American Football IFAF Approved Ruling 1-4-11

I. The Head Coach of the home team is unable to attend the game in person and wants to monitor the TV broadcast and (a) call in plays via cell phone to the offensive coordinator and (b) use a virtual application
(Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) to communicate with the team in the locker room. RULING: Rule 1-4-11-b is specific and allows only voice communication between the press box and the team area, therefore in (a) the coach could not call into the press box or the sideline for anything related to coaching purposes. Rule 1-4-11-a would prohibit the use of technology including computers to be used for coaching purposes and this would include all virtual types of communication back to a team during the game. Consequently in (b) any virtual session with the team would not be allowed. This prohibition would begin at 90 minutes before the scheduled kickoff when the officiating crew assumes jurisdiction of the game and would include the time between periods until the end of the game when the Referee declares the score fianl.