2019 Rules Changes

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

Also interesting because those are the same people serving as ball boys in our HS games (usually the 10-14 year old son of a coach and his buddies) and they don't have major issues doing it. They are far from perfect and we sometimes have to yell at them because they aren't where they are supposed to be or paying attention but they generally do an adequate job to keep the game flowing.

All I am saying is the rule will be a little more difficult if we do not have a system in place to get more help in this area. Coaches will complain, but I will tell them the truth. That truth is that we need more than one football at times to get the ball set and ready to go consistently. And we do not have a field clock and you will have to keep that in mind. A couple of penalties will make that overall point.

Originally Posted by bisonlj

We almost always check at least 3-4 balls from each team. I know your schools have them if needed. They just need someone (IHSA would be better than the officials) to request multiple balls checked so ball mechanics can be done efficiently. You could live with 2 but 3 or 4 is definitely better. It's not rocket science and most other states seem to do it that way. I know this one is beyond your control.

You are given more footballs than we are given. Usually, 1 and sometimes 2 when they try to tell us "This is the kicking ball." Otherwise, they have one they use or we use what they bring to us when they come to the field. As I said my issue is not that they have more football, the issue is what is the system to allow us to put the ball in play in adequate time. If you are using one football and we have a long gain or the ball is on the track, then are we set up for some failure to apply this rule consistently? I just do not see how this rule makes things "better." It is an opinion. I might change my mind down the road, but I see nothing that changes the game for the better because we have a 40-second clock. And as I have said before, I bet there will be holes in what we do, unlike the NCAA that has all kinds of procedures to apply the rule. The NF love to take one part of a rule and not make it clear how we apply it in specific situations.

Peace