Dead-Ball Foul Sequence/Mechanics

[Welpe]

Good question. It is good you are thinking about these types of things.

On a dead-ball foul, the first priority is to shut it down with a good, strong whistle. This helps prevent extracurricular activities such as dead ball personal fouls and the like.

What I was taught and have since put into practice is to have the whistle in your mouth before the ball is snapped. This way, if you have a dead ball foul, you can hit the whistle immediately. If there's no foul, spit the whistle out once the ball is snapped.

As you're blowing your whistle, toss your flag straight up in the air, high enough to be seen but don't send it into lower earth orbit. Once the flag has been tossed, and while the whistle is still blowing, give the stop the clock signal.

Depending upon the foul, you may need to confer with other officials to determine if you had encroachment vs false start, etc. Be sure of what the call is and then have somebody report it to the referee. Don't be afraid to take the time to discuss it and be on the same page as a crew about the call.

Be sure to check your local mechanics, they may want something done a little differently here but that is the jist of how I do it.