What if the Defense is Verbal During Cadence...???

[RoyGardner]

I agree with cougar729 in that the timing and "intent" of what the defense is doing is more important that the specific words. When it becomes obvious that the timing of B's signals is intended to get A to respond (usually only after A has called set), then it should be flagged if A responds.

We had this two weeks ago when one of the teams that uses what I would call a "timed silent count" (1-3 seconds) followed by a single "go" (so they were snapping on the 1st sound after the set following a variable delay) got called for false start in the 2nd half. When 2 plays later it happened again (B barking a color after A's set call) we realized that B had apparently made a "2nd half" adjustment and was barking out a signal (a color) during the silent part of the count. While we did not flag the 2nd incident (neither team fouled) we warned B that using that tactic would draw a flag the next time that it resulted in A false starting. No complaint from the B coach, just a sly smile.

[ddoom]

Originally Posted by RoyGardner

I agree with cougar729 in that the timing and "intent" of what the defense is doing is more important that the specific words. When it becomes obvious that the timing of B's signals is intended to get A to respond (usually only after A has called set), then it should be flagged if A responds.

No complaint from the B coach, just a sly smile.

I tend to agree with RoyGardner in that it depends on the officials judgement of the intent. I have been around football for years, both as a player (high school and college) and an official (20 years), and you know when coaches are acting with that "sly smile".

Help me out if others have an opinion. Thanks again, in advance!