Officiating in the SEC/CFB

[UT97Vol]

Let's discuss. What has resulted in the officiating being so bad over the last few years? I can't recall a time when there have been so many terrible decisions on non-reviewable plays. Even as many penalties as Bama had they probably should have had five or six more that were instead called on us (thinking specifically on the off sides and then the ridiculous PI). And then the cluster F during the Texas/UGA game where it seems like these types of calls are happening with more and more frequency. So, it's left me wondering...

Has replay made refs lazy?

Or has the game gotten too fast for officiating to be trained like it's always been?

Something needs to change, because this stuff just keeps getting worse. And somehow we always seems to be the ones on the wrong side of them.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

Call me a conspiracy nut all you like, but I think ref incompetence is a feature not a bug. There are certainly legitimate mistakes happening, which influence games. However, I also think the SEC and Vegas uses the refs to influence outcomes. They cannot totally fix the games, but you know how it goes: a ticky tack holding, 50/50 PI, a non-reviewable call, etc. can totally effect the outcome of a game. Plus, Vegas can and does pick up on reffing trends through the year to influence their lines. Too much room for influence.

Plus, these refs are part timers and are not paid as much as you think. They have full time jobs outside of football. Refs are the weakest link on the field for outside influence to effect outcomes.

 

[Volfan76]

Let's discuss. What has resulted in the officiating being so bad over the last few years? I can't recall a time when there have been so many terrible decisions on non-reviewable plays. Even as many penalties as Bama had they probably should have had five or six more that were instead called on us (thinking specifically on the off sides and then the ridiculous PI). And then the cluster F during the Texas/UGA game where it seems like these types of calls are happening with more and more frequency. So, it's left me wondering...

Has replay made refs lazy?

Or has the game gotten too fast for officiating to be trained like it's always been?

Something needs to change, because this stuff just keeps getting worse. And somehow we always seems to be the ones on the wrong side of them.

I agree, some of the missed calls and mistake calls have been suspiciously egregious this year. On at least 2 occasions early in the game(one on the goal line) an penalty occurred right in front of a referee and a referee further away from the incident ran in and called it. I think it's time to look into refs betting on games and possibly even payoffs. With millions of NIL dollars changing hands relatively unchecked, what would keep a booster from identifying a ref or two and throw say $30,000 a game to influence it. A few PI calls early to rattle a qb then a couple of "mistake" calls at key moments in the game?? If you are spending millions on players, why not a few thousand on refs?

 

[CincinnatiVols]

One bad example was the spot in the NIU vs ND upset that gave ND another shot at the end of the game.

One thing that I have long said should be the rule and really showed a great example why this past Saturday is if you are going to have reviews in the game, then any play or call by a ref should be challengeable/ reviewable. It makes absolutely no sense that some calls like PI or holding cannot be reviewed and changed when they are clearly wrong. We saw in the Texas Georgia game that they definitely throw them and are wrong, so why can't it be reviewed? Give each team 2/3 challenges and let them use them on whatever they want. Also reviews should not need conclusive evidence someone watching in slow motion can tell what happens much better than someone watching live at full speed.

Finally refs should be full time employees and should have to do post game press conferences and answer for the calls they made during the game with penalties for egregious misses. It isn't the hardest issue to fix the league, CFB just needs to actually care to address it.

 

[Firebirdparts]

Some of it is bias and lying and all that. The refs clearly are biased toward the big name teams all over the world at every level, and maybe it's unconscious bias. In some cases there is bound to be some corruption.

Another part of it is just general lack of clarity which has gotten worse with the permissiveness. If you legalize pass interference, which they have, then once a while you pick one to throw a flag. Same thing with holding. The first thing they do is teach you how to hold. But once in a while they'll throw a flag on somebody holding in a way other than the way we were taught. Naturally that is confusing.

Oddly enough, some difficult ones are non-reviewable.

In the TSIO we had one case of a false start on offense being called against the defense. The rules about that are laughable.

Some things have gotten better, SORT OF. Football control on a fade route is reviewable, and usually you have great camera. But the concept of control is itself unclear and nothing will change that.

 

[ButchPlz]

Call me a conspiracy nut all you like, but I think ref incompetence is a feature not a bug. There are certainly legitimate mistakes happening, which influence games. However, I also think the SEC and Vegas uses the refs to influence outcomes. They cannot totally fix the games, but you know how it goes: a ticky tack holding, 50/50 PI, a non-reviewable call, etc. can totally effect the outcome of a game. Plus, Vegas can and does pick up on reffing trends through the year to influence their lines. Too much room for influence.

