snapper out. The closest any wing should be to a player is 9 yards at the snap. In general, “wider is better” but “widest is NOT best.” The big idea is to create a “cone of vision” that allows the official to see all of his area of responsibility without having to turn his head. For an average situation, being approximately 15 yards away from the area being officiated works best; too close and the cone of vision is restricted; too far away and vision, period, is compromised. While 15 yards away is a good rule of thumb, not every situation is “average” and closer or farther away may be best in a “special” situation.

24. Umpire’s Alignment The Umpire needs to be approximately 7 yards behind the defensive LOS, behind the linebackers. He should be approximately head-up on the ball. However, with an “odd” defensive alignment, he may have to offset to one side or the other to get a view to the ball. At the snap, he is responsible for action on or by the snapper (center) and the players on either side of the snapper (guards). He needs to be especially aware of holding and safety violations, including chop blocks. He has to be aware when pass plays are developing and get to or near the LOS to judge whether ineligible players have gone downfield illegally as well as whether a pass or the passer has crossed the neutral zone.

25. Here the wings are appropriately straddling the LOS. They are also a minimum of 9 yards outside the widest play on their side. Note if a player comes near the sideline, the wing needs only to step out-of-bounds to gain appropriate separation even though this will often be less than 9 yards.