Illegal motion

[Rich]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

My crew goes over this with the head coach in our pre-game meeting. We inform them that the punch into the backfield means "off the line" and anything else means "on the line" for the nearest receiver. We also explicitly mention that if a receiver asks "am I good?" we can't answer that question, because we don't know where they're supposed to be lined up.

When I was a wing (I'm an umpire now), I would respond with "yes" or "no" if the receiver explicitly asked "am I on/off?". If they just point or look at me, I don't say anything.

If the kid looks at me like he wants to know I tell him if he's off (with a punch) or on (with nothing). I've found those officials who are the most secretive end up with the most flags (game interrupters, IMO) for illegal formation.

If the kid doesn't look, I can't help it and will just throw a flag if needed.

[bigjohn]

What if he is in "No Man's Land"? Shouldn't you have a signal for that? Some officials will say on, off or neither. If they don't know what to do then, it is a coaching problem.

[jTheUmp]

I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to putting the receiver in the 'legal' position if they're in "No Man's Land"... that is, if they're in a position that could be conceivably on the LOS or off the LOS, then I'd consider them to be off the LOS if they're potentially covering up another eligible receiver, and on the LOS if they need to be for the formation to be legal.

Nobody likes a ticky-tack penalty, especially an illegal formation call based on someone being lined up 2 inches 'wrong'.

[With_Two_Flakes]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to putting the receiver in the 'legal' position if they're in "No Man's Land"... that is, if they're in a position that could be conceivably on the LOS or off the LOS, then I'd consider them to be off the LOS if they're potentially covering up another eligible receiver, and on the LOS if they need to be for the formation to be legal.

Exactly!! I have never in 24 years flagged someone for being in No-Mans Land. I try to look at the eligibles coming to my side as they break the huddle and figure out who is gonna be on/off before they even get to the line.

Especially at the lower levels of play or on a terrible field, I can move myself a few inches to one side or the other to make a player legal, be it a question of receivers on/off the line, a D lineman lined up an inch in the NZ, etc.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by bigjohn

What if he is in "No Man's Land"? Shouldn't you have a signal for that? Some officials will say on, off or neither. If they don't know what to do then, it is a coaching problem.

If he's in no man's land, he's where he wants to be. This is HS football and I'm not out there to show everyone how smart I am.

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to putting the receiver in the 'legal' position if they're in "No Man's Land"... that is, if they're in a position that could be conceivably on the LOS or off the LOS, then I'd consider them to be off the LOS if they're potentially covering up another eligible receiver, and on the LOS if they need to be for the formation to be legal.

No need to unnecessarily complicate things, the fact is there is no such place as "no man's land". The covering official is the sole decision maker whether the player is on the line, or he is not. Life is a lot simpler if you limit your options to "yes" or "no" and forget about "Maybe".

[ppaltice]

If the slot receiver is too close to the line, after the play I usually will talk to him (ask if he is supposed to be off the line and tell him to back up a step). If the wide out is a bit back and he is supposed to be on the line, he is on the line. Again, I may talk to him after the play, it depends on how close he is. I agree that I don't flag 'no man's land,' but I will try and correct it.

One thing I will say is that as you get a little more experience, you will have a good idea how the players are supposed to be lined up. That doesn't mean they won't make mistakes or you won't sometimes misread a formation, but you usually will know if those wide outs, flankers, slots, etc are supposed to be on the line or in the back field.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by ajmc

No need to unnecessarily complicate things, the fact is there is no such place as "no man's land".

Maybe not officially defined however it is possible by rule to be either a lineman, a back or neither. There is only one player legally allowed to be there and that is a player in position to take a hand to hand snap. "No man's land" is this small area of limbo, that while many officials don't strictly enforce, does exist per the rules.

[whitehat]

I have been in stripes since 1982, and when I am blessed to don a black hat occasionally instead of white I do help wide outs with a foot or a point and an occassional nod. But, I have always wondered why players simply cannot look inside at the ball and line up correctly; especially when they are on a yard "Line." How hard can that be?...I guess we have spoiled kids so much in every other area we might as well spoon feed them on the FB field too ;-)