Field Goal Responsibilities

[JRutledge]

In my state we do the "flip flop" mechanic inside of the 25 Yard Line.

We always want the Referee to be looking in at the holder directly (see the front of jersey). Anytime the Referee has their back to a sideline, the wing official on that side goes underneath the upright with the BJ.

Outside of the 25 Yard Line, the BJ stays under the upright all by themselves. I am not happy about that last mechanic, but that is what we are told to do.

Peace

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

In my state we do the "flip flop" mechanic inside of the 25 Yard Line.

We always want the Referee to be looking in at the holder directly (see the front of jersey). Anytime the Referee has their back to a sideline, the wing official on that side goes underneath the upright with the BJ.

Outside of the 25 Yard Line, the BJ stays under the upright all by themselves. I am not happy about that last mechanic, but that is what we are told to do.

Peace

I've done quite a few Varsity games in 3-man crews, due to shortage of officials. Luckily now, we've had a good decade of new recruits, but back at the turn of the millenum, it was tough. In 3-man crews, we'd have 1 guy under the uprights for longer field goals. Like you said, it's not the best mechanic, but I had no problems with it. You do what you need to, because it is what it is.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

I've done quite a few Varsity games in 3-man crews, due to shortage of officials. Luckily now, we've had a good decade of new recruits, but back at the turn of the millenum, it was tough. In 3-man crews, we'd have 1 guy under the uprights for longer field goals. Like you said, it's not the best mechanic, but I had no problems with it. You do what you need to, because it is what it is.

Understand I am talking about 5 man mechanics here. And in my opinion there are more than enough officials in that system to give up a sideline for a very brief period to cover appropriately a point scoring play. Points in my opinion are a little more important than a sideline play. The games where I would work 3-man would not decide playoff and state tournament opportunities. I can settle for working that mechanic at a game where they might not even play under all the rules.

Peace

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Understand I am talking about 5 man mechanics here. And in my opinion there are more than enough officials in that system to give up a sideline for a very brief period to cover appropriately a point scoring play. Points, in my opinion, are a little more important than a sideline play. The games where I would work 3-man would not decide playoff and state tournament opportunities. I can settle for working that mechanic at a game where they might not even play under all the rules.

Peace

Yup - I've been reading all along, so I know that 5-man is the topic.

In Cdn ball, there aren't many fake FGA. I see about 2 to 3 a year, tops. IOW, the majority of the time, FGAs do become FGAs. I was just commenting that I think one guy under the uprights is a rather easy call. I start in the middle and then move to the upright that is threatened. Since I do start in the middle, I move at most 5 yards, which takes way less than the time it takes for the ball to reach the uprights.

But I do agree with you, too: if you have the people, put two under the uprights.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Yup - I've been reading all along, so I know that 5-man is the topic.

In Cdn ball, there aren't many fake FGA. I see about 2 to 3 a year, tops. IOW, the majority of the time, FGAs do become FGAs. I was just commenting that I think one guy under the uprights is a rather easy call. I start in the middle and then move to the upright that is threatened. Since I do start in the middle, I move at most 5 yards, which takes way less than the time it takes for the ball to reach the uprights.

But I do agree with you, too: if you have the people, put two under the uprights.

I do not know that fake field goals are unique in the United States. I do not know if I see even 2 or 3 a year personally. I see more bad snaps that lead to no kick than a fake that I can remember. But I do run into a few very good kickers that have D1 talent. And based on the configuration of many uprights which are not always the NFL or College style uprights with the soccer hybrid, it can be difficult to get into a really good position if one of the uprights is threatened. It is not the end of the world, but I would hate to have a game decided with a close FG and not have two officials in already good position to make the call. I will say this since this mechanic was instituted; I have yet to have a FG where we had to only have the BJ at the uprights alone. I just feel if we could sacrifice some sideline coverage for points. Maybe because this situation is rare, is the reason they have the mechanic. Oh well, life goes on.

Peace

[With_Two_Flakes]

Here in the UK, we work the same as TexasAggie described - always the LJ under the post with the BJ and the R covers the open side. If the kick is from outside the 20 we go with just one man behind the posts, our Association feel the BJ can easily move to cover either post from that range.

I was in Colorado last year visiting with Referee magazine's football columnist Gerry Grunska and we watched a 5 man high school crew in suburban Denver. The mechanic of sending either HL or LJ depending on which was facing the R's back was explained to me and I saw it in action. An interesting concept.

With an experienced crew I'm sure it is pretty foolproof. In the UK where we are often forced to put out less experienced crews due to the shortage of people, I suspect we will stick with our current mechanic....

[bisonlj]

The mechanics books very clearly states that the proper mechanic is for the wing official to the back of the R covers one upright and the other is covered by the BJ. It also now states this is the mechanic regardless of kick distance (used to allow for only the BJ on kicks snapped outside the 20 or 25. Anything else is going against the manual.

That being said, I prefer to have the LJ always cover an upright. Juggling back and forth can lead to delays. If you wait until the back of the R is facing you, it is already too late to get back without delaying the game. Even if both teams have RFK (most common), you still have to hesitate to remmber which end you have and which quarter you are in. If the LJ always has it then there is no hesitation.

Other comments about covering the chains/down box are also valid. This official is then always working the LOS on kicks and can provide more consistency. I think the best mechanics always work to the most common expectation. In 8 years of officiating I think I can remember 2 or 3 kicks that resulted in challenging my LJ sideline so to have a difficult mechanic to handle something that happens less than 1% of the time is not worthwhile.

For those of you with the U going back to the upright I hope you reconsider it quickly. There is too much the U has to watch on scrimmage kicks that will be lost as soon as he has to look up to the upright. Nobody else has the ability to watch the stuff the U normally has a on a scrimmage kick and this will lead to problems.