Primary Coverage area

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by The_Rookie

Discussion at my last Officials meeting on dealing with coaches when asked why a call was not made when its in my partner's primary.

Any advice on dealing with coaches on this question?

"Coach, he had a great look at the play it in his primary. Ask him when you get a chance."

As a general rule, I do not explain calls I did not see or I am not sure why something was called or not called.

Originally Posted by The_Rookie

Why is it a sensitive issue when one official makes a call outside of his primary area?

I think this depends on where and who you officiate with and where and who made a call. Almost anything in the lane is fair game for most officials as the angles change and each official can make a call. For the lead to call something at the division line is another story. And when you are wrong (which you often are wrong when calling completely out of your primary) it then changes the expectations of the other officials to call something they "think" took place in another area. Coaches often do not understand what we are looking at and if you call something that out of your area they will expect this all game.

Peace