The Crew In Striped Shirts: Breaking Down the Positions

Periodically, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, will provide insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.

Every college football game is officiated by a crew of seven officials. Although it is quite common to refer to all of them as “referees” in fact each of the seven works a position with its own name and unique set of responsibilities. Here is a brief description of the seven-man crew. The letter in quotation marks is on the back of the official’s uniform.

REFEREE “R”: The Referee is the crew chief, a “first among equals.” His white cap is unique in the crew; all the other officials wear black caps. He determines correct penalty enforcement, and his announcements communicate penalties and other elements of the game. The Referee is responsible for action in the offensive backfield, particularly involving the quarterback. He starts each play about 15 yards deep, always on the throwing-arm side of the quarterback.

UMPIRE “U”: The Umpire is in the defensive secondary, about 5-8 yards from the scrimmage line. He is responsible for observing the interior offensive linemen. The Umpire is to be alert for movement by the offense as well as holding and other personal fouls on the interior.

HEAD LINESMAN “H”: One of two officials on the line of scrimmage, the Head Linesman directs the operation of the first-down chain and down box. He is at the sideline on the side of the field opposite the press box. The Head Linesman rules on offside, formations, motion by the offense, out-of-bounds plays, short passes and forward progress.

LINE JUDGE “L”: On the press-box sideline at the line of scrimmage is the Line Judge. He mirrors the Head Linesman and has similar duties. The Line Judge also assists the Referee in ruling on whether a pass behind the scrimmage line is forward or not.

SIDE JUDGE “S” and FIELD JUDGE “F”: These two officials are on the sidelines about 20 yards deep. The Field Judge is on the press-box side and the Side Judge is directly across from him. They principally rule on pass plays and have primary responsibility for the widest receiver on their side. Pass interference is a prime focus for these two officials.

BACK JUDGE “B”: The back judge roams center field, starting at an initial position about 25 yards deep. He is responsible for ruling on deep passes as well as covering action on punts.