History of Football Documentary

How Football Became Football: Why QBs Used to Call the Plays



Timothy P. Brown

Feb 22, 2019

It is now the norm for football coaches to signal plays in from the sideline, but that was not always so. Quarterbacks called the offensive plays for the first ninety eight years of college football and the defensive captain generally did the same on the other side of the ball.


When football began in the 1860s and 1870s, teams did not have coaches as we understand the role today. Teams were led by captains who managed practices and the interactions with officials during the games. Since the game was still new, many players arrived on campus having never played football so recent graduates took time from work to return to campus to assist in teaching football techniques to the inexperienced players. Schools commonly opened the season with a game between the varsity and alumni teams, a tradition that continued well into the twentieth century.


As football's popularity increased, schools with little football tradition hired recently graduated players from the Eastern football powers to come to campus and coach their teams. Amos Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman, and Pop Warner were among the many Ivy League graduates who began their careers that way. Similarly, Walter Camp, who played at Yale and lived in New Haven after graduation, oversaw his alma mater's team for decades, other than the two years he spent at Stanford after being hired in 1892 to kickstart their program. The concept of coaching was so new that Americans imported the term “coach” from Britain in the late 1880s. The term "football coach” first appeared in a U.S. newspaper in 1889, while “baseball coach” appeared the previous year.


Although formal coaching roles became the norm, that did not alter the view that games should be won or lost based on the players' brains and brawn, not that of coaches. Coaches were to instruct players during practice, not games; coaching during games was the mark of a poor sportsman. That sentiment led to a 1892 rule banning instructions from the sideline, including that from coaches, teammates, or supporters in the stands. Coaching from the sideline brought the risk of a ten-yard penalty. The ban on coaching from the sideline was widely supported, but violated by some coaches. Like dirty recruiting, some coaches found ways to signal in plays while standing on the sideline. Specific movements by the coach might indicate the quarterback should call a line plunge, a sweep, a punt, or attempt a field goal. A Wisconsin coach was once accused by Ohio State of writing instructions to his team on the bottom of the water bucket ladle, which, if true, would make Wisconsin the ladle of coaches. (Apologies to Miami of Ohio.)

Since it was difficult for the two or three officials on the field to keep their eye on the sidelines, a succession of rules were passed limiting the number of people that could stand on the sideline during games. Five were allowed in 1900 after the rule makers rejected a proposal to place the coaches and substitutes into a fenced area along the sideline. A 1912 rule allowed only one person to stand on the sideline and the rule makers barred anyone from standing on the sideline during play in 1914. Even substitutes were restricted from communicating with their teammates for one full play after entering the game, lest they bring coaching instructions from the sideline. A final example of the restrictiveness of the rule was that coaches could not talk to individual players or the team during timeouts until 1967.


Coach Lou Little seated at midfield during a Columbia game while a few others violate the rule against standing.


One whacky suggestion to eliminate coaching from the sideline came from Jack West, who won eleven conference championships coaching South Dakota State and North Dakota from 1919 to 1945. In the mid-1930s, West suggested adding a twelfth offensive player to each team whose sole duty was to call the plays, after which they would step out of the way. West also suggested the twelfth man stand on the opposing sideline when his team was on defense to ensure he did not receive instructions from his own coaches. (A later post on this topic is found here.)


The rule requiring everyone on the sideline to be seated during games was modified in 1949 so coaches, trainers, and substitutes could stand in the bench area but not “walk up and down (italics in original), or needlessly approach, either side-line.” The restrictions on sideline behavior were eased substantially in 1957 when players were simply restricted to the team area between the 35-yard lines and all references to sitting, walking, and approaching the sideline were eliminated. Many teams continued to have the team remain seated nonetheless.