NFL coaches shouldn't call timeouts

In 2004, the NFL changed the rules to allow coaches, not just players, to call timeouts from the sideline. The idea was to make precision clock management easier and avoid confusion during hurry ups at the end of each half.

Unfortunately, it's given coaches an unintended power that has a deleterious effect on the game. A coach, unlike a player who has to get set and worry about minding the play, can often get the timeout in mere moments before the opposing team snaps the ball. The result is frequently that the snap goes ahead. In field goal situations, this often means a kicker will nonetheless get the now meaningless kick off, and then have to retry the attempt. Icing is one thing, but deliberately attempting to force a "non play" seems unsportsmanlike, not to mention extremely annoying for the crowd and TV audience.

Similarly, coaches have used these "just in time" timeouts to get an unfair preview of offensive plays. Once again, right before the snap, a coach calls timeout and the play goes ahead, usually for several seconds before the whistles stop it. Bill Cowher in particular seems fond of this technique.

I think the old rules should be restored, and players forced to call timeouts themselves. A compromise might be to allow only sideline timeouts by the offense.

If the NFL keeps this rule, I guarantee there will one day be controversy when a seeming game-deciding kick is called back because of a coach's timeout, followed by a re-kick miss.