Now that basketball is over, we can focus on the upcoming football season. From end line to end line, I'd like to see a stripe painted two yards off the side line. From the 25 to the 25, it would contain the team and coaches. For the rest of the field, it would help keep the 'helpers' back off the field. Good idea?

REPLY: Not a bad idea in my estimation. In fact, the NCAA field calls for such a line. It's called the "limit line." It's 4 yds off the sideline and actually extends around the endzones and the team areas as well. But is all comes down to enforcement.

The field is already marked to keep people back. From 25 to 25 the field has a line 6 ft. behind the sideline for coaches. 6 ft. behind that line is for the team. The rest of the field is marked with a limit line 12 feet behind the sideline all around the field to keep others (media etc) behind it. No need to change anything, just need to be more forceful with the rule.

Jason -
How many of the fields up there are marked that way? There sure are not many down this way. We even made an aggressive effort in preseason meetings with coaches and AD's to get them to mark fields right. I think too many of the grounds crew guys are looking at a Fed book or something cause they sure do not line it right. We get the sideline and the coach line but that is it so that becomes the team line and the coach line becomes the sideline.

It all comes down to enforcement by us. Whatever line we draw as officials, coaches are going to step up to it, whether it's the team box or our tolerance for unsportsmanlike conduct.

REPLY: Now that Fed rules call for the nine-yard marks/tops of the numbers like NCAA does, I can't wait to see how many years it takes us to get the field personnel to get that right. My guess is I'll be long retired by that time.

We only have 2 up this way. :) One is Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls and the other, believe it or not is Megargel, TX 6 man school. The admin there said they may not be able to get a good football team but by God we will have nice uniforms and a nice looking field. I think other schools leave those other lines out to conserve the paint.

I'm aware of the team box and the coaches box and all that fun stuff, of course. I've never heard of any other markings on a field that are required in order to keep people back. I had some crowded sidelines last year, not sure who the people were half the time.

REPLY: It's an NCAA thing: the limit lines. They create a four yard belt around the entire field including the endzones and even behind the team boxes. As many have said though, they're more conspicuous in their absence than in their use.