I will take a beating...

[MN BB Ref]

Coach,

You are right in that knowledge of the rules is a great weapon. In fact, any coach that doesn't have a complete knowledge of the rules is only playing with 3/4 of a deck of cards because if you know the rules, you can take advantage of things that your opponent would never know. For example, the free kick after a fair catch. I would bet that maybe only 1 out of 10 coaches even knows of the existance of that rule, but the good ones have used it win games.

I officiate two sports, football and basketball. I also coach basketball. I found that after becoming a basketball official that I also became a better basketball coach. Why, knowledge of the rules gave me an advantage over my opponent. Heck, in football the advantage is even greater as there are so many more nuances to the rules.

Keep studying and suggest the same thing to your peers. It does pay off.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by JustMy2Cents
BktBallRef,

1- explain what call was made and why

I guess I don't understand what your point is here. What does this have to do with the coach's knowledge of the rules? Because I ask you what call was made and why is not implicit to my not knowing the rules. Many times in the game, I would ask this particular question because I may have not seen a block in the back, for example, but that doesn't mean I don't know what a block in the back is. Please elaborate on what you mean here.

Flag for blocking below the waist on the defense.

Coach: "What was that signal?"

Official: "Blocking below the waist coach."

Coach: "How can that be blocking below the waist? We're on defense!!"

Official: "Coach, neither team can block below the waist outside the free blocking zone. Your player blocked below the waist to take out the sweep blocker."

Coach: