Sequence of mechanics - Line Judge

[OverAndBack]

I worked the line judge position in freshman and sophomore scrimmages Friday night, my first time on the field. Thanks to the experienced officials I was fortunate enough to work with (and the class I'm taking), I was able to pick up the following sequence of mechanics that seemed to work for me. If anyone who's experienced at this could look this over and see if I've missed anything or gotten anything out of place, I'd appreciate it.

(previous play ends and ball has been spotted)
1. Referee signals down number and gives ready for play.

2. As you normally have a few seconds before the defense spreads out enough to make it easier to count them, adjust the down indicator on your right hand to the current down. Check the down box on the chains, which are directly across the field from you.

3. Glance at the clock (if there is one) and make a mental note of the line to gain, in case the next play ends past it, so you know to stop the clock on the first down.

4. Count defense. If you can make eye contact with the back judge, who is also counting, and do thumbs-up to confirm, do so. Else, put right hand in a fist and extend arm into field of play to indicate that you've counted (this will also get picked up on the coaches' video up high).

5. Straddling line of scrimmage, note linemen on your side of the ball lining up correctly at line. If there is an end on your side, determine if he intends to be on or off the line of scrimmage. If he's on the line, give thumbs up to the head linesman across from you. If he's off the line, extend arm with fist into backfield to signify to the linesman that your guy is a back. If you both are punching into the backfield, and there are a quarterback and two backs in the backfield, you don't have seven on the line and if no one resets before the snap, it'll be an illegal formation flag at the snap (don't kill the play).

6. If a back (or an end who resets) goes in motion away from you, he's your responsibility until he turns upfield on the other side. A motion man coming at you is the responsibility of the head linesman from the other side until the motion man turns upfield.

7. Snap (let's assume there's no foul that causes you to shut the play down or to throw the flag and continue to officiate):

*If it's a running play: Key through end to near side tackle - read run. Watch initial charge for holding or other foul. Hold line and let run get past you and past neutral zone before you flow upfield, keeping play in front of you and wide to note any infractions. At tackle, make sure you see ball and that runner is down before whistling play dead. Square off and mark spot - don't come in too far, but come in far enough to enable umpire to work off your spot if you're the covering official. If line to gain is reached and it is an obvious first down, stop clock. If there's a fumble in there anywhere, beanbag it and continue to officiate.

*If it's a pass play: Key through end to near side tackle - read pass. Watch initial charge for holding or other foul, note receiver(s) on your side and flow downfield short if pattern is short. If one short, one long, try to be far enough to cover far receiver as much as you can, yet keep near receiver in field of vision. Watch for holding on receiver or defender(s). Since referee will have responsibility for passer until he hits the neutral zone, stay with receiver(s), but know that the passer could tuck it under and run to your side, in which case it'll be your responsibility to cover - and if he runs out or is tackled on the sideline, you'll be marking the spot and watching for any extracirruculars that may occur in the bench area. Watch to see if receiver goes out of bounds, and if he does, if he was forced out or went out on his own (throw hat if he goes out of bounds). If ball is released and crosses neutral zone, watch for pass interference. If pass is incomplete, signal incomplete and whistle play dead. Make sure no foul occurs after the play, retrieve ball from sideline and work triangle to referee to get ball to umpire for re-spotting. If pass is complete, make sure of the catch, continue to flow and keep play in field of vision. You have responsibility for the sideline. At end of play, either in bounds or out, mark spot, whistle play dead, stop clock if first down or out of bounds, watch for extracirriculars in the bench area, retrieve ball, work triangle. If receiver takes off down the sideline, you have to run with him as best you can. In five man, hopefully you'll have a back judge to pick him up if he's heading for the end zone, so protect the sideline in case of a step out and watch for anything behind the play. If the receiver scores, let back judge or covering official signal touchdown and don't mirror.

8. If there's an interception or fumble recovery (you bag the fumble) and you may have to reverse direction and sprint back the other way because you have the runner all the way to the goal line on the sideline.

9. If there's a foul, drop flag to mark spot, note number and color of fouling player, report to referee at play's end and ensure proper penalty enforcement.

10. Umpire spots ball for next play, chains move if necessary, referee signals ready for play.

We didn't do any kicks in the scrimmage, so I have only what I've read to help me out there.

But am I off to a good start as far as line judge mechanics on running and passing plays?

I quite liked this position and felt I was getting the hang of it by the end of the scrimmages. It was like adding one more thing to pay attention to on top of the next with every play, in layers.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: O-and-B...looks like you had a successful indoctrination to the exciting world of football officiating. Congratulations! You also developed a pretty comprehensive list of things for LJs to remember. May I add one thing to your #9? CONTINUE OFFICIATING. Often after dropping a flag, newer officials will relax and mentally take themselves out of the remainder of the play.

[OverAndBack]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[PS2Man]

The only issue I have with your post is about counting the defense. Depending on your crew or situation you might not count just the defense. You might count the team on your sideline.

Everything else is very solid and you have a great understanding of the basics. Just build on your experience and you will do fine.

[OverAndBack]

Okay. I was told at least in five-man that the back judge and line judge count the defense and the umpire and someone else (head linesman?) count the offense. But I can count anyone somebody wants me to count.

Thanks! Now I only have four other positions to get the general gist of!

[PS2Man]

You still have to be aware of how many are on the offensive side of the ball. That was the only point I was trying to make. You might count the defense as a secondary responsiblity. If there are not enough on the line or too many on the backfield, that is your call as well. But that is a little thing that can be discussed on your crew or the people you work the game with.

[SouthGARef]

I'm a newbie as well--second year working tackle football.

In GA 5-man mechanics the wings (HL, LJ) and the BJ count the defense while the Umpire and White Hat count the offense. I believe this is what the NFHS Officials Manual says as well. In 6-man here the Umpire and Ref count offense, the BJ counts defense, and the wings count whichever team is on their side (LJ the home, HL the visitor).

One thing I think you might have left off is when the offensive team comes to the line, make sure to make a "mental note" of which receivers are eligible. A lot of times the umpire may be caught watching the left side of the line while the right side TE who's "covered up" goes downfield. I've been taught to keep an eye on this--but not too stern of an eye because it's of course the Umpire's main call.

Also, coming from a guy that works primarily HL, we appreciate it if the LJ is somebody who's not afraid to take charge and get spots, especially on first downs. If it's in the middle of the field, it really helps out if the LJ takes the spot so that the HL can work on setting the box or setting the chains if we have a first down.

But overall, if you picked all that up in one scrimmage--you're 2/3 of the way home. My first year I knew the mechanics, it was actually getting into a rhythm and doing everything I was supposed to do. Great job.

[Patton]

Originally posted by SouthGARef
One thing I think you might have left off is when the offensive team comes to the line, make sure to make a "mental note" of which receivers are eligible. A lot of times the umpire may be caught watching the left side of the line while the right side TE who's "covered up" goes downfield. I've been taught to keep an eye on this--but not too stern of an eye because it's of course the Umpire's main call.

Don't be afraid to make that call, the umpire is looking more for ineligible numbers going downfield, he may not know that a TE is covered up. He's not going to see you punch the receiver off the line or not. But you're right to make that mental note of who's eligible.

[OverAndBack]

Thanks to you all. That's a good addition, too.

With all these mental notes, I'm going to need a bigger scratch pad.

[jumpmaster]

O&B,
this is pretty good info. I pulled your comments off and gave them to two rookies on my crew. They loved it.