mechanics for 8 man football

[Texas Aggie]

In 6 man games in Texas, we don't really want or need an umpire. I'd probably use 4 wings before I used 3 in the middle for 5 man. There's just not enough room for a guy in the middle of the passing lanes and getting to the LOS just keeps him in the way. Plus, there isn't much for him to do besides spot the ball. The BJ has everything deep and the wings have everything on their side. The R has what's left -- in the tackle box, if you want to call it that --which at most has 3-4 players.

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

In 6 man games in Texas, we don't really want or need an umpire. I'd probably use 4 wings before I used 3 in the middle for 5 man. There's just not enough room for a guy in the middle of the passing lanes and getting to the LOS just keeps him in the way. Plus, there isn't much for him to do besides spot the ball. The BJ has everything deep and the wings have everything on their side. The R has what's left -- in the tackle box, if you want to call it that --which at most has 3-4 players.

That's interesting. I noticed when I was coaching 6-man ball in the mid-90's in Nebraska, I coached at the Nebraska School for the Deaf in Omaha. We always used 4-man crews for our home games, only because our AD was stingy and wouldn't pay for 5. Some of our away games just east of the Omaha metro (draw a line through Grand Island and I'm talking east of this line), we had 4 or 5-man crews. I can't remember why the discrepancy. However, once we went west of Grand Island, then we definitely had 5-man crews.

[Ref inSoCA]

Originally Posted by Ref inSoCA

8-man here is played on an 80-yard field. A few years ago, I worked an 8-man game on a 100-yard field--final score--90-46.

I neglected to mention the number of officials. 8-man games get regular 5-man crews. The same crews that work the big schools.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Ref Ump Welsch

I wouldn't take a varsity game if they won't let you use the entire 5-man crew. We work both 8 and 11-man in Nebraska and Iowa and use it everywhere. We've never had a school say we couldn't go 5-man in varsity ball. The only times we go 4-man is for JV and Reserves. Some schools will let us go 4-man for Freshman and JH games, but usually we go 3-man still for some of those.

Exactly. I have a 5-man crew and we all work every Friday night. I'm not asking someone to sit and I'm not splitting 4 checks. I'll find another place to work and there's no shortage of games.

[mroyal]

I've just been assigned as a white hat for a 5-man crew and so far 5 out of 6 varsity games are with 8-man schools.