head coach
 

Is it legal for a head basketball coach to state he will be sitting prior to tip-off and his asst. will be acting as head coach thus standing and coaching his team.

I would say no. Unless that assistant comes out for the pregame conference w/ the captains, i would say the assistant can't stand at all.

The priviledge of using the coaching box extends to ONLY the head coach.

I don't care who is puported to be the head coach, ... but they can only have one in normal circumstances.

Years ago, a coach came to me before a game and (quietly) stated that he had lost his voice and that his assistant would be using the coaching box and acting as head coach.

The one who stands is also the only one who can request a time-out or go to the table for a correctable error, and the individual that I am going to penalize with indirect Ts and a direct if a substitute for a DQ'd player isn't made in time.

In short, whoever stands will be treated as the Head Coach.

I am leaning towards saying it's legal. I don't think somebody's official title matters as much as their "title for this particular game". As long as both we and they acknowledge who is the lone person we're dealing with. If the real head coach is aware that he/she's giving up the privileges that normally come with being head coach, and that they'll be treated as any other assistant, then I say let it be.

However, I can see individual schools or various state school athletic associations having a big problem with this for liability reasons.

Is this something that really happened, or just a hypothetical?

I'm in total agreement with Nevada - I have no problem if the "regular" HC is going to sit and a regular AC is going to stand - but now that AC is the HC for this game. That means the regular HC can't address officials, can't stand to coach, can't call TOs, etc. It also means the regular AC will be treated as the HC for indirect Ts, keeping control of his bench, etc.

head coach
 

Happend a week ago and we will have the same team tonight.We allowed it and have been trying to make sure it was correct. The conf. play-offs start and he might ask again......

My sitch happened in a first round state tournament game. :cool:

I would have no problem if the "known" head coach decides to be the asst. for that game. I would add that if they feel they need to switch roles this game, those roles apply for the entire game.

I had a game a few weeks ago where the head coach came up to me before the game, shook my hand, and told he had been sick and shouldn't even be there that night, but he couldn't just sit at home, so his asst. would be doing the coaching tonight and he would be the asst. for that game. (I then went and washed my hands before the game started.)

It was funny to watch how the game played out - I saw the asst. (who was handling head coaching duties) yell out some instructions while sitting down, then realize he could stand up, and stood up after he was finished yelling. Of course, later in the game when it was close, the real head coach stood up to yell some instructions. As I was running by, I told him, "Careful, coach...". He looked at me, then realized what I was saying, and said, "Sorry...habit."

Ha! In my sitch the head coach stood very briefly a coupla times. At a dead ball I walked over and asked the sitting most-times head-coach.

"Now, help me out here. Who is the Head coach tonight?
Sheepishly, he pointed and answered, "He is. Sorry...."

:)

Thanks Guys For The Input!!!!!!!!!!!

There is absolutely no such rule, and it irritates me when people continually make such a statement. I guess that I would have to classify this as a pet peeve of mine.

This really comes down to people skills. I'm not asking that any official allow an AC to behave in an unsporting manner, but there is certainly nothing wrong with one politely asking a question or for a clarification or a ruling.

Please don't be one of those officials who treats the ACs as subhuman. They have a way of becoming HCs some day and your relationship with them will be a lot better if you have been respectful of them in the past.

Just ensure that both individuals are clear on how you are handling it before the game begins. Be polite, but firm in your explanation to them and it should go well.

Thanks, Nevada. I actually agree 100% with what you posted - my posting certainly wasn't very clear. I don't let AC's ask about calls during live ball action, and they certainly have way less rope with me to argue anything.

I'll interact with anyone during a dead ball to answer a professional question.

I'll be more clear with my wording from now on.