OK, explain it to me like I'm 6 years old...

[Honolulu Blue]

What is the logic behind the vast majority of college coaches deferring the kick/receive decision to the second half?

For a team that has a crummy offense and tenacious defense, I can understand it. But most defenses aren't that good.

So... explain it to me. And explain why they don't do this in pro football.

[Ksyrup]

I think it has more to do with either a perceived advantage with the defense, or a worry that your offense will be nervous and screw up to start the game. I'm sure that's why FSU deferred, in case you were wondering. There, I think it was a combination of both.

[Ksyrup]

To answer the second part of your question, I'm not sure, although I suspect that in the pros, team's offenses and defenses aren't that much better or worse to make such a difference, and you're generally better off starting with the ball. A team like Baltimore, though, shouuld give serious thought to letting their D start first. Otherwise, I think most team's offenses are good enough, or their defenses not THAT good, that starting with the ball is the best bet.

[Celeval]

Could be confidence in your ability to make halftime adjustments, as well as psychological around the half. (especially) If it's a close game, a team able to come right out and score at the start of the second half seems (to me) to have more of a psychological advantage than a team scoring on the first drive of the game. Especially if it's a down-7-score-to-tie or a up-3-up-10 situation.

[Draft Dodger]

In Madden, I always defer.

I'd just rather have more cracks at the ball in the 2nd half than the 1st half.

[Bonegavel]

Ok. Suppose Ken wants to have some fun with barbie, but Ken isn't too sure about his anatomically incorrect body. He asks her out on a date and she accepts! So, they get together on Sunday and the predate activities go well enough.

After the Movie and popcorn, Ken gets barbie back to her cut-away Malibu beach-house. They both sit on the sofa and Ken wins the initiative when Barbie kicks off her plastic f-me pumps and slinks back into the faux leather.

Not very good with the intitial drive on offense, Ken nevertheless hops on barbie and makes his move. Wow. What a failure. Turns out, because he couldn't bend his legs he wound up laying on barbie and nearly crushed her larynx.

After a hasty good-bye and a door slammed in his face, Ken puts on his thinking cap and decides that next time, he will elect to have barbie make the first move.

hope this helped!

[revrew]

I've never understood this myself, but from a different angle. I don't understand why ALL coaches don't defer to the second half, especially those with productive offenses.

When I'm playing Madden, I always defer for this reason:

If at the end of the first half, my team has the momentum, we can pick it up again right away and keep the steamroller going.

If at the end of the first half, the other team has the momemtum, we get the chance to squash it.

Or, in other words, if the other team is behind the 8-ball I can keep them there, if I'm behind the 8-ball I can get out. I don't see dropping behind 7-0 on the first drive (or going ahead 7-0) nearly as important as starting the second half by tying the score or by going up by two scores.

[Balldog]

A lot of it has to do with field position. If you kickoff, say you get a touchback on the return and hold the other team 3 and out. They are punting from anywhere between the inside their own 20 and their 29 yard lines. A 40 yard punt with NO RETURN gives you the ball anywhere from your 30 to their 41.

You are already winning the battle of field position, which a lot of coaches know a days play.

Then again I don't know how you would chose which half you would want to start this in though.

I think if you have a great defense you wanna kick. If you have a great offense you want to receive. If you have both, who cares.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Honolulu Blue
What is the logic behind the vast majority of college coaches deferring the kick/receive decision to the second half?

For a team that has a crummy offense and tenacious defense, I can understand it. But most defenses aren't that good.

So... explain it to me. And explain why they don't do this in pro football.

Shut yer piehole and rake the fucking lawn.

[pskov]

I agree that most teams should defer, especially if they have a killer defence and almost every single time in a big game. WHo do you want pumped full of adrenaline and aggression, raring to go and really stuff someone, your QB or your MLB?

[JAG]

To answer the second part of your question, the reason pro teams always take the ball if they win the toss is because they don't get to defer the option until the second half kickoff: the team that loses the coin flip gets to choose whether to receive or kick in the second half. Almost every team would prefer to have the potential for more possessions than the other team as well as an extra chance for their special teams to get a big return.

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by JAG
To answer the second part of your question, the reason pro teams always take the ball if they win the toss is because they don't get to defer the option until the second half kickoff: the team that loses the coin flip gets to choose whether to receive or kick in the second half. Almost every team would prefer to have the potential for more possessions than the other team as well as an extra chance for their special teams to get a big return.

So you're saying the team that wins the coin toss doesn't get the option to defer to the 2nd half? If that's the case, I never knew that.

[JAG]

Yep, it's true. I don't know why there wouldn't be an option to defer...I think it would add more strategy to the game.

[judicial clerk]

Another reason to defer is becasue a team has more information when they receive the ball in the second half than if they receive the ball in the first half. For example, after the half, if I know that my team is, say,down by 3scores, I need to not waste time on this drive, or, if my team is way up, i know i want to let the clock spin in my first drive. This applies to other pertinent game info. If important players become injured or otherwise ineffective, you will know at the start of the second half, but not at the start of the first half.

