Football Officials Manual Crews of 4, 5 and 7 MHSAA OFFICIALS PROGRAM MHSAA Press 2020 Copyright © 2020 by Michigan High School Athletic Association All rights reserved. This manual or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review, scholarly journal or training materials by Local Approved Associations of the Michigan High School Athletic Association. First Printing: 2020 www.mhsaa.com/officials Contents Acknowledgement ......................................................................... iv Introduction .................................................................................... 1 Section 1: General Football Officiating ........................................ 4 I) Officiating Philosophies and Axioms (Alphabetical by Topic).... 4 II) Helpful Hints for Officiating Football ....................................... 12 III) Officiating Character, Conduct and Ethics .............................. 12 IV) Personal Responsibilities ....................................................... 13 A) Physical Conditioning ....................................................... 13 B) Rules and Mechanics Knowledge..................................... 14 C) Play Coverage (Boxing in the Play) .................................. 14 D) Hustle ............................................................................... 15 E) Uniform ............................................................................ 15 Section 2: Fundamental Crew Operations .................................. 16 I) Fundamental Crew Mechanics ............................................... 16 A) Pregame Responsibilities ................................................. 16 B) Officials’ Communications ................................................ 29 C) Field Microphones ............................................................ 37 D) Pace of Play ..................................................................... 41 E) Reverse Mechanics .......................................................... 42 F) Forward Progress and Spotting the Ball ........................... 44 G) Sideline Plays .................................................................. 53 H) Dead Ball Officiating ......................................................... 55 I) Bean Bag and Hat Mechanics .......................................... 57 J) Rotating Footballs ............................................................ 59 Section 3: Timing and Periods .................................................... 62 I) Timing Operations .................................................................. 62 A) Game Clock Guidelines .................................................... 62 B) Play Clock Guidelines ...................................................... 67 C) Timeouts .......................................................................... 70 D) Intermissions .................................................................... 73 E) Overtime Responsibilities ................................................. 76 Section 4: Fouls and Penalty Enforcement ................................ 80 I) Keys to Penalty Enforcement ................................................. 80 II) Types of Fouls ....................................................................... 82 III) Types of Plays ....................................................................... 87 IV) Next Down After Penalty ........................................................ 89 V) Clean Hands Principle ........................................................... 89 VI) Basic Spot ............................................................................. 91 VII) All-but-One Principle .............................................................. 92 VIII) Enforcement Spot ............................................................... 92 IX) Clock Status Following Enforced Penalty ............................... 94 X) Special Enforcements ............................................................ 97 XI) Mechanics of Penalty Enforcement ...................................... 112 Section 5: Free Kicks ................................................................ 118 I) Kickoff ................................................................................. 118 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 118 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 125 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 128 II) Obvious Onside Kickoff ........................................................ 132 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 132 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 136 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 139 III) Safety Free Kick .................................................................. 143 IV) Fair-Catch Kick .................................................................... 143 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 143 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 149 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 152 Section 6: Scrimmage Formation Keys .................................... 156 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 157 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 163 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 163 Section 7: Scrimmage Plays ..................................................... 170 I) Pre-Snap Positioning and Responsibilities ........................... 170 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 170 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 173 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 173 II) Runs (Play Coverage) .......................................................... 174 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 174 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 181 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 182 III) Forward Passes (Play Coverage) ........................................ 184 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 184 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 189 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 190 IV) Victory Formation ................................................................. 192 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 192 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 194 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 194 Section 8: Goal Line Coverage ................................................. 195 I) B-20 to B-15 ......................................................................... 195 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 195 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 196 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 196 II) B-15 to B-5 ........................................................................... 198 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 198 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 200 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 201 III) B-5 and In ............................................................................ 202 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 202 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 203 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 204 IV) Goal Line to A-5 (Reverse Goal Line Mechanics) ................. 205 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 205 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 206 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 206 Section 9: Scrimmage Kicks ..................................................... 208 I) Punt ................................................................................. 208 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 208 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 214 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 217 II) Field Goal and Try ............................................................... 220 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 220 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 226 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 229 III) Swinging Gate Coverage ..................................................... 234 Acknowledgement The MHSAA could not administer its sports without the hard work and dedication of officials. This publication was a result of the collaboration between a number of MHSAA officials whose time and efforts are appreciated by administrators, coaches and other