[BoomerSooner]

I prefer to do it on the field at the prescribed time as it is written, but I've seen it handled prior to teams taking the field. I've even heard of an instance where the coaches met on a Thursday prior to a Friday night game, had their own coin toss and simply agreed to go with their choices no matter what happened in the actual coin toss if the referee didn't agree to go with their predetermined choices. I don't know if the story is true or if so what actually happened in the game, but I could see things going wrong with that arrangement.

That said, to what extent do you think the reason coaches want to be involved and have it done earlier is to prevent captains from making the wrong choice vs. wanting to know earlier to game plan for being on offense or defense first?

I ask because one of the funniest things I've seen in during a coin toss was the two visiting captains came to midfield both carrying 3x5 index cards. One of cards had Win written and underlined across the top of one side, then below that it read 1. Say "Defer" 2. Wait for other team's choice 2. Say "Defend South" or say "receive" if they pick a side. On the back side, it had Lose written and underlined with 1. If home defers, you say "Receive" 2. If home says they'll take the ball, you say "defend south". The other captain had had heads written on one side and tails written on the other and said pick a side on the bottom of each side. I knew this had to be an inside joke with the captains and coaches and possibly a sign that a captain had messed up his choice during a prior game. We all shared a good laugh at that one after the game.