Articles

In the vast majority of games, the officiating crew is handed a chain crew not of their selection. In fact, at some schools no one selects the chain crew — they are whoever comes out of the stands in response to a PA announcement. Many of the issues with chain crew members are minor and […]

The desire to rubberneck, gawk, stare and gape is often an involuntary behavior. Humans are innately curious and are often attracted to the most interesting and compelling surrounding objects and events. Many of us are easily distracted and we instinctively turn and look for the source of a car horn, siren or angry voice. Football

Coaches, players and fans are allowed to panic when a play goes awry. Officials, on the other hand, must react to broken plays as if they’re routine and they saw it coming all along. However, the crew must be especially vigilant for fouls during those broken plays. Here are some examples of what to do when the play is executed in a manner

Moving energetically, sometimes referred to as hustle, not only creates a positive perception, but it can help officials get where they need to be to call the play properly. Being in the right position is perhaps the most important aspect of officiating. Movement for the sake of demonstrating movement cannot only fail to make a meaningful contribution to calling the game, it can also be a

The key word for officials is accommodation. You can’t deter a team from setting its own pace in a game. Teams have a right to the game they want to play and officials must officiate the game the teams are playing, including when they are using the no-huddle offense. Accommodation also means two requirements for

Hey everyone, As promised, wanted to provide an update as early as possible related to trainings and camps for the year. I know folks are working on plans for the summer and fall, want to give you what we have so far.  That said – THIS INFORMATION IS ALL TENTATIVE!  Once these items are finalized,

Two huge mistakes that officials can make are ball-watching and officiating air. The former means watching the runner to the exclusion of what’s happening around him. The latter means focusing on areas where nothing is going on instead of shifting our eyes to where something is happening. Both prevent us from seeing things we need to see. That problem, moreover, afflicts veterans and newer officials. At times,

By Jon Bible Iremember sitting at the breakfast table on the morning of a late-season game between two cellar-dwellers. One official, a garrulous person whose normal speaking voice could be heard in the next block, exclaimed, “How the hell did we end up with this piece of (deleted) game?” We all laughed because it pretty

Safe, fair and fun. That phrase — that triangle, if you will — contains the ingredients to the best game you’ll ever have. And there is no reason why almost all your games cannot be like that. You have complete control over the first two items. Only you can allow an unsafe or biased game

In a game that featured number one against number two — Notre Dame vs. Michigan State — college football fans were highly anticipating which team would come out on top. But there was no winner or loser at the end of the day. The 1966 match-up between football’s titans ended in a tie. With intense