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.