Football Officials Manual Crews of 4, 5 and 7 MHSAA OFFICIALS PROGRAM MHSAA Press 2021 Copyright © 2021 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: 2021 www.mhsaa.com/officials Contents Acknowledgement ......................................................................... iv Introduction .................................................................................... 1 Section 1: General Football Officiating ........................................ 3 I) Officiating Philosophies and Axioms (Alphabetical by Topic).... 3 II) Helpful Hints for Officiating Football ....................................... 11 III) Officiating Character, Conduct and Ethics .............................. 11 IV) Personal Responsibilities ....................................................... 12 A) Physical Conditioning ....................................................... 12 B) Rules and Mechanics Knowledge..................................... 13 C) Play Coverage (Boxing in the Play) .................................. 13 D) Hustle ............................................................................... 14 E) Uniform ............................................................................ 14 Section 2: Fundamental Crew Operations .................................. 15 I) Fundamental Crew Mechanics ............................................... 15 A) Pregame Responsibilities ................................................. 15 B) Officials’ Communications ................................................ 28 C) Field Microphones ............................................................ 36 D) Pace of Play ..................................................................... 40 E) Reverse Mechanics .......................................................... 41 F) Forward Progress and Spotting the Ball ........................... 43 G) Sideline Plays .................................................................. 52 H) Dead Ball Officiating ......................................................... 54 I) Bean Bag and Hat Mechanics .......................................... 56 J) Rotating Footballs ............................................................ 58 Section 3: Timing and Periods .................................................... 61 I) Timing Operations .................................................................. 61 A) Game Clock Guidelines .................................................... 61 B) Play Clock Guidelines ...................................................... 66 C) Timeouts .......................................................................... 69 D) Intermissions .................................................................... 72 E) Overtime Responsibilities ................................................. 75 Section 4: Fouls and Penalty Enforcement ................................ 78 I) Keys to Penalty Enforcement ................................................. 78 II) Types of Fouls ....................................................................... 80 III) Types of Plays ....................................................................... 85 IV) Next Down After Penalty ........................................................ 87 V) Clean Hands Principle ........................................................... 87 VI) Basic Spot ............................................................................. 89 VII) All-but-One Principle .............................................................. 90 VIII) Enforcement Spot ............................................................... 90 IX) Clock Status Following Enforced Penalty ............................... 92 X) Special Enforcements ............................................................ 95 XI) Mechanics of Penalty Enforcement ...................................... 110 Section 5: Free Kicks ................................................................ 115 I) Kickoff ................................................................................. 115 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 115 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 122 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 125 II) Obvious Onside Kickoff ........................................................ 130 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 130 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 134 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 137 III) Safety Free Kick .................................................................. 141 IV) Fair-Catch Kick .................................................................... 141 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 141 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 147 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 150 Section 6: Scrimmage Formation Keys .................................... 153 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 154 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 160 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 160 Section 7: Scrimmage Plays ..................................................... 166 I) Pre-Snap Positioning and Responsibilities ........................... 166 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 166 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 169 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 169 II) Runs (Play Coverage) .......................................................... 170 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 170 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 177 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications ......................................... 178 III) Forward Passes (Play Coverage) ........................................ 180 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 180 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 185 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 186 IV) Victory Formation ................................................................. 188 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 188 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 190 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 190 Section 8: Goal Line Coverage ................................................. 191 I) B-20 to B-15 ......................................................................... 191 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 191 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 192 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 192 II) B-15 to B-5 ........................................................................... 194 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 194 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 196 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 197 III) B-5 and In ............................................................................ 198 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 198 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 199 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 200 IV) Goal Line to A-5 (Reverse Goal Line Mechanics) ................. 201 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 201 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 202 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 202 Section 9: Scrimmage Kicks ..................................................... 203 I) Punt ................................................................................. 203 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 203 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 209 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 212 II) Field Goal and Try ............................................................... 215 A) 5-Person Crew ............................................................... 215 B) 4-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 221 C) 7-Person Crew Modifications .......................................... 224 III) Swinging Gate Coverage ..................................................... 229 Section 10: MHSAA Approved Signals ..................................... 233 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