Altercation between coach and chain crew.

[TxSkyBolt]

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/wild-scenes-as-assistant-coach-for-no-5-colquitt-county-is-ejected-after-fight-with-chain-crew


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[VALJ]

AB, this wasn't you, was it? 

[HLinNC]

Can't wait for the Federation's POE's NEXT summer.

[Jackie ED]

Not to uncommon to have chain members quietly disagree with a call/non-call, but usually just saying "come on you know you can't be saying anything" gets them to stay calm and quiet the rest of the night. I have a question, where does the chain crew set up? They are part of the officiating crew and have more right to that sideline than an asst coach. If the chains are in the three yard deep restricted area then not even the HC should be running into them. That being said if the chain crew has an issue with coaches they need to tell the official working that sideline, who then needs to inform the HC. If nothing is done issue a sideline warning, let the white hat know and he will deal with it from there. The Chain crew should never speak to a coach (especially the visiting team), they should really just stand there quietly and enjoy one of the best seats in the house.

[BrendanP]

Back when I was a senior in high school I did chain crew for a few games, and that planted the seed for officiating later. I think it was in the first game I did, I made that mistake. The referee had flagged the other team for a late hit out of bounds, though the defender had basically wrapped his arms around the ball carrier and followed him out of bounds, and no hit was made and nobody went to the ground.

I made the mistake of saying out loud, "We'll take it, but that was a terrible call." He turned around and gave me the look of death. Never did it again.

[yarnnelg]

Chain crew better be on the back side of the white stripe. In the pre game they better be told they aren't there to cheer, insult or get involved in officiating. The only thing I want from the chain crew is seriousness in their job. If I'm running in the white stripe looking over my shoulder, I better not hit chain crew members in my safety zone. I want jokes, comments about how great I look, otherwise .... I had one crew that had problems with third team players. Called time, instructed the Visitors to put a coach there to do two things. Make sure my crew was accurate in their descriptions and then kill all the violators. There were no further problems with the bored third team.

Watch an NCAA or NFL game. Chains are not in the white stripe.

[GAHSUMPIRE]

The GHSA has ruled on this situation.

Lee County has been fined an "undisclosed amount for the chain gang's involvement",  and Colquit County asst coach will miss Friday's game against Valdosta. The 1-game suspension is in line with GHSA bylaws regarding ejections.

[HLinNC]

Actual conversation with a chain crew member about six years ago-this all transpired without me ever turning away from the field.

"That wasn't a fumble."
"Yes it was"
"No it wasn't"
"Would you like to go sit over THERE?"
"Uh, no"
"OK then"

There was no further discussion.

While the chain crew should not be in the "white stripe", unless you have clip marks at the back of your restricted area, which none of our fields do, the proper mechanic is to move the chains to the sideline to set the clip and then pull back to the edge of the restricted area.  This invariably leads to some coach vs. chain crew interaction as they move the chain.  They are also going to interact when they move for a new first down.

Both sides having some professionalism about themselves should limit any problems.

[VALJ]

Since the chains are usually on the visiting team's sideline, and the chain crew are provided by the home team, I always make a point to remind them that they are guests in enemy territory, and part of the officiating crew, and that I need them to be mindful of what they're saying where the other team can hear.  Don't usually have  a problem once I point out that they're in the proverbial "wrong side of town."

[Ironhead17]

I had a couple of varsity coaches come over for the kids who went MIA after halftime. First play, first series one starts officiating. I reminded him he couldn't do that while working chains and he basically went off and dropped the f-bomb. We excused the coach, wrote up the ejection report, and the HSL suspended him, and fined the school. Needless to say our crew is "blackballed" by the first year varsity coach. Worst team in the district to work for so the loss is theirs.

[HLinNC]

Needless to say our crew is "blackballed" by the first year varsity coach. Worst team in the district to work for so the loss is theirs.

And your gain.

"Please don't throw me in the briar patch."   

[bkdow]

While the chain crew should not be in the "white stripe", unless you have clip marks at the back of your restricted area, which none of our fields do, the proper mechanic is to move the chains to the sideline to set the clip and then pull back to the edge of the restricted area.  This invariably leads to some coach vs. chain crew interaction as they move the chain.

....and usually leads to me stepping on someone or something about 10 times a game.

[Joe Stack]

A few weeks ago, had a chain crew guy yell out after I threw a flag. I spoke to the HL, from the numbers, and stated that he need to make sure the crew understood that if they wanted to make ANY comments, they needed to go sit in the stands. Didn't hear anything else though they were pretty cold when I went over there after TDs.

[GoodScout]

Had a game a decade ago in Temple, Georgia where we had a chain crew that had "been doing it forever" and felt they had the right to critique our work rather loudly on the sidelines.

We stopped play, told the head coach he had to get a new crew, and waited for them. The PA announcer gave us crap about it, and we let the head coach know we didn't want to break new ground by having a PA announcer replaced, but were perfectly willing to do it. That shut him up and we finished the game without incident.

[AlUpstateNY]

It's not rocket science, either you agree to tolerate this type of nonsense and deal with it throughout the game, or you put an immediate stop to it the first time it rears it's ugly head                                                   (which you can do in a heartbeat)                               .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[ljudge]

In NJ about 13 years ago there was a young (cadet) who was in the state's 2-year training class.  Cadets usually work on chain crews for varsity games in addition to officiating freshman and JV games.  In a varsity game there was a flag thrown and the R went to ask the Head Linesman what he had.  He said "I don't have anything" after a long run down his sideline.  Chain crew cadet yells out "I have a hold right here on #44!"     As you might imagine that Referee (who I know personally) told me he confiscated all flags and whistles from chain crew members every time he worked a game from that point on until he retired.

[VALJ]

There's a story in our association about a newer official on the chain crew doing the same thing here, too.