Fair warning to all, just in case this is an infection in search of a pandemic.
As I always do, I asked the home head coach if he had any plays we might need to know about, that might catch us by surprise?
He gets a big grin on his face and says, “Well, we’re gonna run a hideout play.” [Can’t say I’ve ever had a coach just flat out use the expression ‘hideout play’.] So, I said, “OK, hold on. When we hear hear the expression ‘hideout play,’ our antenna go up. Tell me exactly what you mean by that.”
So he proceeds to tell me that, right after a down is over, they’ll send in a sub, and the replaced player will move off the field. Their wide receiver on the previous down will be inside the 9 yard marks (which weren’t marked, BTW) and will also move toward the sideline, as though he is leaving the field, but will stop near the sideline. After the snap, he’ll run downfield and they’ll throw a pass to him.🙄
How do you suppose he reacted when I told him that this tactic is patently illegal? He wanted to know what was illegal about it - he gets inside the 9-yard marks. Coach, this is using the substitution process to deceive the opponent, and that is not allowed. ‘But we did it last week?’ Sorry, but it is illegal. Coach, I’ve been doing this for 47 years - I’ve got a little bit of experience.
They didn’t try it.
Don’t let anybody get away with this. There is no way to ‘legally’ run a ‘hideout’ play.
