Loose Ball

[Rob1968]

Originally Posted by The_Rookie

Loose Ball at division line..A1 has inside position to the ball and is standing. B1 comes from behind and takes away the legs of A1 by "clipping" him from behind?

A foul was called on B1

Question: Does it matter if A1 has possession of the ball or is this a foul regardless whether ball is loose or not?

Coach was arguing that if ball is loose then no foul call.

Thanks!

A coach who has seen a proper application of 4-27-3 "Contact which may result when opponents are in equally favorable positions to perform normal defensive or offensive movements, should not be considered illegal, even though the contact may be severe." may, in a subsequent situation, want to stretch that application to a play such as you stated, above.
The misunderstanding, by the coach, is the an over-simplification of that concept, and is covered by 4-27-5.
Coaches are proned to try to apply rules from a perspective that favors their agenda, their team and players, even when we as officials find their application to lack credibility.
"Coach, if your player got hit from behind, like that, what would you think?" - (with a smile) in many cases, has helped to correct their perspective, and set the stage for good repoire and communication on subsequent calls.