Still “Jack”ed Up
By Andy Lopusnak
February 29, 2008

After talking to AFL players, coaches and officials, it seems everyone has a different interpretation of the new Jack linebacker (JLB) rule that will go into effect tonight when the AFL kicks off the 2008 season and the New Orleans VooDoo and Los Angeles Avengers square off in the first contest of the year.

A few weeks ago, I wrote my first ArenaFan article where I presented my personal opinions of the AFL’s new rule change allowing the “Jack” linebacker to roam freely from sideline to sideline within five yards of the line of scrimmage instead of being restricted by the old “box” rule. Since then, I have spoken with many players, coaches and game officials about the rule change.

Everyone agreed that the new rule would change the game and until the games are actually played that no one truly knows everything about “Jack”.

With the season looming and the rule only tried out in practices and some preseason scrimmages, here’s what some of the people calling the plays, executing the plays and officiating the game are saying about “Jack”.

“We are going to have our game plan ready for a couple of things people might try to do,” said San Jose head coach and general manager Darren Arbet, “but we won’t know for sure until we play.”

“It’s a radical change, said Kansas City Brigade head coach Kevin Porter, whose team had the league’s best defense last year in terms of total yards and passing yards. “When you look at the changes over the past few years with free substitution and lines not being out of bounds – those are significant changes; they’re not radical changes like this one.”

“I think it will definitely slow down scoring in the league,” said San Jose SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb, who also thinks that interceptions will increase. “It will be interesting how it all plays out.”

“There are a lot of things that (the Jack) can do to take things away,” said San Jose defensive coordinator Jeff Jarnigan “but also I think there’s some things that the offenses are going to do to because you’re taking another person outside the box. You still have to honor the tight end and the fullback. I think that when offenses see you run (the Jack) out (of the old box) - they will have a counter for it. You got to have a plan for that.”

“With all that freedom, you got to be careful what you wish for,” said Chicago Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “Sometimes you are getting so much freedom that you’re running yourself out of position at times. That’s been one of the biggest adjustments in working that jack box.”

San Jose receiver James Roe told me that he thought that Chicago’s DeJuan Alfonzo would “best benefit from the rule change” because he was the best in the league at the spot already. Alfonzo’s head coach (Hohensee) agreed with Roe that he “was the best in the league in the old rules” but that the All-Arena jack linebacker (JLB) was extremely upset with the change because “he had mastered that spot in the box” and wasn’t thrilled about “re-learning the position.”

“It’s a big adjustment to see how you are going to fit it in with the line schemes and secondary coverages,” added Hohensee. “On offense, you can attack it with more running, screens, flips and short passes to work around the Jack. There are a lot of different things you got to think about.”

Jim Lapetina was an AFL official from 1988-2001 and has been a one of the league’s supervisor of officials for the past seven years. He said from the officials’ standpoint, the rule change is just as dramatic for the men in stripes. In the past, the umpire’s primary responsibility with the JLB was to ensure he stayed in the box until the ball was thrown. The umpire will now do this only until the ball is snapped with the head linesman and line judge taking over from this point to ensure the JLB doesn’t go beyond the five-yard cushion.

Lapetina, who will see the new rule change in person for the first time this Monday when the SaberCats and Rush play in Chicago, shared the thoughts of some officials who reported back to him on what happened in some of the preseason scrimmages. One umpire said he noticed that there were four different tactics the JLB used once the ball was snapped: “(1) he would immediately hover in the side zones; (2) delay, then go; (3) go only a few yards outside the box; and (4) stay normal like previous years.”

Additionally, this season the umpire will wear protective headgear due largely to the additional commotion that will occur in the “box” this season. The AFL has bounced the idea around for a couple of years since Ed Manning suffered a head injury during a game in 1999. “They look kind of like baseball batting helmets,” said Lapetina. “It will start out with the umpires and might go to other officials in the future.”

When asked if the rule change was an advantage to the defense, as many suspect, Porter said “I don’t know about that, you can be creative, but there’s a fine line between being creative and over thinking it.”

“I think that anyone that doesn’t think that that’s going to change the game hasn’t really studied it,” added Jarnigan. “It’s going to be a really big difference.”

“We are like everyone else,” added Porter, “it’s trial by error situation right now.”

No question this new rule will have an affect on the game of Arena Football, but until the games are played, no one knows for sure to what extent. One thing is certain though; the teams that find out how to utilize “Jack” the best will be playing more than 16 regular season game this year.

*** ArenaFan.com ***