Sideline 2 - Severe brain injury to Assistant Coach

Just a reminder that 6 feet from the sidelines belong to the officials and them only. I have read a very sad article where an assistant coach was standing in the restricted area and an official collided with him. The assistant came off second best and has not worked a game, nor his job, for the past 2 years because of a brain injury. His insurance company is now suing the officials for $10 million for not enforcing the 6 foot rule.
SAGOA actually started moving the orange numbers further off the sideline a few weeks ago for our safety and those standing on the sideline. This leaves one side under the stand very cramped but a necessary evil.
Coming into the second half of the season officials will be trained to allow only one coaching staff member into the restricted area between plays. This can include an assistant or head coach but it is only one person. That players only substitute through the zone.
If an official reminds you once he must then inform the Referee the second time he reminds you about the sideline enforcement. If the sideline officials run into a player or coach during a play it will be an automatic 15 yard penalty and possibly an ejection, depending on the intent or number of warnings given about staying back.
On the flip side if the sideline official does not also heed warnings from the Training Officer or Referee and keep moving the sideline personnel back they may miss future games or require retraining for the position and begin to enforce the rule about the 6 feet safety zone.
This may seem a petty rule but I was LJ a few weeks ago and backed up into an assistant coach in the 6 foot area, I heard a sorry but that was to late. I had warned the sideline once already. I flagged a warning on a head coach standing inside the chains on a previous game and that also is not a place to stand safely.
If you have cheerleaders please ask them to go to the extreme ends of the field but well back from the sideline so that large squads like the Eagles and Razorbacks still have room to move on the home sideline. The Referee may suspend a game until the sideline is deemed safe.
I thank you for your cooperation in future games and hope we do not have any severe collisions that require medical attention in the future.

Grant Martin