Less good officials over years? (not a tirade)

Yeah. It's been getting worse and worse over the years. Our local association is pretty solid. But traveling out of town and seeing some of the stuff going on when we scout games is ridiculous. Like a ref asking a coach to borrow a coin for the flip ... not kidding.

Even if you know the game, it takes years and a ton of effort (not to mention lots of bumps and bruises) to become a good official. Retention of new and/or young officials is abysmal right now, so I'm not surprised quality may be suffering AND there is a storm coming...

My biggest issues is excusing the refs for being {censored}.

They signed up for the job. Get good at it. In my opinion I can tell the guys who are trying to get good at the job and still make mistakes. Coaches, for the most part, would forgive those kinda guys.

Here are a couple moments from our game last Friday. We played 3 hours away...with a crew from...probably the town we played in.

1. 4th play of the game. Our LB goes off tackle. Chops the RB down with a shoulder tackle just below the knee. 15 yard "targeting". I'm not kidding. Hit him below the knees.

2. A couple plays later. Same middle backer...reads dive to QB on option. Chases down QB...right before LB hits QB...QB pitches. LB still tackles QB as he was already about to the tackle the runner...QB just pitches. 15 yards..."late hit"on QB. Why? I hear the ref say something to our HC (I'm in the booth on the headset). Refs exact words..."I told him 'ball is away'. When I say that he can't touch the QB". I lost my {censored} on top of the press box.

3. Side judge. Just younger than dirt. 3rd and long....other team has ball. QB scrambles...throws ball late...doesn't have enough arm. It's like 3 flies up out there. WR pushes our kid to the ground. Catches ball. No flag. Side judge heard on headset apologizing for not getting into position becauses he's so old. What...in the...{censored}?

Lastly...our NG is like Mighty Mouse. Small...and extremely powerful. Wrestler, cross fit dude. Power cleans twice his weight, etc. Anyway...he lays one of the biggest hits I've seen on the other team's QB. I mean waylays the kid. Problem is...he led with the crown of his helmet...AND NOTHING ELSE. If you saw it...you'd think it was the dirtiest play you've seen in football. Why do I bring this up? There was NO CALL ON THE PLAY. Same ref who is "protecting" the same QB on option misses the call that decapitates and sends the QB to the hospital. Seriously...sent him to hospital.

Their association sends a request for our game film via Hudl. I am hoping they use it to see the atrocities that happened to both teams last Friday. On the other teams last drive we had 7 penalties called on us. We were up by 7 with 5 minutes to play. We had 3 4th down plays penalized...ON OUR DEFENSE. They scored a TD...decide to go for 2 and the win. Throw the fade...great play by our corner. Too great. PI!!! Moves ball the 1 1/2. Thank our stars we stuff their run play to win the game. I'd still be drinking if we lost.

Point of this post. If you take on a job...that pays you...be good at it. Refereeing shouldn't be a "hobby". I totally get its difficulties. I hear the "why don't you try it and see how it goes?" No...I'm busy coaching and teaching and getting good at doing those. I've coached 25 years and don't know anything. If some of the refs dropped their "I'm really good at the job...look at how awesome I am" attitude and talked to coaches...and try to get things right...I'd change my attitude.

I understand why there is a ref shortage. It's like becoming an Admin. Sounds pretty good...but HELL NO.

Sounds like being a teacher stripes. LOL.

Look...I get it. Guys who take that on...are crazy imo. You have to know you're going to get some kind of abuse during games.

The guy who immediately yells out to your sideline before the game how he's going to be watching the sideline and going to call the sideling warning any chance he gets...just needs to not do it.

I don't mind being talked to about this. But...I'd rather not hear your intentions. Your intentions...on our sideline...should be calling the edge holding, false starts, etc. etc. Whatever is in your zone. If you don't like the sideline...let us know in a firm way. Let the HC know..."Coach...gotta get guys back...I'm getting crowded". Maybe throw a flag after you tell the HC. I don't know the protocol, but if you're looking out for the sideline warning...then you better damn well not miss the WR moving when there is backfield motion and the ball is snapped.

