Whistles - Who should blow?

[SouthGARef]

It's my belief that in a 5 man crew, that during most times only one official should actually be watching the ball carrier anyway--thus only one whistle.

You should only blow your whistle when you a) see the ball b) see the player in possession of the ball down by rule. Because of this, in my association we see the umpire blowing dive plays dead quite a bit. There's so much action in the middle that wings can't see the ball, and IMO there needs to be a whistle from somebody--eventually.

There are times when you're going to have more than one whistle. A play up the middle will sometimes warrant more than one. Passes down the middle, etc.

Either way, you're splitting hairs. As long as you don't blow your whistle early, you're not hurting too much. If all the coaches complain about is hearing more than one whistle, you're doing a great job.