NFL'S PLAY-CALLERS NFL'S PLAY-CALLERS NFL's best play-caller: USA TODAY ranks the best offensive gurus in the league Inside the helmet: What play-callers say to QBs Sideline or booth?: Where the play-caller stands makes a difference Pressure: Does the play-caller have the NFL's most scrutinized job? Hot commodity: : Cowboys offensive coordinator Garrett making a name for himself In the NFL, 22 play-callers work from field level and 10 operate in boxes overlooking the field. Coaches have had success calling plays from both vantage points. While head coaches have no choice — they're on the sideline — other play-callers must weigh the merits of each perspective. Working from a booth lets them see the entire field and block out distractions. "It's like watching film," Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians says. But being on the sideline gives them a better feel for the game and allows direct communication with the quarterback. It might be too simplistic to divide play-callers into two categories, but at the core of the issue, it might come down to this: Is a coach the emotional type, or is he cold, hard and analytical? "If you could talk to the quarterback from the booth, I might do it," Arians says. "But the way it is now, you lose valuable seconds relaying the call down. Sometimes you want to tell the quarterback what you're thinking: 'Hey, get it out of your hands quick and let's get 5 yards.' Or, 'Let's take a shot downfield. If it's not there, check it down.' But if you relay that down from the booth to the sideline, it never gets said right. You're like, 'No, that's not what I meant!' "Plus, being on the sideline, I can yell and scream." In his last six years as the Denver Broncos coordinator, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak worked from the booth. "I'd rather be up there calling plays," he says. "You're just watching the chess match, totally removed from the emotions of the game. Now, that can hurt you sometimes. You might not make that call if you heard the crowd or saw what was going on emotionally with your team at that point." Dallas Cowboys coordinator Jason Garrett has tried both locations. "At the end of the day, you probably see the game better upstairs," he says. "But you probably feel the game better from the field. As long as you have people you trust upstairs to help you see what the defense is doing, you're OK." Bobby Petrino, who coached the Atlanta Falcons this season before resigning Dec. 11, says the men upstairs are crucial to a sideline play-caller. "They tell you what defenders are in the box, that kind of thing," he says. "They have it tough, because they have to watch the game like this" — Petrino holds a piece of paper up against the side of his face as if cutting the view of the field in half — "so they don't look at the quarterback and what's going on. They're just watching the defense." Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden worked from the booth when he was the coordinator in Philadelphia but has been on the field since 1998 when he became head coach in Oakland. Being on the sideline, he says, "is a little bit maddening, because you don't get the privacy. You can't spread your sheets out; you can't really see the pre-snap looks; you can't see the substitutions. And there are a lot less distractions up in the box. The trainer doesn't talk to you. The player who was wide open doesn't talk to you. The guy who wants the ball doesn't come to talk to you. And you don't have to be in charge of the defense, with respect to the decisions and penalties and whole makeup of the game. "But when you're up in the box, you can't yell at the official; you can't work them to get a call on the next series." Gruden also likes the feel of the game on the sideline. He says he'll let players talk him into plays because he doesn't want to call an unpopular play. But most important, he treasures the direct line of communication with his quarterback. He wants to be able to read his emotions and his body language. "If I send a play in and I can see in the quarterback's eyes he doesn't like it," Gruden says, "I ain't calling it." Detroit Lions coordinator Mike Martz is also a sideline guy. "I was up in the booth for the preseason last year and, at first, I was excited about it," he says. "But then I hated it. I couldn't talk to the quarterbacks the way I wanted. 'Tell Jon (Kitna) to …' I said, 'Aw, to heck with it.' "On the sideline, you get into the feel and emotion of the game. I like being on the field more than I thought I would." Steelers rookie head coach Mike Tomlin has always coached from the sideline, from his days directing Tampa Bay's secondary to last year as the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator. "You can't cook from the living room," he says. "I think there is value in being able to look a man in the face and see what is going on with him." Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.