12 men breaking the huddle

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by Warrenkicker

Something related to this happened this last Friday. The team on the other sideline is lined up for a scrimmage kick. They realize that they only have 10 players out there and run a wing back in late and he easily gets set in time for the snap. I have some coach going nuts behind me yelling that they broke the huddle with 10. I calmly tell him that isn't a rule. He then says that it should be. Oh, if we let the inmates run the assylum.

This is what you get when you let 14 coaches on the field for the varsity game on Friday night!

[Warrenkicker]

Originally Posted by RonRef

This is what you get when you let 14 coaches on the field for the varsity game on Friday night!

14??? I think it was closer to 20!!!!

[sloth]

I wanted to give this thread a big old bump for my white hat who frequents this site.

We had a spirited discussion during halftime of our game last night (which was televised as the game of the week...very cool experience seeing yourself on TV). The crew maintained that you can't break the huddle with 12 players. I insisted that was an NCAA rule and that in federation the simple act of breaking the huddle with over 11 players isn't a penalty itself nor is it automatically a substitution infraction. I understand the concerns of a replaced player not leaving the field in a timely fashion; but furthering a misnomer, that most all coaches hold about the rules, only serves to make our job harder.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: sloth...you're correct and your crew needs to get on the right page with this: There is only one foul that might be called in this type of situation. It is simply for failure of a replaced player to leave the field 'immediately' after being informed that he's been replaced. There is no Federation foul specifically specified for breaking the huddle with twelve players. There is in NCAA, but not in Federation! So if a substitute enters a huddle just before they are about to break and as the huddle breaks, the replaced player heads off to his sideline and off the field, there is no foul!