HS Varsity Crew Sizes

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

I think the biggest challenge with working 5-man during the year and then going to 6-man in a state finals is the mechanics are different for the short wings and the deep wings aren't used to working those positions. Coverage is probably better but you have to know what your keys are and how the mechanics work in order to do it effectively. My concern would be if the crew members could effectively learn those mechanics in a short period of time.

When I worked my first college scrimmage, I had a hard time getting used to reverse mechanics on turnovers, staying at the LOS on passing plays, and goal line coverage once we started getting close to a score. You can pre-game all that stuff but on the field, instincts take over and if you aren't used to it, it will take some getting used to. I'd hate to have to "get used to it" during a state finals game.

I am not saying it is ideal to work from one mechanics to another. I am saying that in football, there are not the drastic movements that would make it impossible to work with more officials. This is not a situation like basketball or baseball and you completely change the movements of the officials. Even the coverages do not really change that much, because it is good in football to have several eyes on a particular play. Now you have just added angles. That is why on a DPI you might have a certain official on certain calls because they have a much better angle. In those other sports I mentioned, all your responsibilities change when you add officials. Actually from what I understand your responsibilities in football with 6 and 7 officials decrease.

Peace

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I am not saying it is ideal to work from one mechanics to another. I am saying that in football, there are not the drastic movements that would make it impossible to work with more officials. This is not a situation like basketball or baseball and you completely change the movements of the officials. Even the coverages do not really change that much, because it is good in football to have several eyes on a particular play. Now you have just added angles. That is why on a DPI you might have a certain official on certain calls because they have a much better angle. In those other sports I mentioned, all your responsibilities change when you add officials. Actually from what I understand your responsibilities in football with 6 and 7 officials decrease.

Peace

I agree 6 is better than 5 but if I'm asked to work a 6-man crew rather than 5, I don't know how my responsibilities change. I might key on a particular receiver if we have a 5-man crew but that may change on a 6-man crew. If I don't realize that (and neither does the deep wing), we could both be watching the same receiver and nobody is watching the receiver who is fouled. On a 5-man crew, I have the entire sideline and the goal line on almost every play. On a 6-man crew, I now know the deep wing has anything inside the 2 and I have to reverse mechanics on any COP. If I had not previously worked a 7-man crew in a college scrimmage I would not have known that. I still have a long way to go to learn the 7-man mechanics and I would hate to have my first experience with anything over 5 to be a state championship game. There are enough differences for many of the positions that something will get missed if you don't understand the mechanics.

[OverAndBack]

If you've worked with various numbers of officials and done it long enough, you can adjust, right? If you have enough experience to be getting playoff games, it shouldn't take you too long in a particular game to focus and re-adjust what you have to do in a 6-man game versus a 5-man game or a 5-man versus a 4-man. You just do it. You have to do it.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

If you've worked with various numbers of officials and done it long enough, you can adjust, right? If you have enough experience to be getting playoff games, it shouldn't take you too long in a particular game to focus and re-adjust what you have to do in a 6-man game versus a 5-man game or a 5-man versus a 4-man. You just do it. You have to do it.

If you have never worked 6-man or reviewed the mechanics, just talking about them in a pre-game is not enough preparation no matter how much you've worked. I've been there and done that but luckily it was just a couple college JV games and scrimmages. The mechanics for the wings is very different between 5 and 6-man (much more than the variations some 5-man crews use). I was surprised at all the differences when I started working 7-man in college games this year. I assume you've worked some 6 or 7-man mechanics but do you remember how long it took you to learn them? Would you really want that first experience to be a game as important as the state finals. I would be more comfortable if the additional officials were added in the first round of the playoffs so the officials had at least a few rounds to become accustomed with the new mechanics.

[Toadman15241]

W. PA uses 6 for regular season and 7 for playoffs. State playoffs use 7 as well.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Toadman15241

W. PA uses 6 for regular season and 7 for playoffs. State playoffs use 7 as well.

I would guess the mechanics from 6 to 7 are much less dramatic than from 5 to 6. Anyone who has been through that care to elaborate?

[GoodScout]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

I would guess the mechanics from 6 to 7 are much less dramatic than from 5 to 6. Anyone who has been through that care to elaborate?

We do four-man here on Saturdays (6th, 7th and 8th grade games) and six-man on Friday nights. It's a big transition, and the first time some of our younger officials get on the field after doing four-man for several years they're a little awkward on the mechanics. But they quickly pick it up.

[Forksref]

Someone mentioned that the U has more responsibilities in 6-man compared to 5-man. Can you elaborate?