Changing crews and position this year. Moving from LJ to BJ. Can anyone give me a heads up on responsibilities, ie, where to line up on KO and punts, Im pretty sure that I have the play clock, make sure balls are legal before the game but what else.. Any help is greatly appreciated,

I'm sure that you know the assignments since you have been a LJ, only now you have the receivers that the LJ doesn't have; i.e. the TE or WR on the line strong side. KO's vary by crew, but the biggest change in the kicking game probably is having the uprights on tries and FG's.

I assume a 5-man crew?

A good BJ should be an outstanding dead-ball official.

TN,

I try to line up 15-20 yds downfield between the goal posts. Don't drift to far to a side before the play develops as you can get caught out of position. Most importatnt, make sure you and the wing men KNOW the keys. Generally the receiver on the strong side. I try to face toward the side I am keying on to help my crew mates but they must know their responsibilities without your help. Trips can cause a problem. The book says for the BJ to take the 2 outside but we do it with the BJ keying the 2 inside rec. As long as you are all on the same page. Communicate.

On punts, you have the receiver. The wings should be watching the blocks until he breaks it. Then you switch.

Also, Mike is right. You will not be directly involved in about 50-60 % of the plays. Watch away from the ball. Get to the sidelines EVERY time the play goes there. You will log more yardage as BJ than as the LJ.

Tn,

I try to help out the side guys with substitutions - especially since the BJ has to take the long walk past the benches on a change of posession anyway.

Depending on what the situation is, get ready to tighten up on short yardage.

Depending on how nervous the punt receiver looks I'll either ask to see his fair catch signal before the whistle or casually remind him that it needs to be nice and clear should he choose to. I haven't seen a FC in the last two years so it helps me stay sharp in case they try to surprise me.

Keep your bean bag handy. Open field tackles seem to yield fumbles 30 yards down field more than in close line play for some reason.

The hardest thing I had to learn is that they don't need me to come racing in unless the ball needs to be relayed. Learning to stay back and soak up what's going on is more art than science and, as somebody said, the Back Judge is a strong dead-ball officiator. I try to count to 3 after the ball is blown dead before I start to move up unless its my spot or something is about to erupt.

Anyway, take from this what you will.

Tn,

I have seen you at LJ and I think you need to get comfortable with it before you take any new job duties.

Just kidding have a great season.