AHSAA Football Mechanics Basic Mechanics, Keys and Responsibilities for a Crew of 7 (Provisional) 2010 Football Season

Alabama High School Athletic Association Why add a seventh official? AHSAA Mechanics for a crew of 5 has limitations on deep pass plays and side zone coverage Next slide is an example 2

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X R U L BJ LJ Crew of 5 Press Box 3

Alabama High School Athletic Association Why add a seventh official? AHSAA Mechanics for a crew of 5 has limitations on deep pass plays and side zone coverage AHSAA Mechanics for a crew of 6 has a dead zone middle-deep 4

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X R U SJ L FJ LJ Dead Zone Crew of 6 Press Box 5

Alabama High School Athletic Association Why add a seventh official? AHSAA Mechanics for a crew of 5 had limitations on deep pass plays and side zone coverage AHSAA Mechanics for a crew of 6 has a dead zone middle-deep The seventh official (three deep) is added to better officiate pass plays and provide consistent sideline-to-sideline coverage. 6

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X R U SJ L FJLJ BJ Crew of 7 Press Box 7

Alabama High School Athletic Association Why add a seventh official? Why not just adopt the college 7-man mechanics? The AHSAA wanted consistency between AHSAA 5-man, 6- man and 7-man mechanics. A crew of 7 will provide more consistent, area coverage resulting in: –Better detection and enforcement of rules which are designed to protect safety of players –Better detection of rules infractions which would otherwise give one team an unfair advantage –Better side line control Preventive officiating is improved Dead ball and back side officiating is improved 8

Alabama High School Athletic Association Keys and Responsibilities Seven officials, 22 players, one football and nonplayers on each sideline Keys are intended to help determine officiating coverage requirements at the snap Keys include: –Formations and players –Position of ball on the field –Down and distance –Score Player keys will be summarized herein by position 9

Alabama High School Athletic Association Determining Keys Strength of formation – number of eligible receivers on a particular side of the offensive formation. Tight end – end player on the LOS no more than four yards from the nearest offensive lineman Player in Backfield – back lined up between the tackles at the snap. Trips – three or more receivers outside an offensive tackle 10

Alabama High School Athletic Association Priority of Keys The priority of keys to determine initial assignments for each group of officials is as follows: Field Judge and Side Judge Back judge Line judge and linesman The general rule is not to key the same player as the group of officials ahead of you priority-wise. 11

Alabama High School Athletic Association Pre-snap Keys Referee – All backs and far side tackle and guard Umpire – Guard/center/guard and tackle on referee side Linesman/Line Judge – The third eligible receiver in from your side of the field Side Judge/Field Judge – The widest eligible receiver on your side. Back Judge – Second eligible receiver in from the strength side of the field. If no strength of formation, key second eligible receiver on the Line Judges’ side. Takes man in motion all the way. 12

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X R U SJ L FJLJ BJ Crew of 7 Press Box 13

Alabama High School Athletic Association Responsibilities during the Down Referee – Observe actions and illegal acts by or against QB and far side tackle Umpire – Concentrate on the “point of attack”, line actions Linesman/Line Judge – Officiate actions of players approaching and/or in your zone Side Judge/Field Judge – Officiate actions of players approaching and/or in your zone Back Judge – Officiate actions of players in the center, deep zone 14

Alabama High School Athletic Association INITIAL OFFICIAL POSITIONS FOR SCRIMMAGE DOWNS 15

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X R U SJ L 15 to 20 yards BJ FJLJ 5 yards Press Box 16

