So, what is a get back coach?

So, what is a get back coach?
This is what I know; the get back coach is the one responsible for keeping everyone “back” on the sideline.

Okay, so, why? Well, I’m not totally sure, but in watching football for let’s say 16 years-- which would suggest that I should know more than I do… oh well--the players not on the field and the coaches cannot interfere with the games action. Makes total sense, right?

But what is the rule? So I went to the Internet, to NCAA.org for football rules, which is a bit wordy and complicated. So here it is simply.

On the sideline, there is a line a couple of feet past the out-of-bounds line or the limit line, which everyone on the sideline is supposed to stay behind, either within the coaches box or in the team area. This is to insure that no one interferes with the officials, the chains that mark yardage or the action on the field. If someone crosses this line, the official will warn the sideline, too many warning leads to a penalty.

But you may be asking, “Huh? What’s the difference between the coaches box and team area?”

According to NCAA.org, the coaches box is the area behind the limit line and between the coaching line only coaches are allowed in this area. Behind the coaching line is the team area, which is “limited to squad members in full uniform and a maximum of 60 other individuals directly involved in the game”.

Being a get back coach seems like a simple job, but if it were simple, then there would be no penalties called. There are numerous people on the sidelines to try and control. Because besides the team, which can vary but averages at 125 players, plus the coaches, plus the 60 additional team personal allowed on the field. That’s a lot of people.

Never having been that close to the action, my idea of a get back coach comes from high school and movies. He is the guy on the sidelines that you know must have a role to play, but that you know isn’t the head coach. He is screaming and yelling and often using profanity to keep the players on the sideline, focused on the game, and inline.

An example for me is in Remember the Titans: Coach Boone’s (Denzel Washington) assistant coach, Coach Paul “Doc” Hines (Greg Allen Williams). It is not so much who he is, but what he does. For those of you who have not seen the movie, you totally should, and I say this not just as a sports movie fanatic. It is a good, fun movie. There is a scene during the first part of the movie when the team is still at training camp.

Gerry calls Julius out during practice and a mini shoving match begins, the camera pains to Denzel, he says “ You got it.” Williams responds, “ I got it.” Williams then steps toward the boys and in a commanding tone states, “Y’all didn’t come out here to practice cause champions pay the price. Lookin’ like a bunch of bums out here.” It is short and sweet, but I love it.

It is his actions in that moment that make the get back coach real for me. But in this case it is unlikely that he is the get back coach. As my sister has pointed out to me “JoJo, he’s the defensive coordinator. I think. He’s definitely more than a get back coach”. But also during the dining hall scene you will see multiple coaches eating at the table it is more likely that one of those men is the get back coach. But it is the action to me that says, “Get back!”

My father has informed me that a get back coach doesn’t have to be a conditioning coach. That in high school the get back coach is usually someone like the wrestling coach. He knows football and the boys, and knows how to whip them into shape. But that in college, besides a conditioning coach, it is more likely that the he is a graduate student who is looking to become a coach or who plans to go into some other aspect of sports management.

Does that mean that I would have to go to grad school? We shall see.