The problem describes a football coach who has his players line up in 2 rows, with 9 players in each row. The variable $p$ represents the total number of players. We need to find the equation that correctly calculates $p$. The given options are $2 + 9 = p$ and $2 \times 9 = p$.

1. Problem Description

The problem describes a football coach who has his players line up in 2 rows, with 9 players in each row. The variable $p$ represents the total number of players. We need to find the equation that correctly calculates $p$. The given options are $2 + 9 = p$ and $2 \times 9 = p$.

2. Solution Steps

Since there are 2 rows and 9 players in each row, the total number of players is obtained by multiplying the number of rows by the number of players in each row.

Therefore, $p = 2 \times 9$.

The correct equation is $2 \times 9 = p$.

3. Final Answer

$2 \times 9 = p$