[bigjohn]

From 2012 POE

ILLEGAL SHIFTS INVOLVING THE QUARTERBACK
As today’s offensive formations continue to become more complex, it must be stressed to all coaches and game
officials the need to eliminate illegal shifts involving the quarterback. Whenever any player on the offensive
team moves to a new position after the ready-for-play signal and before the snap, it is a shift (NFHS Football
Rule 2-39). Coaches and game officials must recognize that certain movements by quarterbacks must also be
penalized as illegal shifts.
There are several examples of movements by the quarterback that would be considered an illegal shift, such as
when all offensive players immediately get into their stance and then the quarterback receives the snap as soon

as he/she gets their hands under center. This is illegal because the quarterback needs to be set for one second
prior to the snap after the linemen going into stance as this is, in fact, a shift. An illegal-shift foul also occurs
when the quarterback first sends a player in motion and after the player is in motion, the quarterback then goes
under center to receive the snap.
When all other offensive players are set, movements by the quarterback, other than slightly moving a foot to
start another player in motion, must be followed by a pause of one second by everyone on the offense to be
considered a legal shift. If the offense is allowed to execute illegal shifts or other movements, teams will gain
an advantage not intended by the rules and will disrupt the desired balance between offense and defense.