Field Goal Responsibilities
 

After all these years we finally got the fifth official on the field.

My question for you experienced guys what method and/or signals do you use when it is apparent A is attempting a FG to make sure the correct wing moves under the goal post?

Or, do you go over that in your pregame?

Canadian Mechanic
 

CANADIAN MECHANIC:

In 5-man, the short side official goes with the Back Umpire to rule on the FGA. The short side guy, often obvious, is assigned by the Umpire. The Umpire points (and optional motions to downfield) to the short side guy.

Always go over it in pregame. The R should line up facing the holder. Yard line he is on depends on what you're supervisor wants. The wing facing the back of the R should go under with the BJ. Find out from the coaches if you're kickers are Left or Right footed. This will help you pre-arrange at which end the LJ and H will go under.

Yelling his name usually works!

But seriously, ask the coach if his kicker is right or left footed during the pregame meeting with him and share that with the crew. Also be aware that the coach doesn't always give the correct information and they may change kickers depending on the length of the kick.

Now that I think about it - watch the holder and then yell to the appropriate wing official.

For our group its always the LJ so no biggie.

I remind my guys, "if you can see my a**, get to the post!!!!"

Why do you always have the LJ go under? If the R is to the H's side, you have a HUGE problem if they run a fake cuz no one can cover the sideline on the LJ's side. The R would be behind the runners and the L is under the post. That is the reason for the different wing going under, to get proper coverage if there is a fake.

The U favors the LJ's side of the field. It's not a problem.

The New Alabama Way
 

This year Alabama has decided to put the Umpire back with the BJ. (It's been the LJ until this year.) The move was made because of the fear there was not sufficient line coverage when the LJ moved back. The U now moves back and still watches the line for center protections, etc. I'm waiting to see how well this works, especially on a long attempt with time running out. The Referee will have to hold the RFP until the Umpire is in place, and I can hear the screaming already. Not that Umpires are any slower than LJs. :D

My question about U going back, other than watching the center, who's going to be watching the pull and shoot with the linemen trying to block the kick. That would have to fall to the H & L. R can't because he has to protect the kicker (he may sneek a look). this will also require that following the kick, H & L will need to get on the field and make let the lineman know they are there.

But, we in Rome......

That would be my concern as well. The "R" can't watch all the points where
holding might be occuring. You know it's going on too.

I worked a lot of 5-man (NCAA) and while it was a minor concern, leaving the LJ side open just required a little more hustle in case of a breakdown.

With the NFHS change in mechanics from last year, the open side is covered now by the "R". No more real need to send the Umpire under.

The recent suggested mechanics revision of either wing official moving downfield based on where the Referee positions himself, to avoid leaving a sideline uncovered seems reasonable. Clearly that should be something discussed in a pre-game, including what signal, reminder or instruction will be given when each situation arises during the game. Actually telling a specific wing official doesn't seem unreasonable, should eliminate any confusion and seems about as fullproof as possible.

As for moving the Umpire, that's something new and worth at least a try, but the obvious disadvantages seem to outweigh the possible advantages, considering that the very nature of most FG situations presents additional focus on line play because of the defense's efforts to disrupt, or block, the attempt.

We always have the LJ go under. I've never heard of a HL going under, but I guess some places are different. But frankly, I think any mechanic putting the HL under is silly. Who instructs the down box if there's a penalty?

R lines up wide on the open sideline and is ready to cover the sideline on a run. If a pass, the LJ needs to get over to the sideline as quickly as possible and BJ has the end line. This is one area where U may be n the best position to cover the goal line.

Now, if there's a block and its going the other way...

5-Man in Nevada, we have the Umpire/BJ underneath. The coverage issues in the middle are a concern but we feel the coverage is needed on the sides for breakdowns or fake plays.

In our area, it's BJ & LJ always. If the play breaks down and it goes to the LJ side, the LJ & R just have to haul buns.
I would think switching which line guy covers according to where the R's butt is pointing only produces confusion/delay and only gives the R a few yard head start anyway for the "open" sideline coverage.

Monte stole my quote: "Butt side wing goes under!"

It's the "SNICKERS" factor!

Geometry
 

Since R needs to face the kicker/holder, the wing seeing the R's rear, is the guy to go. If you find out in pregame that all the kickers have the same foot, and once direction is decided by the coin toss, one wing will be under one post and the other under the other. We get together after the coin toss, and communicate that the HL will be under the "score board" post and the LJ under the other post. This saves a little time in the set up and both wings know that a score in a particular direction gives them post responsibility. That holds for the game.

It is a little different with a RFK on one team and a LFK on the other as one wing goes under for the 1st Q and the other for the 2nd Q. Likewise in the 3 & 4 Q's.

We always ask the coaches if all of the Kickers on their team are R/L, in most cases they are all the same, if not it moves to don't look at my butt.

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.

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.

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

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....

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.

New Alabama Way if the Old Alabama Way Again
 

After much gnashing of teeth at State Camp 2 weeks ago, http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...h_chainsaw.gifAlabama has gone back the way it was done last year:: LJ goes under w/ the BJ. For a day or so, it was the U if the play began on or inside the 10 yard line, and the LJ if outside the 10. The confusion was too much evidently, and 2 days after camp, it changed back to last year's mechanic.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...er-cheveux.gif

What was the confusion, which 10 yard line they were talking about? :rolleyes:

State are free to do what they want in terms of mechanics, but I have yet to see a good reason why deviating from the NFHS current way of doing things is worse than any of the alternatives. The only one I can see is "the L isn't there to instruct the chains / down box" but if needed, the referee can handle that in this one situation.

My crew put into effect the change right from the beginning of last season with the "butt-side" official going under.

I learned recently that Ohio differs from FED on kicking positions, and that the state lost their seat on FED's rule committee as a result of sticking to their guns.

Sounds like some egos in play to me.

I'm wondering what the R mechanic is if the kick does go to hell. Is he supposed to get to the sideline that's behind him since that line guy is gone? Or is he allowing the play to go past him like any other run and then following? I have no idea what the NFHS book says, since we don't use it around here.