In football, the pregame coin toss takes place prior to the game at the middle of the field and involves team captains and game officials. Winning this coin toss gives your team the option of kicking or receiving the opening kickoff. The team that loses the coin toss gets the option of choosing which end zone it wants to defend to start the game.
Pregame Coin Toss
Winning the pregame coin toss does not obligate your team to receive the opening kickoff, it only gives your team the right to do so. In fact, your team can opt to kick instead of receive the opening kickoff, which means your team will receive the kickoff that immediately follows halftime. When the team that wins the coin toss makes this choice, it is said to be “deferring” its right to receiving the opening kickoff until the start of the second half. This tactic is often used to gain a psychological advantage, expressing confidence in a defensive unit’s ability to stop the opposing team from scoring on the game’s first offensive series.
Overtime Coin Toss
In the event of a tie score at the end of regulation play, a second coin toss takes place at midfield. At the professional level, the winner of this coin toss gets to make the same decision as the winner of the pregame coin toss. The team that loses the coin toss selects which end zone it wants to defend. At the high school and college levels, which employ entirely different overtime rules than the professional level, the team that wins the coin toss is given the option of playing offense or defense first or choosing which end of the field the first overtime period will take place. The team that loses the coin toss gets the option not taken by the team that won the coin toss. The coin-toss losing team chooses between the same options first for the second overtime period, after which the teams alternate making this decision for subsequent overtime periods.
Decision-Makers
Coin toss decisions are always announced by one of the team captains in attendance at the coin toss. Depending on the level of play, the actual decision of what to do when a team wins the pregame coin toss is given to either the captain or the coach. At the high school and college levels, the head coach typically informs the team captain prior to the coin toss of what to choose should he win the toss. At the professional level, the team captain is often allowed to make the decision because of the extensive amount of experience gained from many years of playing the game in an organized setting.
Considerations
In most situations, the pregame coin toss is conducted by the lead game official, also known as the referee. In special circumstances, such as a championship game, the pregame coin toss is conducted by a special dignitary. In these instances, the team that wins the coin toss retains the right to announcing its decision. Overtime coin tosses are always conducted by the referee.
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