Officiating Philosophy

I had an interesting experience at breakfast recently that made me think about football officiating. I normally sit in the same place at the table for meals. I don’t think about it.…

One of the most difficult parts of officiating is deciding what to do when a play is not clearly a foul. Some actions are easy. We see an obvious hold, an illegal…

Almost everyone has a story about someone who abused the authority that came with a position. Perhaps it was a security guard on a power trip, a government employee determined to make…

Many years ago, a friend introduced me to a concept I’ve never forgotten. He called it The Brown Stamp Book, and the more I’ve thought about it over the years, the more…

When I attended Initial Qualification Training to become a Missile Launch Officer, I spent countless hours in the Missile Procedures Trainer. We called them “rides.” Those simulators allowed us to practice weapons…

Every football official owns a Rules Book. Every football official has access to a Case Book. Every football official can study mechanics. Those resources tell us what the rules are and how…

One of the constant challenges in officiating—at every level—is managing doubt. Not rules knowledge. Not mechanics. Doubt. And very often, that doubt doesn’t originate inside us. It creeps in from the sidelines.…

I recently heard a quote from Laurent Mekies, the Team Principal for Red Bull’s Formula One team: “We want to be performance-obsessed.” That phrase stuck with me, not because it sounded extreme,…