The Achilles heel of five-man officiating mechanics is simply stated: There's a lack of coverage because of a lack of manpower. Five-man mechanics had their day on the high school varsity gridiron, but in today's faster paced, wide-open game, the flaws of the five-man system are often exposed.

What is the remedy?

Adding another official on the field seems to be the most logical answer. "More officials" means more eyes and ears to cover the game more efficiently. The ratios of officials to players are greatly improved with the addition of this one official. A five-man game means that each official is responsible for about 4.4 players on each play, whereas this number drops almost a full player, to 3.6 participants, when a Side Judge is added.

The downside of six

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