Trying not to rant, but I am. We're out there together. Sometimes I feel like some guys are out there for them.

A few years ago, we played a team who had sort of a reputation for trying to see what they could get away with.

Their first offensive series, they have 3 OL and 8 skill players. Skill guys are shoulder to shoulder on the numbers on both sides. We quickly figure out who is and isn't eligible and let our players know. Their first snap, quick slant to what ultimately would have been their RT. Our HC says something to official, he says he will keep an eye on it. Next play, same thing, different side. We keep adjusting better and stopping their stuff. They turn it over, try the same thing their next series. A few series later, they threw a screen to the skinny RT/WR. Follow that up with a forward pass screen to double pass for a TD. Our HC loses every bit of s--t he has ever had.

At the end of the quarter, he walks out to talk to them and figure stuff out. The explanations he was given were: You can throw to an ineligible man if he's wearing a skill number. You can throw to an ineligible man as long as it doesn't go beyond LOS. It can be a double pass as long as it doesn't cross LOS.

HC attempts to prove them wrong by pointing out it was effectively pass plays to the left and right tackle. Response: Coach, tackle isn't that wide.

The only time our HC has ever gotten a flag, we looks at them and says "You all better pray our camera stopped working, or else the regional head is getting this, and you morons will never ref again." 15 yards, justified.

The only reason it stopped, was I was frantically searching the rule book for something to show them and came across the numbering rules. 5 guys have to be in 50-79. They had 3.

Got em.




Any time people talk about officials having a hard way, I bring that up. We do get great officials, but the bad ones feel to be almost comically bad. And the good ones never get any or enough credit, because someone will always be upset that they lost.

I think the simple solutions would be to pay them more and for coaches to have more input into bad officials after the fact. Because those guys we had were at a game the next week. Their boss simply said he would "look into it." They're still together, same crew, 3 years later.

Too many coaches cussing out refs when they make a call the coach doesn't agree with.

I think it would be the same for us coaches if the fans didn't have to sit in the stands. If they were there a few feet from us and telling us exactly what they think all of the time we would get sick of it as well.

I think our crews have been pretty good this year. Not perfect, had one admit a mistake, but at least for the most part they are explaining their reason if we ask nicely. I can't stand the guy with a hard on to yell at you for asking, "can I ask the reason for x?". I understand the sideline warning rules, but some guys I think are pretty much looking to get a quota of giving it out once a game.

This year though I feel like we have had at least guys we can talk to. Yeah we get fired up if something doesn't go our way, but we've been good at reacting on the sideline and then asking politely for an answer. We've been getting the answers and just taking them even if we don't fully agree. I probably just jinxed it and it will be terrible this week.

I'm an AD and football coach and we're finding fewer and fewer quality officials now.. And, it's not the coaches; it's the parents and the community. Honestly, why would anyone want to devote want to devote the time and energy it takes to be an official just to spend your Friday or Saturday night getting screamed at by folks in the stands?

Go watch a high school basketball game if you think football is poorly officiated..

What a well-written news article.  

The officiating may have been horrible in the game. Guessing that most of us don't know....

I had an experience last week and I've debated getting on here and asking for thoughts but I didn't. Reading this thread has me wanting to share.

First let me say, I really sympathize with referees. I honestly don't know how they do it. It doesn't pay well at all. I know because when I resigned from my head coaching job I bounced around going into officiating and taking some time away from coaching. Yeah, nope. I know they can't see everything and I know they will make mistakes as do we as coaches. I have never berated a referee and I never will. I think it sets a really poor example for your team and it often turns into blaming our failures on the refs and playing the victim. But.... the refs I do have a problem with is the ones that they themselves do not realize that they will make mistakes. Or the ones that just simply won't talk to coaches. So here is my story from last week...

