Coaches Corner is where you can learn from Pitt's head coaches about their sport. Today, we have some information about the game of football from Head Coach Dave Wannstedt.
Football Field Diagram
Football field measurements vary depending on the whether it is a high school, college or professional field.
Breaking down the basic elements of a football field we will attempt to outline the differences between these levels of play.
Overall Dimensions:
All football fields (except the CFL) share the same overall outside dimensions. The outside measurements below include the End Zone. High School, College, the NFL and CFL have overall outside dimensions of:
Overall Dimensions
High School/College/NFL
Canadian (CFL)
Length
120 yards or 360 feet
150 yards or 450 feet
Width
53 1/2 yards or 160 feet
65 yards or 195 feet
End Zone:
End Zone Depth
High School/College/NFL
Canadian (CFL)
Yards Deep
10 yards
20 yards
End Line (CFL-Dead Line):
A six foot end line border marks the back of the end zone.
Field Numbers:
High School, College and the NFL all use 6 foot by 4 foot field numbers designating each 10 yard line marker.
Restraining Line:
All fields have a 6' line along the side lines that designate the closest non-players can be to the field.
Team Benches:
Team benches are placed along the Restraining Line between the 30 yard markers
Hash Marks:
The measurements between the Hash Marks for High School, College, the NFL and CFL are different:.
High School: the width of the hashmarks are 53 feet, 4 inches
College: hashmarks are 40 feet wide
NFL: hash marks are 18 feet, 6 inches wide
CFL: hash marks are 17 yards (51 feet wide)
Goal Posts:
Another measurement that varies by level of play includes the goal posts. Goal post measurements for the different levels of play are:
High School: Goal posts are 10 feet high and 23 feet, 4 inches wide
College, NFL and CFL : Goal posts are 10 feet high and 18 feet, 6 inches wide.
Football Terms
Football has many different terms that can be used throughout a game; click here for a complete listing.
Official Football Signals
Along with the many terms used in football there's also a lot of signals used by the officials; click here for a diagram of the hand signals. Below are some pictures of Roc demonstrating the frequently used signals.
First Down
Touchdown or Field Goal
Incomplete Pass
Timeout
Deadball
Delay of Game
Safety
Illegal Procedure
Click the photos below to read advice from these other Pitt Coaches
