TIME OUT: Holding Officials Accountable

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.

Football officials are called upon to make quick decisions in a fast-moving and intense environment. Because they are the arbiters in a highly competitive sport, their skill and judgment are routinely called into question. Fans and coaches often ask, are officials held accountable for their work and, if so, how? The short answer to the first is "Yes"; in this article we will look at the evaluation of officials and its role in their careers.

Evaluation of officials is done principally through live observation at games and graded review of game video. Each conference organizes this assessment somewhat differently, but all typically have at least this much in common: every official is evaluated in every game by an observer on the scene and by two or more video graders. The observer and the video graders are typically retired officials who the conferences hire for evaluation of the officials. They look at every official on every play, typically using the TV copy of the game as well as the institution's "coaches cuts" which have a sideline shot and end zone shot of each play. These three views allow the grader to assess the official's appearance, initial position, movement, mechanics, judgment and knowledge of the rules as indicated by when he throws the flag and whether he enforces penalties correctly.

The results are communicated to the official and the conference coordinator each week as a key part of an official's formative evaluation. This weekly grade goes into the coordinator's decision as to whether an official will be assigned a postseason game and whether he will continue on the officiating staff the following season.

Officials are also tested on their detailed knowledge of the rules. Each official takes a national rules test late in the summer. The conferences also administer tests at their annual summer clinics. Weekly tests throughout the season serve to keep the officials' skills sharp as well as providing the coordinator an on-going picture of the extent to which they are continuing to study and train.

After the season is over the conferences conduct an in-depth summative evaluation of each official to determine the final season grade and who will be invited back to continue officiating the next season.