I worked S & F for 10 of my 14 seasons in FBS football, and, somehow, the statement in the manuals, bold and underlined below, escaped me. I don't believe I ever saw this before today. In researching for another reason, I checked the current CCA manual, and noticed this. Then I got the manual from my last FBS season (2012) and checked it, and found the same language:
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"Side Judge and Field Judge: After the snap, observe action involving the widest receiver on your side of the field. Pay special attention to crackbacks. Box in the widest player. Cover your sideline from about 20 yards beyond the neutral zone, trying to maintain a 15- to 20-yard cushion to the goal line. Do not turn your back toward the play. If the play is to your side of the field and the Head Line-Judge or Line Judge marks the out-of-bounds spot, clean up action around the play and out of bounds. You have goal line responsibility and spots inside the two yardline."
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This language is very mysterious to me. What does it mean? The manual also tells us that we have progress between the B-2 and B's goal line. Knowing that I needed to be on B's goal line when (before) the BC got there, I worked hard to lead the action and maintain a 'cushion' to the advancing action on the field - not a cushion to the goal line. This was 'standard' across all NCAA officiating, at that time, and, as I observe NCAA games today, I still see that happening today.
Not turning my back to the action is certainly ideal, but being able to get to the goal line ahead of ball carriers without "turning and running" is not always possible. Now that doesn't mean I (and everyone else) turned and ignored the action behind me. Quite the contrary. I have never been the most athletic person on the planet, but I mastered the art of backpedaling, and could stay ahead of the action with that, the vast majority of the time. But, when necessary to 'turn and run,' my first steps were to the back of the "white" - or beyond, when possible - to obtain the best "over-the-shoulder" angle to the action possible. That served me quite well.
Yes, working S & F requires constant awareness of how far you are to B's goal line. With practice and experience, I had no problem a) being at the goal line when needed, and b) not 'overrunning' the goal line.
So, can anyone enlighten me as to what the statement in the CCA manual means?
BREAKING NEWS
Oh. Wait. After writing all of that, and re-reading the CCA language, I wonder if that was meant to be interpreted as:
Cover your sideline from about 20 yards beyond the neutral zone, trying to maintain a 15- to 20-yard cushion ahead of the action, all the way to the goal line.
Now THAT would make sense, and follow exactly what we practiced (and still seems to be practiced).
Can anyone confirm?