An argument could be made that this access to information could just as likley help your defense as your offense, so it shouldn't matter whether you kick or recieve first, but I think the extra information helps offenses more than defenses. I can imagine Jimmy Johnson telling Troy Aikman that, because the other team is losing by three scores, we are going to really try to run Emmitt down their throats to start the second half and effectively end this game. It is harder to imagine Bill Parcells telling Lawrence Taylor anything except "LT, in the second half, I think our defense should keep acting like a pack of wild dogs, killing anything that moves."

[Pacersfan46]

When playing Madden, or any football game, I always give the team the ball to start the 1st half.

I think games are won in the 2nd half. Of course there will always be instances where some games will feel like they're decided in the first half, but that's the minority, and you can't play fearing that.

That's just my view though.

[kcchief19]

In the NFL, the team winning the flip gets to choose either possession or goal to defend, but cannot defer. Once the winner makes a choice, the loser makes their choice on the other category. To start the second half, the coin clip loser goes first.

Usually once a year or so, a team will mess up and choose goal to defend on the opening kickoff, giving possession to the coin flip loser, who then gets to choose first in the second half. In that scenario, the coin flip loser gets the ball to start each half.

If Madden allows teams to defer, that is a mistake.

The logic behind deferring in college is that if you defer the choice to the second half, then you will kickoff in the first half but you will be able to choose direction, which means you will be able to kick off with the wind to begin the game, get the wind in the 2nd quarter and get the ball in the second half and therefore more possessions. As noted above, most coaches believe that second half possessions are more important than the first half.

If you win the flip and choose to receive, you will kickoff to begin the game into the wind, you will be going into the wind before halftime and you will kickoff to begin the second half. You'll get the win in the fourth quarter, but that's not enough to outweigh the benefits of deferring.

Wind is much more important in college, in part because the kickers and QBs are not as skilled as in the pros, but also because the stadiums are more open than in the NFL and wind has a much greater effect.

[akw4572]

i like it because i can control the clock at the end of the half if i have the ball, and have the oppurtunity to score twice in a row. I wish i could defer in FOF.

[Cringer]

Originally posted by Bonegavel
Ok. Suppose Ken wants to have some fun with barbie, but Ken isn't too sure about his anatomically incorrect body. He asks her out on a date and she accepts! So, they get together on Sunday and the predate activities go well enough.

After the Movie and popcorn, Ken gets barbie back to her cut-away Malibu beach-house. They both sit on the sofa and Ken wins the initiative when Barbie kicks off her plastic f-me pumps and slinks back into the faux leather.

Not very good with the intitial drive on offense, Ken nevertheless hops on barbie and makes his move. Wow. What a failure. Turns out, because he couldn't bend his legs he wound up laying on barbie and nearly crushed her larynx.

After a hasty good-bye and a door slammed in his face, Ken puts on his thinking cap and decides that next time, he will elect to have barbie make the first move.

hope this helped!

Not one comment from anyone on this? I was laughing my ass off at this as i read it, even had to stop for a second. :D

[dfisher]

I always defer. It gives me the chance to score at the end of the first half and then turn around and get the ball right back to start the 2nd half.

Dan

[korme]

Originally posted by Bonegavel
Ok. Suppose Ken wants to have some fun with barbie, but Ken isn't too sure about his anatomically incorrect body. He asks her out on a date and she accepts! So, they get together on Sunday and the predate activities go well enough.

After the Movie and popcorn, Ken gets barbie back to her cut-away Malibu beach-house. They both sit on the sofa and Ken wins the initiative when Barbie kicks off her plastic f-me pumps and slinks back into the faux leather.

Not very good with the intitial drive on offense, Ken nevertheless hops on barbie and makes his move. Wow. What a failure. Turns out, because he couldn't bend his legs he wound up laying on barbie and nearly crushed her larynx.

After a hasty good-bye and a door slammed in his face, Ken puts on his thinking cap and decides that next time, he will elect to have barbie make the first move.

hope this helped!

Classic. Or Gold.

Which FOFC term is most appropriate?

[Honolulu Blue]

Thank you for the answers. Let me see if I have this straight:

1. Pro teams do not use the defer option because there is no defer option in pro football.

2. College coaches usually defer because they prefer to have the choice in the second half.

This much is clear. What is less clear is whether coaches are doing the right thing or not. I wish I could find stats on:

a) How often teams win when they score first,
b) How often teams win when they score first IN THE SECOND HALF,
c) How often teams score on their first possession when they have the ball, as opposed to being on defense, and
d) How often teams score on their first possession OF THE SECOND HALF when they have the ball, as opposed to being on defense.

It seems that coaches are deferring a lot more than they did 20 to 30 years ago, but I can't prove it.