We are at our JV game. Our varsity staff coaches our JV although we do have a head administrative JV coach that only coaches JV, our varsity position coaches are the JV position coaches and call the plays on Thursday. So we are all always at every JV game. Early in the game there is a flagrant holding on the edge and I think half the stadium and 4 or so of our coaches scream the usual, "HOLDING!" That's it. Not "holding d&*% it, you f&$%#ing idiot, where are your glasses." Not even a "are you blind." Nothing disrespectful at all. Just "HOLDING!" The white hat looks over at our HC and says "I'm not going to listen to any of that tonight! If you want to do my job then you can go to school!" Just to be clear we do not as a staff have a reputation for being difficult. He is not going to listen and we can take our tails to referee school if we want to call the game. I was floored. But it gets much better, or worse, depending on how you want to look at it. Let me take a moment here to point out that parents yell things like "run the ball" and "throw the ball," often the same parent in the same series, and we just ignore it because it is part of the game. We don't turn around and confront them and tell them if they want to do our job ...... Now if a coach is out of line being a jerk, no problem with him being put in his place. 

So the game continues and this ref is looking over at our sideline constantly. So much so that I don't see how he can possibly be watching the game. I mean he is staring coach down. Now we don't continue to complain or anything. As a matter of fact, the HC told everyone to shut up and drop it because he wasn't paying a fine or getting ejected over a JV game. Later in the game, there is a scramble and the Qb fumbles and we recover. Our head coach in exuberance says, "THAT'S A FUMBLE! IT CAME OUT EARLY!" This was right as the play is ending and even before they have made a call. When they signal he was down our HC simply said again, "that was a fumble." Again, nothing over the top or disrespectful. The ref turns to him and says, "you want to mess with me, you can see me on a Friday night at your varsity game and see what you get." He flat out threatened to use his position and what power he may have in the game to punish our team at a varsity game. 22 years of coaching and I have never seen anything like it. He then stared our coach down like he was trying to provoke him. Unbelievable! 

Like I said in the beginning, I despise the sour coach whining and moaning to the refs and showing his tail. Hate it! Never done it, never will. I think it diminishes our profession. But when did we reach a point where we aren't' allowed to talk at all to the refs? Or about them? This incident reminded me of a few years ago at a different coaching stop where I was helping at a JV game and had a timeout and had the offense huddled trying to get an offensive play in. There had been a questionable call right before and a kid said something about it in the huddle. I responded with "it was a horrible call but we can't worry about that now we have to move on and play the next play." By the time I was finishing my sentence the ref had entered the huddle and was dressing me down like a dog in my own huddle saying that I would not be allowed to talk about him nor to him the rest of the night. I had totally forgotten about that until last week. 

Over the years most refs would talk to you, take a little bit of a hard time if it was respectful, even admit they screwed up and apologize. The overwhelming majority have been great to work with, even when we got the short end of it. When did we get these guys that can't be talked to? Kind of reminds me of some of the kids that can't be talked to now without getting their feelings hurt. 

To the point of the original post, I have seen the age and health of our local refs really get bad. As others have mentioned, it is getting harder to get new people and the pay is a problem and the unreasonable abuse they sometimes receive from fans and coaches is a problem. We often have a crew where half of them can't run at all. There are two we get that can't even stand up straight, and I don't mean they bend a little at the waist, they are bent over 45 degrees and can barely walk. I'm not sure what the solution is to get more into the profession. I don't know that I could talk anyone into doing it. I'm having a harder and harder time recommending coaching much less officiating. 

Perhaps you can solve this problem by standing where the rules mandate you stand?1

I also think a part of it is that as I get older and have been around hundreds of football games, I just see the field better than I used to, so now I see missed calls everywhere. The guys now probably aren't any worse than the ones we had when I was younger.
My two biggest pet peeves with officials:
1) any new penalty will always get called a ton, after the horse collar rule went into affect, I swear it was getting called twice a game for pretty much any tackle that happened from behind, it's almost like the guys get pumped to call something that's new, or more likely because it's new they are looking hard for it and tend to see it when it's not there, hence the issue we have now with targeting

2) any play that is near the goal line and it's a little ambiguous whether or not you got in...you didn't get in. Old eagle eye just loves to call it down at the 3 inch line

Holy Cow, I was breaking down our opponent for this upcoming week last weekend, and they opened up the second half with 2 extra players on defense for the first 3 snaps of the second half. It blew my mind