Football ignoramus question
 

I'm a basketball ref, but a big football fan, and I have a question about football rules. On a field goal, is it required that the ball be placed exactly seven yards behing the line of scrimmage? What are the rules about punts? I take it on a punt you can stand anywhere, because I've seen the quick kicks and end zone situations where they are closer. Just curious.

They can be wherever they want in either situation. There are no rules regarding placement of the hold or where the punter must stand. 7 yards is probably standard because that's as close as you want to get to give yourself enough clearance on most kicks.

A kicker/punter must be 7 yards back to be in scrimmage kick formation (at least in Fed). The only real difference to that is you can use the numbering exception on the line, and that the snapper is protected.

So just to clarify the above two points for our interested party.

As bisonj said, There is nothing in the H.S. (Fed) rules preventing a team from attempting a punt, place kick or drop kick from anywhere on the field. Theoretically, a place kick holder could line up 10 yards from the ball or 4 yards from the ball.

A scrimmage kick formation is something that is "defined" by the rule book (correctly explained by newguy) and is not a requirement per say to attempt a kick.

To extend this a bit further, I've seen teams run regular scrimmage downs from a shotgun formation where the QB is at least 7 yards from the line of scrimmage. This pretty much prevents the defense from lining up their nose tackle head up on the center. I'm actually surprised this isn't done more often.

Thanks for the insight, guys!

Also, I think they do not want to move further back for more clearance on shorter kicks cuz the centers are used to that exact distance, and the blockers on the outside rushers are trained to push their guys out a certain distance.

Keep in mind that under NCAA rules for a team to be considered in "scrimmage kick formation" there a 3 requirements that must all be met:

1. Player 7 or more yds behind LOS and in position to take a direct snap
2. No player in position to take a direct snap
3. Must be obvious that a scrimmage kick will be attempted

So, under NCAA rules just having the QB 8 yds back in shotgun formation, doesn't automatically give the snapper "scrimmage kick formation" protection.