Thoughts on the 40 Second Clock

[FLAHL]

We worked our spring game last night and I had my first experience with the 40 second clock.  We worked at one of the few schools in this area with a visible play clock.  Overall, I liked it. We had a couple of glitches, but that’s not surprising. Some observations:

On a punt with the 40 second clock running, the punting team didn’t snap the ball and got a DoG. The up back, who was responsible for calling signals, said “Coach told me not to snap the ball until you blew your whistle.”

It was very clear to coaches if/when they needed to call a TO to prevent DoG. Without a visible play clock, our BJ will raise his arm at 10 seconds and count down the last 5.

We had zero issues setting the ball after long incompletions. We had ball boys on the LJ side only, and that worked out fine. Our guys didn’t chase any balls past the sideline.

The pace of the game felt just a bit quicker, and both coaches said that they liked the consistency.

Some of the clock management techniques that I used to use are no longer available. One, if the game clock was at 30 seconds or so, I’d wait until it was 24 to blow the RFP to eliminate the possibility of DoG at the end of a quarter.  I can’t do that now. Maybe I shouldn’t have ever done it. In the 4th quarter last night, one team was up by 3 scores. I would have been a bit slow with the RFP in the past, but can’t do that now either. Again, maybe that’s a good thing.

Two things I’m curious about. Without a visible play clock, will coaches adjust to looking at the BJ?  Even if they do, they won’t realize that time is running down until there are only 10 seconds left. I suspect we’ll hear a bit of complaining about that.

Second, at some point some coach is going to have his punt team sprint onto the field and his offense sprint off the field on fourth down. They will snap the ball while the defense has way too many or way too few players on the field. I guess we just live with that, right?

[bossman72]

Two things I’m curious about. Without a visible play clock, will coaches adjust to looking at the BJ?  Even if they do, they won’t realize that time is running down until there are only 10 seconds left. I suspect we’ll hear a bit of complaining about that.

Did you not have a signal before?  We've always had a deep official signal at 5 seconds when the play clock is running out with zero problems.  It's better now that it's 10.  The 10 sec warning gives them plenty of time to hurry up.  If you want to help them even more, as the R, yell "10!" at the QB when you see the BJ's hand go up.

Second, at some point some coach is going to have his punt team sprint onto the field and his offense sprint off the field on fourth down. They will snap the ball while the defense has way too many or way too few players on the field. I guess we just live with that, right?

What prevented them from doing this with the 25 sec clock?

[FLAHL]

What prevented them from doing this with the 25 sec clock?

They had to wait for the RFP.  They could still hurry on to the field with the 25, but we had some control over whether they could snap or not. Now we don’t have any control. I know we didn’t technically have a match up rule, but when we had mass substitutions on both sides, I wasn’t anxious to help/hurt either team with a quick RFP,, and I could fall back on the “12-14 seconds after the previous play ends” guideline as to why I was being deliberate (or possibly even slow).  If that punt team is now out there in 6 seconds, they get to snap. Maybe it’ll be a non-issue.

We did have the BJ raise his hand at 5, and you’re right - it’s even better with 10. I like the idea of yelling “10” as a reminder.

[Magician]

What prevented them from doing this with the 25 sec clock?

They had to wait for the RFP.  They could still hurry on to the field with the 25, but we had some control over whether they could snap or not. Now we don’t have any control. I know we didn’t technically have a match up rule, but when we had mass substitutions on both sides, I wasn’t anxious to help/hurt either team with a quick RFP,, and I could fall back on the “12-14 seconds after the previous play ends” guideline as to why I was being deliberate (or possibly even slow).  If that punt team is now out there in 6 seconds, they get to snap. Maybe it’ll be a non-issue.

We did have the BJ raise his hand at 5, and you’re right - it’s even better with 10. I like the idea of yelling “10” as a reminder.

If the punt team is out there in 6 seconds they won't be able to snap it because you probably haven't placed the ball yet. Most of the time the ball will be set and the U ready to step away with 28-32 seconds left on the play clock. If they run the punt team out at 30 you could theoretically have the U stay there until your crew is in  place to cover a punt which would at least be a BJ moving into position and deep wings if you have 7-man. Everyone will think an impact of the 40-second clock is being able to go A LOT faster and that's not the case. You are still getting the ball ready at a fairly normal pace so they likely won't be snapping it before the play clock hits 30 very often. And if they are doing a mass sub for a punt, it will take them time to get everyone off and get into position. If a team is going to run their punt time to try to snap quickly they are likely doing it with less than 25 seconds on the play clock so to bossman's point it would be no different with the 40 than the 25.