Summary of Positions for a Crew of 7 Back Judge, Field Judge and Side Judge Alabama High School Athletic Association 2010 Situation/ResponsibilityBack JudgeField JudgeSide Judge Kick OffKicker’s free kick line on press box side Same as a Crew of 6 Obvious Short Kick Off (On side kick) Kicker’s free kick line on press box side Same as a Crew of 6 Scrimmage Downs5 yards behind Field/Side Judge, generally center of the field - adjust as needed 15 to 20 yards from the LOS, on the sideline, even with Side Judge 15 to 20 yards from the LOS, on the sideline, even with Field Judge Scrimmage Downs inside the 10 yard line On the back line, generally center of the field - adjust as needed Outside the back line/side line pylon Scrimmage Kick (punts)5 yards behind the receiver, generally center of the field - adjust as needed 5 yards in front of deepest receiver, on the sideline, even with the Side Judge Field Goals and TrysBehind the goal upright opposite the press box. Responsible for his upright and crossbar rulings. Behind the goal upright on the press box side. Responsible for his upright. Position as a second umpire side of the formation opposite the press box. Game and play timingResponsible for the accuracy of the game clock and all game timing situations (time outs, following scores, media time outs) Secondary responsibilities.Play clock violations. 17

Summary of Positions for a Crew of 7 Referee/Umpire, Linesman and Line Judge Alabama High School Athletic Association 2010 Situation/ResponsibilityUmpireLine Judge Kick OffSame as a Crew of 6 Obvious Short Kick Off (On side kick)Same as a Crew of 620 yard line on the press box side Scrimmage DownsSame as a Crew of 6 Scrimmage Downs inside the 10 yard lineSame as a Crew of 6 Scrimmage Kick (punts)Same as a Crew of 6 Field Goals and TrysSame as a Crew of 6 plus Side Judge as the second umpire Same as a Crew of 6 Game and play timingSame as a Crew of 6 Note: Referee and Linesman positions same as in a Crew of 6. 18

Alabama High School Athletic Association BASIC KEYS FOR STANDARD OFFENSIVE FORMATIONS 19

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U SJ L Double Tight End, Balanced Formation BJ FJ Press Box 20

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U SJ L Single Slot BJ FJ Press Box 21

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U Trips SJ L BJ FJ Press Box 22

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Double Slot SJ BJ FJ Press Box 23

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Double Slot, Tight End SJ BJ FJ Press Box 24

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Double Slot, Double Tight End SJ BJ FJ Press Box 25

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Man in Motion SJ BJ FJ Press Box 26

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Man in Motion is Widest At Snap SJ BJ FJ Press Box 27

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Four Receivers, Unaligned SJ BJ FJ Press Box 28

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Four Receivers, Stacked SJ BJ FJ Press Box 29

Alabama High School Athletic Association Pre-snap Communications 30 Must have good, consistent communications when counting players Signals – use only those in the AHSAA Football Officials Manual Eye contact R will signal with Offensive Line Official & Umpire BJ will signal with SJ, FJ, & Defensive Line Official

Alabama High School Athletic Association X X LJ R U L Communication SJ BJ FJ Press Box 31

Alabama High School Athletic Association Communications Special situations Snap inside the 10-yard line Sideline pass reception End line pass reception Close goal line plays L and LJ will release runner at 5 yard line if scrimmage plays starts out side

Alabama High School Athletic Association Basic Positions For Snaps Inside the 10 Yard Line Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box 33 BJ

Alabama High School Athletic Association Basic Positions For Snaps Outside the 10 Yard Line Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box BJ 34 L & LJ will trail the but will release to other side officials at 5 yard line if runner is going to score. L & LJ will get spot up to the 2 yard line SJ & FJ will get the spot from inside 2 to the goal line.

Alabama High School Athletic Association Positions During Kickoffs Crew of R R LJ L L BJ FJ SJ Press Box U U 35 Do not “officiate air”

Alabama High School Athletic Association Positions During Obviously Short Kickoffs Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box BJ 36

Alabama High School Athletic Association Basic Positions For Punts Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box BJ 37

Alabama High School Athletic Association Basic Positions For Kick Trys and Field Goals Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box BJ 38 LJ

Alabama High School Athletic Association Basic Positions For Kick Trys and Field Goals Crew of R R LJ L L U U FJ SJ Press Box BJ 39 LJ

Free Kicks Following a Fair Catch or Awarded Fair Catch Crew of R R FJ L L U U BJ Press Box LJ SJ

Alabama High School Athletic Association Questions? 41