The NFL has recently announced they will begin flagging coaches who walk on the field of play. In the wake of a large amount of coaches walking on the field to either argue a play or approach the referee, league director of football associations Ray Anderson, has decided to enforce a rule that has always been in place but hardly ever used.
“We need to be much more disciplined about where our coaches go in terms of the box and venturing out on the field beyond traditional markers is something that is just not appropriate. It can interfere and it can be viewed as intimidating, and we really are going to rein that in,” Anderson said. “Coaches can be flagged. It’s about enforcement and point of emphasis. So coaches who, after appropriate warning, continue to venture out will pay the price with a penalty that potentially could hurt heir team.”
“There are borders,” Anderson said, “but, very frankly, they’re loosely enforced. But they will be more aggressively enforced going forward because we need to rein it in.”
A lot of speculation has been made regarding Jim Harbaugh being the main cause of the NFL taking action to enforce this rule. It appears during the 49er’s playoff run and the Super Bowl, Harbaugh was visibly seen stepping on the field a numerous of times, as seen below.
Those reported incidents supposedly caused the NFL to look into and start implementing a rule that has been overlooked and under used. Someone better restrain Jim during games, or be expecting a sea of yellow flags on he field.