Coin toss question?

[Bull's-eye]

In the Texas/Ark game, Texas kicked to Ark to start the game and also to begin the second half. Arkansas won the coin toss and elected to defer. Texas made an error and chose to kick, thus giving Arkansas the ball both times. I have never seen this happen in all my years of watching football.
What are the rules of the coin toss? Most times win a team choose to kick, they get to receive the second half.

[coiled2strike]

happens a lot...especially in jh/hs football
what i have seen is when the kids want to defer, they say they want to kick 1st instead, so the other team gets the ball and the option in the 2nd half...and of course, choose to get the ball...i always like to play defense 1st and defer if i win the toss...i usually talk to an official b/4 i send my captains out, just in case...

[Hupernikomen]

happen to somebody I was watching this year too..Cowboys maybe.

[Hoss]

Just bad coaching. Captains should be more aware of situations and what to do.

[Bull's-eye]

So a team should never choose to kick? I was under the impression that if a team won the toss and elected to kick, they would automatically get the ball in the second half.

[kepdawg]

If you choose to kick the other team has the choice in the second half! If you want to receive in the second half, you defer, then choose receive!

[Keith7]

It happened to Gainesville against Van Alstyne a couple of years ago.. Van Alstyne needed the help though

[kaorder1999]

i know one game I was involved in we kicked off to begin the game because we deferred to the second half. It was a game that was very bad weather and it rained hard the entire game and it turned into a game of field position. It was 0-0 at the half and we knew a fieldgoal would wint he game so we elected to kick off again to begin the second half in order to pin them deep in their own territory.

[Cameronbystander]

Sometimes when this happens it is because the coach tells the kids that we want to defend a certain goal or to kick with the wind. When a team defers, it is the same as the other team winning the coin toss and they get to choose one of three options: Receive the kick, kick to the other team, or defend a particular goal. If a Captain says the wrong thing the Referee will usually ask him are you sure? Sometimes they correct it and sometimes they don't.

One way to keep this from happening is for the coaches to have the flip 30 minutes before the game to insure that they get what they want and then the ceremony just before kickoff is just a simulated flip. Of the three varsity games I have called this year only one had the flip with the coaches prior to the game. When I called in Mississippi, all of the flips were done by the coaches.

[TXMike]

Obviously the kids are brighter in Texas than Mississippi so we do not do that much here. ;)

But when I called out in West Texas it was much more common than it is here in Central/South Texas.

Most of us try to make sure we know ahead of time what the coach wants and then do all that we can to keep the kids in line through the toss.

[Cameronbystander]

You didn't have to put the smile & wink in. I promise you that the Texas players as a group would have to be brighter than those in Mississippi (but there are some really good athletes in Miss.).

But the Miss. High School Alt. Association dictates that the toss be done by the coaches. It is not a choice thing there.

[mikecheck]

Over in Mathis the coin toss was done after warmups before pregame ceremonies. As a spotter I had to try to watch for this and write in down for the announcer. Only the captains and officials would do this with no coaches present. This was done in front of the fieldhouse which I could see pretty well from the pressbox. Under the new AD it is now done on the field.

[Ranger Mom]

That has happened to Greenwood THIS year...I believe it was against Snyder.

They kicked off to us BOTH halves!!

[Bull's-eye]

In the NFL I don't think they have the option to defer. Choosing to kick, receive or defend a certain goal are their only options. In college and high school the teams have the option to defer their decision until the second half. If you like to play defense first, you must choose to defer. Never choose to kick or you will risk having to kick both times. If a team defers to your team, you must choose to receive or risk kicking twice.

[TXMike]

You are right, no deferring in the NFL.

[whtfbplaya]

The majority (85-95%) of 5a schools in the houston area flip early and then reenact (sp) before the game. I have not seen many smaller schools do it

[CHS_DT#75]

thats how we do.... 3a, castleberry lions, our coach came from richland high though, if that means anything.. im not sure if htey are 4a or 5a

[kaorder1999]

yeah....a lot of 4A schools do the coin toss before the gamne between coaches and then just send players out there right before the game to make it look like they are flipping

[Sirsnagsalot]

I made that mistake in high school....