We very rarely visit coaches in the dressing room. That's just not very practical in many cases. Get with them on the field no later than 1 hour before kickoff. They almost always are on the field at that time. And, always start the conversation with "coach, is this a good time to talk, I need about 5 minutes or less." He may have things he needs to take care of at that immediate time and it let's him make that decision. Always talk to the home team coach first to get any word on special events that might be taking place, homecoming etc. The rest of the crew should come out on the field no later than 30 minutes before kickoff. We don't have jurisdiction before then, so not really any reason to have anyone out there before that. When teams go in, usually about 15 minutes before kickoff, the crew can head back in for that last minute nervous wizz.
Doc,
We may not be exactly on the same paragraph, but we are generally on the same page.
So much of this pre-game timing and logistics goes right back to the arrival time of the crew to the game site. Arriving at the stadium 2 to 3 hours prior to the KO, as in FBS football, leaves plenty of time to conduct a brief at-stadium pre-game crew conference before the R and U need to meet with the head coaches at 1:30 (home HC, then about 1:25 for visiting HC) prior to KO. (As a foreshadowing comment, in FBS, they know we are coming and are prepared for us at T-90.) But, for UIL football, our crews generally are not able to break away from their 'real jobs' to arrive at a game site more than 90 minutes prior to KO. And, honestly, for the compensation received, they shouldn't be expected to arrive any earlier. Not complaining about the compensation, just offering an honest evaluation of the business component of this avocation.
Arriving 90 minutes prior to KO leaves 15 minutes for the R and U to get dressed and be with the home HC at T-75, as is prescribed by our manual. Plenty of time to get situated in the dressing room and get dressed, but not much of anything else.
Here is where we may diverge a bit. The UIL Exceptions specify that the "Officials Mechanics approved by the TASO or UIL Football Board of Directors shall be used." So, the coaches should then EXPECT to visit with us at T-75. So, asking them about the convenience of our visit should not be of concern to us. They should know we are coming and schedule their pre-games to accommodate our visit at T-75 for the home HC, and about T-70 for the visiting HC. Just as we need to respect their time, they need to respect ours.
The R & U can usually get back to the dressing room by T-60, leaving 30 minutes to confer briefly with the clock operators, then conduct a brief, but meaningful, crew conference. Being on the field with BOTH teams on the field prior to T-30 only exposes us to liability. If we do, and something were to happen during that time, and we get named in a lawsuit, our insurance carrier would probably decline to honor a claim or defend us, on the basis that we failed to follow our own written procedures.
So, if we arrive on the field at T-30, regardless if teams are present, we can/should check the field, approve game balls (if not already done, somehow) and confer with ball persons, confer with the chain crew, test the field mic, etc. In my experience, one, or both, teams retire to their dressing rooms between T-25 and T-20. So, we are often out there completing our duties without teams. Yeah, it would be nice to have a few more minutes with teams on the field, to take some snaps, and get 'into' the game, but, it just doesn't work out, some times. Then, like you, we retire to our dressing room for last minute "personal needs" and inspirational words from one or all! Then head back out in time to gather captains and execute the coin toss precisely at T-3:00, and KO, ON TIME!!!!!
As we have discussed before, IMHO, this is the one area that could go a long way toward at least offering the perception of consistency. If we all executed the pre-game process exactly the same, they might have a hard time distinguishing one crew from another. And that would be a good thing.
Robert