We had the same clock management issues at the end of a blowout and it would have been nice to burn an extra 10-15 seconds each play like you describe. That is one thing you give up. But it never seemed to be a major issues. Games still ended fairly quickly because both teams are running the ball and wanting to get out without any injuries. I believe we do tell the play clock operators we wouldn't be offended if they were a little slower starting in those situations. I didn't notice if any were more deliberate. You could also tell them the same thing if the previous play ends with 43 seconds and there is no impact to not running another play have them hold off starting the 40-second until the game clock is at 39. It just wasn't a factor very often in our 3 years of the experiment.

[Ralph Damren]

With any rule change comes some  WHOOPS  both on the officiating and coaching side. While this change will become more apparent  than most, I'm confident we can learn to master it.

[sir55]

Worked 3 spring games with visible play clocks. No problems and the coaches liked the pace better. We met with the head coaches an hours before game time and gave them a copy of the Fed. Clock sheet they issued in April. Answered all of their questions and helped our clock guys understand what was going on. As far as the teams racing on the field to punt, etc., I control some of that at R by making sure that all officials are in their proper place and only then, signaling the U to back off the ball. They still get their 30 plus seconds to run the play, but they don't get to cause us to be out of position. Another question I have is concerning the being inside the numbers before the scrimmage down starts. i don't give a RFP signal anymore unless its one of the administrative stoppages, etc. Ralph, how does this effect that rule?

[Magician]

Worked 3 spring games with visible play clocks. No problems and the coaches liked the pace better. We met with the head coaches an hours before game time and gave them a copy of the Fed. Clock sheet they issued in April. Answered all of their questions and helped our clock guys understand what was going on. As far as the teams racing on the field to punt, etc., I control some of that at R by making sure that all officials are in their proper place and only then, signaling the U to back off the ball. They still get their 30 plus seconds to run the play, but they don't get to cause us to be out of position. Another question I have is concerning the being inside the numbers before the scrimmage down starts. i don't give a RFP signal anymore unless its one of the administrative stoppages, etc. Ralph, how does this effect that rule?

The ball is ready for play when the U steps away (assume that's the way the new rule is written). Don't get too technical on timing though. The intent of that rule is to make sure a team is hiding someone out near their sideline. If they are attempting to do that then apply the 9-yard rule. The RFP portion is to make sure they don't run someone inside the numbers immediately after the play is over and have them hide out near the sideline before anyone notices they were there.

[bbeagle]

Maybe I'm wrong, but in my understanding of the new 40 second clock, nothing really changes for the RFP....

The clock starts at :40 immediately after the last play was over.
Now, they can't snap the next ball at :39,:38,:37, etc. since the ball isn't spotted yet.

Once the ball is spotted, the ball isn't 'RFP' until the referee or umpire (whoever spotted the ball), then steps away from the ball. It would be very easy for the R to wait over the ball until everyone is ready, or the U to wait for the referee's signal.

I guess we don't have to do the whistle on RFP anymore? The NFL still does that even with a :40 clock. Because without whistling the RFP, some plays will be rushed, like near the end of the game when the offense is trying to get a snap off before the game clock runs out... the umpire sets the ball down between all the players, who are ready to hike the ball, then gets out of the line... well, can the ball be hiked while the umpire is in the line trying to get back out? Previously we'd say, 'Wait for the whistle'. Then on first downs, we'd always 'Wait for the whistle', but not on 3rd downs?

[Magician]

Maybe I'm wrong, but in my understanding of the new 40 second clock, nothing really changes for the RFP....

The clock starts at :40 immediately after the last play was over.
Now, they can't snap the next ball at :39,:38,:37, etc. since the ball isn't spotted yet.

Once the ball is spotted, the ball isn't 'RFP' until the referee or umpire (whoever spotted the ball), then steps away from the ball. It would be very easy for the R to wait over the ball until everyone is ready, or the U to wait for the referee's signal.

I guess we don't have to do the whistle on RFP anymore? The NFL still does that even with a :40 clock. Because without whistling the RFP, some plays will be rushed, like near the end of the game when the offense is trying to get a snap off before the game clock runs out... the umpire sets the ball down between all the players, who are ready to hike the ball, then gets out of the line... well, can the ball be hiked while the umpire is in the line trying to get back out? Previously we'd say, 'Wait for the whistle'. Then on first downs, we'd always 'Wait for the whistle', but not on 3rd downs?

One solution to this is to stand over the ball so the snapper can't be on the ball until you step away. The time it takes for him to bend over and grab the ball and be set for a second should give you enough time to at least get out of harm's way. You could also tell him to make sure you are clear before they snap it, but technically they can do it as soon as you step away. That's why standing over it will help you. In 3 years of an experiment this has never been an issue. In hurry up (which is rare with most games being decided before the last 2 minutes of the game) you'll often have the ball down and away before they are ready to snap it.