High school football play clocks will now tick down from 40
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
BURNET — A rule change by the University Interscholastic League and the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools has football coaches in the area studying its ramifications.
The UIL and TAPPS approved changing the play clock from 25 seconds to 40 seconds.
“I like it,” Llano head football coach Craig Slaughter said. “We better have guys ready to go. I don’t think it’ll change the situation.”
Slaughter said when the Yellow Jackets go uptempo, their goal is to run a play every nine seconds.
Marble Falls head football coach Matt Green said the change will have little effect on his offensive scheme, which is based on its ability to quickly get back to the line of scrimmage for the next play.
“We’re going to be a hurry-up, no-huddle offense,” he said.
SEE AREA TEAMS’ SCHEDULES AT KBEYFM.COM: Marble Falls, Burnet, Faith Academy and Llano
Until this year, an official would set down the ball and look at both teams. When he saw that each had 11 players, he signaled to the press box to start the play clock, which gave the offense 25 seconds to decide on a play, line up and snap the ball.
But with a 40-second play clock, officials will start the countdown after deeming a play is over. That means players will have 40 seconds to get back to the line of scrimmage, decide on a play, line up and snap the ball.
Simple, right?
It could be, some say, because few offensive units huddle anymore. Most prefer to get back to the line of scrimmage and look to the sideline for the coaches to call the play.
Burnet High School offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Andy McHazlett said the Bulldogs see some positives in the rule change. Burnet offensive coaches have studied what’s happened in college and pro football, which both use a 40-second play clock.
“I actually think it’ll allow us to go quicker,” McHazlett said.
As he looked at the clock in college football, he saw offenses averaged 16 fewer plays per game.
Statistically, games that lasted almost three-and-a-half hours dropped to about three hours and eight minutes.
“That puts a premium on your plays,” McHazlett said. “We averaged over 80 plays a game last year. Burnet will be faster. But we may not get to 80 plays a game. That means you have to do well with the plays you have.”
Still, there are situations when a play clock could go back to 25 seconds, usually after a timeout, an injury or a penalty.
Coaches say the two associations had many reasons to change to a 40-second play clock. Russ Roberts, the head football coach at TAPPS member Faith Academy of Marble Falls, said one reason is because the state of Texas tries hard to implement the same rules as colleges. Out-of-state college coaches like recruiting Texas athletes for this reason.
McHazlett said changing to a 40-second clock allows coaches on both sidelines to feel like the play clock started when it should have. Before, especially late in each half, coaches complained that officials took too long or not long enough to spot the ball during a hurry-up situation.
“What they want to do is take that variable out,” he said.
With the rule change, Burnet and Llano had to call a company to install a chip to allow their schools’ play clocks to operate from 40 seconds. Mustang Stadium, which is entering its fifth year of operation, had software already installed on its play clocks years ago that allowed them to tick down from 25, 30, 40 or 60 seconds.
In stadiums that do not have play clocks, such as Pony Stadium at Marble Falls Middle School, where Faith plays its home games, Roberts said teams will continue to rely on an official to keep track of time.
And fans shouldn’t be surprised if they see a ball boy from the opponent on their team’s sideline.
McHazlett said the Bulldogs are beginning to implement these changes during practices before the start of the regular season. Most teams that’ll play in live scrimmages at the end of this week will use 40-second play clocks.
jfierro@thepicayune.com