Illegal equipment

[Backjudge79]

2nd quarter of a 7-7 game. 3rd and 10 for A at their own 15. The coach of the B team calls time out and informs official that quarterback A1 has a stripe down the middle of his towel during last down. The official has player remove towel. Coach then request a conference to review why a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty was not called for illegal equipment. How would you handle this?

[Forksref]

If you didn't see it during the last down, you can't flag it. I prefer preventive officiating. Have him remove it and play on. I am not into nit-picky stuff, so I go the preventive route.

[Backjudge79]

I agree preventive is best, but he was wearing it during the down. The coach saw it and waited for the right time to spring it on the officials. Need to be very careful about what the players are wearing.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Backjudge79

I agree preventive is best, but he was wearing it during the down. The coach saw it and waited for the right time to spring it on the officials. Need to be very careful about what the players are wearing.

Wrong.

If the official caught it during the play, the official flags it and walks it off.

If the coach catches it during a play, and informs the official after the play, all the official sees is illegal equipment in between plays. What the official did was right.

[FeetBallRef]

Does the Coach get tagged for allowing his player to be illegally equipped on the field of play, it's pretty obvious what happened?

Rule 9.8.1.h Failure of the head coach, following verification, to have his player(s) wear or use legal and/or required equipment.

[Backjudge79]

I believe the coach pointed it out to the official during the play. There was no way to claim it was not seen by an official. The referee did assess a 15 yard USC penalty after the conference with the coach.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by FeetBallRef

Does the Coach get tagged for allowing his player to be illegally equipped on the field of play, it's pretty obvious what happened?

Rule 9.8.1.h Failure of the head coach, following verification, to have his player(s) wear or use legal and/or required equipment.

Egads this is a huge stretch.

There's a huge difference between "Having his players wear legal and required equipment" and having his players also wear illegal equipment.

Failure to wear what is necessary is a huge deal (buttpads, kneepads, helmets, etc), and a coach allowing his kids to violate this SHOULD be punished under the listed rule. A kid having something extraneous that he's not supposed to have out there is a completely different thing - which we should not be punishing the coach for ... especially for something like a striped towel.