It’s interesting how we can sometimes review a play’s description on paper and quickly and confidently decide how we’d officiate the action, but when we see the same play on the football field, it takes us by surprise and we…
Aristotle’s quote, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” is fitting when describing wing “connectedness.” If wings do not communicate and connect, and worse, if wings compete with each other on the field, the two independent wings…
The general instructions for football line-to-gain crews is in the Game Resources section. This document provides good foundational information to brief the chain crews. There is also a “Chain Crew and Measurements” lesson in the “Mechanics” lesson folder. Here are…
I dislike the axiom, “What we permit, we promote.” That saying implies officiating is a binary endeavor. It suggests if we allow a player to “get away” with a word or act, we are somehow promoting it. We study the…
K12 free kicks the ball from the K-40. The HL throws a flag at the R-20 when R10 blocks K55 below the waist. R33 picks up the grounded kick at the R-5 and is downed at the R-12. The HL…
Remember, we’re interacting with teenagers on the football field. We can’t expect them to exhibit the same self-control as fully-developed adults. They may not know how to properly resolve conflict. Their coaches yell at them after they get manhandled by…
Dealing with coaches is one of the most essential officiating abilities. I had the privilege of observing one of my mentors, Mark VanGampleare, expertly communicate with coaches. I’ve also dialogued with Randy Campbell, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Football Officials…
Officials give the “wind the clock” clock signal to inform the clock operator to 1) start the clock or 2) keep the clock running. For example, the R will give a “silent wind” after a runner is downed inbounds beyond…
If you ask a veteran official to name the top three penalty enforcement principles, I’d bet a dollar one of the three would be “slow down!” Sometimes as the referee, I want to go as fast as possible to spot…
Maintaining a 3-5 yard cushion between officials and players is an important officiating precept, especially for the wings. Some circumstances require us to close down to the players (forward progress stopped and players in a big pile continue to push…
