As I read through the rule book, I see that we, as officials. assume the contest 30 minutes prior to the game and give it up at the decleration of the end of the 4th quarter/OT. Do we have 'outs' as to what happens immediately after that? during handshakes between teams? we had an assistant start cussing out our HL and chase him all the way off the field, and continue hollering/cursing at all of us until we were out of ear-shot... do we have any means of recourse(other than a letter tha will probably be overlooked)?

I would think it has to do with your area and association. If you belong to a strong association, I would talk to the board about a strong letter to the AD or principle. As my crew is happy to point our, "I" got chased by a stat person after a game earlier this year. For me, when the game is done, I go. I don't stop to chat with the coaches, players, or anyone else. Best suggestion that I have is to laugh it off and go on.

You don't have any on-the-field recourse, unless he gets violent, at which point you should get the police over there. But in most associations I'm familiar with, they take the behavior of their coaches quite seriously, and a letter from the association to the AD/school district would NOT be ignored as lightly as you imply.

But I agree - ignore any commentary after the game and just get out of there.

Right a report to your association office, I'm sure he can be suspended for next couple games.

Working one game or multiple games?

If one game, the best advice I have is don't linger on the field. Once the game is over, immediately get together as a group and get off the field. If you are the H, get your clip before time expires (if you can). Don't seek out coaches or players.

If you are working two games and this occurs after the first one, find the game administration and walk directly to them. Let the game admin assist.

In BOTH cases, I would report such behavior to your state association office (via any report forms they might have) and/or to your assignor. I MIGHT also be inclined to write a letter to the school administration detailing the incident.

You have NO responsibility for what happens during handshakes, and you should already be off the field when they occur. Too many guys want to linger around, perhaps they want to be told what a good job they did. Well, most of us don't put too much stock into a coach complaining about the job we did, so why are they all of a sudden smarter when they tell us how good we did?

As far as your assistant coach, you have 3 options in Michigan, pick the ones most appropriate for how severe it was:

1) Tell your assigning authority about it.

2) A call to his AD or principal.

3) Fill out a game report and send it into the MHSAA. This option is the only one that the MHSAA would officially support, and probably the one you should use. You WILL get a response from them. They will probably not tell you what action was taken, only that the matter has been looked into and handled. Believe me, these reports do carry considerable weight with most schools.

REPLY: An official from our association (Alan Goldberger) is a lawyer and frequently writes for Referee Magazine and the NF Official's Quarterly specifically on legal issues related to officiating. He wrote an article a few months back about different sports and when an official's authority in a game ends. For football, it's when the R raises the ball at the conclusion of the fourth quarter (or OT). At that point, according to Alan, your authority, as well as any liability protection you might have, ends. Period. Don't get involved in any activity past this point.

All of the varsity games that I do have police in attendance. After difficult games, we locate the police in a hurry and are escorted to the locker rooms.

I'd go with all of the above. All of the above need to know. I made the mistake of writing a letter to the AD and Principal a few years ago and didn't even get a response. Not every AD and principal has the guts to talk about the behavior of their coaches with you. I should have notified the state so they'd at least have it on record. I know the guys at the state office and they would have addressed it.