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It's The Rules · Cover IV Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Cover 4.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a Secret 4 football fan, this is your podcast.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Coach Smith.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be your host.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, football fans.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode is dedicated to the rules updates for the 2020 season, which we're all hoping will be played in March and April of 2021.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The rules used in New York State are written by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: They are based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Most high schools in the United States follow these rules with the exception of Texas and maybe a couple of others.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: There are six rules updates and four points of emphasis that I'll be covering today.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: First rule update is a new option for the offense to legally ground a forward pass to stop the clock.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In the past, the only option was for the student athlete playing quarterback to take a direct hand-to-hand snap from the center and immediately throw the ball forward to the ground.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now the student athlete has the option of doing this from the shotgun or the pistol formation.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: The ball must go immediately from the snapper to the student athlete in position to take the snap, hand to hand or again in the shotgun position.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: The ball cannot be mishandled in any way before being thrown to the ground.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: This would be ruled intentional grounding if that happened.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: The next rules update has to do with decisions, decisions, decisions.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Accepting or declining penalties has become more complex.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: This new rule streamlines the process and keeps the game moving.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: In the past, officials would obtain penalty decisions from an on-field team captain who always consulted with the head coach anyways on the sideline.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So in order to streamline this, now the head coach has the option to make these decisions themselves or notify the officials directly that it will be a student athlete captain on the field or it could be another designee on the coaching staff.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time, probably 99.9% of the time, this will be the head coach making these decisions.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it just makes it a little bit faster and cuts out the middleman.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, captains.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Third is preventing a potential defensive timing advantage.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: There were situations in the past where the defense was gaining a timing advantage late in games with a defensive injury or a defensive equipment problem.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: The play clock will be reset to 40 seconds when an official's timeout has to be taken for a defensive student athlete injury or equipment problem.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: There has also been a correction for a rules of omission.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: The play clock will be set to 25 seconds when a new series is awarded after a legal free kick or scrimmage kick.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: The next rule changes has to do with halftime.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Halftime may be shortened due to inclement weather conditions.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Each occurrence of thunder and or lightning is an automatic 30-minute delay.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Some people in the past thought that it was just on the site of lightning.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is with thunder and or lightning, there is an immediate 30-minute delay.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if a game is interrupted due to weather during the last three minutes of the second quarter, meaning just prior to halftime, and the delay is at least 30 minutes, the the opposing coaches have can mutually agree to shorten the halftime, provided there's at least one minute of intermission for the student athletes to rest and also uh hydrate.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not in this doesn't include the three-minute warm-up period, also just before they go back into competition to start the third quarter.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's also a new penalty this year.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Previously, when a defensive student athlete used words or actions in an attempt to disrupt or confuse the offensive team, they were charged with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Coaches and officials felt that this penalty is too harsh when compared to the five-yard encroachment penalty.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So what they came up with was a new penalty called Disconcerting Act, and that will be a five-yard penalty.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: When we think of sportsmanship, we usually think of the coaches and the student athletes.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: But sportsmanship includes much more than that.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: It includes pre- and post-game activities, parents, students, cheerleaders, band members, and PA announcers.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: These all can affect the proper sportsmanship.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The head coach is the face of the program, and it's their actions that will ultimately be emulated by their staff, student athletes, and all others associated with the football program.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it's very important that the head coach lead by example and demonstrate positive behavior that you want rippled through all the fans of your particular program.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: The second point of emphasis is intentional grounding.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most misunderstood high school rules.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Intentional grounding is when a forward pass is thrown into an area not occupied by an eligible receiver or when a pass is thrown to prevent a loss of yardage or conserve time.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: The only exception is the student athlete that we talked about prior who receives the snap and immediately throws the ball forward to the ground to stop the clock.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: The penalty for intentional grounding is five yards and loss of down.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: The third point of emphasis is the offensive line of scrimmage formation.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now there must be five student athletes on the line of scrimmage, and they must be numbered 50 through 79.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's this is typically your center, your two guards, and your two tackles.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And they can have no more than four student athletes clearly positioned in the backfield.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, coach, I'm not a math major, but five and four is only nine.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: What about the other two student athletes?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the two student athletes that are on the end of the line of scrimmage must wear a number of one through 49 or 80 through 99.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where some people get confused that re eligible receivers can wear that numbers in the 90s.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to be aware of that.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, in order to again to be an eligible receiver, these two student athletes, one on each end of the line of scrimmage, need to do two things.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: They need to be physically on the end of the line of scrimmage and again wear the number one through 49 or 80 through 99.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now what happens is sometimes these student athletes, whether it's intentional or not, they are back off the line of scrimmage.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's confusing to not only the defense but also the officials.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: They're kind of these players are what they call no man's land.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: They're neither established themselves on the line of scrimmage or in the backfield.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: They will be considered ineligible receivers if they go out for a pass.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the penalty will be ineligible downfield if there's a pass play.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is uh really actually hurts the offense not to have these student athletes in the positions that they're supposed to be in the position is either clearly on the line of scrimmage or clearly in the backfield.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Putting them in no man's land really hurts your offense because once the officials notice that they will make a mental note, and those two people or those two student athletes will not be eligible to receive a pass.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth and final point of emphasis is ineligible downfield.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ineligible student athletes may not advance beyond the expanded neutral zone at the moment a legal forward pass crosses the neutral zone in flight.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's that's a lot, and I'll break it down for you.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: First, you need to understand the neutral zone.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: The neutral zone is determined by the length of the football, not the width of the football, but the length of the football.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And just you think of each end of the football imaginary line going across the field.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So there's actually two lines of scrimmage one is for the offense and one is for the defense.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So there's two uh neat little points of trivia that you can uh get your friends on.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: The expanded neutral zone is two yards past the defensive line of scrimmage.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So with the snap of the ball, an offensive lineman can engage with a defensive lineman to block and block them downfield as far as two yards beyond the defensive line of scrimmage without getting ineligible downfield.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: But at the moment the ball is thrown and it crosses that neutral zone and that blocker is down past those that expanded neutral zone, they will be considered ineligible downfield, and it will be a penalty.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to click the subscribe button.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, tell your friends, Coach Smith says visit cover4.com and get involved.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: In football and life, it's not where we line up, it's where we wind up.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.