NCAA Flag Football Points of Emphasis
Coaches who need to have conversations with officials about specific rulings within the game must do so from the Team Area. Coaches are encouraged not to enter the field of play or leave the Team Area to debate officiating decisions, and those who do so will have committed an automatic Unsportsmanlike Conduct Foul.
Coaches will be allowed to only step to the sideline to call offensive and defensive signals after all action has ceased. The six-foot area immediately outside the sideline is intended to allow officials to perform their duties adequately; to protect the safety of officials, players and coaches; and to allow teams to demonstrate good sportsmanship within the team area. If any player, coach, or team personnel approaches an official with a tablet to review or view video during the game, that will result in an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct foul. Special
attention should be given to the rule stating that if a coach receives two unsportsmanlike fouls in a single game, they are ejected.
Non-Players and other personnel should always be more than six (6) feet behind the sideline, unless they are actively substituting. Keeping all personnel away from the sidelines creates a safer environment for all those in the team area and those on the field. Doing so also limits opportunities for unsportsmanlike behavior between opponents. The Rules Committee has instructed officials to be more diligent in their observations of these
actions, and they are instructed to flag violations of the rule when it occurs in an area they can observe. Coaches are expected to set an appropriate, professional example for their players, fans and the many others who watch the game and to intervene when they see members of their team exhibit behavior that is not acceptable.
The NAIA Rule Book defines screen blocking as “legally obstructing an opponent without using any part of the body to initiate contact and while remaining within the frame of the body.” It also defines the frame of the body as being “at the shoulders or below other than the back. It does not include extended limbs.” The Rule Book further articulates the fundamentals of Screen Blocking in Rule 9.3.2. These fundamentals should be the guiding standard for how screening is taught by coaches and how illegal screening is adjudicated by officials.
With our game’s foundation of being a non-collision sport, proper technique and stringent officiating of screening action are paramount. Careful attention should be paid to screeners moving into the path of a defender late and initiating contact, as well as to defenders who use their hands, arms, or bodies to displace legally positioned screeners.
The rules committee felt that to more effectively officiate these plays, the penalty yardage should be lessened and the threshold for the foul tightened. Officials should consistently penalize illegal screening action to maintain a standard of lessened contact and to promote skill over physicality.
Additionally, illegal screening action or illegal contact against a legal screener that rises to the threshold of being a personal foul should be penalized accordingly. Only through consistent enforcement and proper coaching can we limit unnecessary contact that detracts from our game.
Illegal Contact Before Passes
Continuing the pursuit of limiting unnecessary contact and focusing on skill rather than physicality, the NAIA sought to clean up the rules surrounding contact by defensive players against opponents prior to forward passes being thrown. What makes Flag Football unique and exciting is the speed and skill that it takes to succeed on both sides of the ball.
The Rules Committee added and clarified verbiage in rule 9.4, making it illegal to not only displace a legally positioned screener, but also to illegally restrict or impede an opponent who is trying to run a route prior to a pass being thrown. The new rule verbiage is “During: 1) a running play; 2) prior to a legal or illegal forward pass being thrown; or 3) during a kick play while the ball is in flight – defensive players may not use hands or arms to restrict, hold, displace, or otherwise illegally obstruct an opponent.” In addition to this clarified definition of a
foul, the Rules Committee altered the penalty to become a 5-yard penalty with an automatic first down.
Officials should continue to be disciplined in their visual progressions and not ball-watch so that all illegal contact is observed and properly penalized. Allowing defensive players to hold, restrict, displace, or illegally obstruct offensive players only makes the game more difficult and takes away from what makes the game of Flag Football unique and exciting.