Plus, these refs are part timers and are not paid as much as you think. They have full time jobs outside of football. Refs are the weakest link on the field for outside influence to effect outcomes.

I think it's simpler than that. The refs being bad helps in that they can blame rigged calls on incompetence. Keeping them bad keeps the cover intact.

 

[sjt18]

Bad officiating that doesn't favor any particular team is almost to be expected.

Bama in particular has gotten the "benefit of the doubt" more than others over the Saban era and even the other night.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Let's discuss. What has resulted in the officiating being so bad over the last few years? I can't recall a time when there have been so many terrible decisions on non-reviewable plays. Even as many penalties as Bama had they probably should have had five or six more that were instead called on us (thinking specifically on the off sides and then the ridiculous PI). And then the cluster F during the Texas/UGA game where it seems like these types of calls are happening with more and more frequency. So, it's left me wondering...

Has replay made refs lazy?

Or has the game gotten too fast for officiating to be trained like it's always been?

Something needs to change, because this stuff just keeps getting worse. And somehow we always seems to be the ones on the wrong side of them.

I believe that part of the problem is their pregame ritual. They watch film and prepare.

If Campbell was called for 3 holds last game they label him in their mind as a hold offender and watch him Extra during game. If Bama is expected to have better receivers they expect Tennessee to PI when the receiver misses the catch. If Tennessee receiver drops ball after UGA PI it was actually cause the Safety is a great player and squirrel tends to drop passes.

This is part of the problem for the bias in officiating in my opinion.

You can precondition your mind how things will go before the game..



While watching film may help us with judgement, positioning and more as officials, it also provides us with an opportunity to learn about the habits and tendencies of coaches and players we will encounter.

 

[CincinnatiVols]

I believe that part of the problem is their pregame ritual. They watch film and prepare.

If Campbell was called for 3 holds last game they label him in their mind as a hold offender and watch him Extra during game. If Bama is expected to have better receivers they expect Tennessee to PI when the receiver misses the catch. If Tennessee receiver drops ball after UGA PI it was actually cause the Safety is a great player and squirrel tends to drop passes.

This is part of the problem for the bias in officiating in my opinion.

You can precondition your mind how things will go before the game..



While watching film may help us with judgement, positioning and more as officials, it also provides us with an opportunity to learn about the habits and tendencies of coaches and players we will encounter.

I want them watching film, it shouldn't be too hard to get them a copy of the film that is in black and white or something so they are familiar with the style of play of weird formations, but are not biased from results of previous games.

 

[VolArmy74]

Every single call should be reviewable under replay rules. The non-reviewable stuff is just hogwash. The NFL now has a live replay crew in every game and they will change calls immediately without having to go to the replay booth now.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

I want them watching film, it shouldn't be too hard to get them a copy of the film that is in black and white or something so they are familiar with the style of play of weird formations, but are not biased from results of previous games.

Understand your point but the ref openly admitted they used it to study players tendencies which creates Confirmation Bias in their minds…

Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias,[a] or congeniality bias[2]) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.[3] People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.

 

[VOLfrombama]

Here's the thing. They could literally call a penalty on every play if they want to. 20% of the OL are pretty much holding on every play. WRs/CBs are hand fighting all the way down the field. Our DL is STILL lining up in the neutral zone. How many replays did they show Saturday night where our guys were holding WRs or vice versa?

It's impossible to predict when a ref is going to CHOOSE to throw a flag. The only way to stop it is to stop committing infractions. I don't see that happening either.

 

[SamuraiVol74]

I think officiating is probably a difficult job. No one can dispute that because many times, the action happens so fast that I think officials have trouble processing in real time what they are seeing. That being said, there is absolutely bias in many cases. Every team encounters this, but there is no good way to change that. We are dealing with human beings that can only process things at a certain speed and are always open to corruption.

 

[BigNasty]

The thing I find most disturbing is timing of the questionable non calls/calls. The phantom holding call on Bishop's run comes to mind. The failure to call the blatant tackle of one of our DL on Bama's second TD. That was WWE takedown. The failure to review the 4th down spot that gave Bama a first down when he was clearly short. I could go on for days.

 

[Matt2496]

I just can't believe they actually called holding on Bama. I was shocked when it happened.

 

[adam.vol]

I think officiating is probably a difficult job. No one can dispute that because many times, the action happens so fast that I think officials have trouble processing in real time what they are seeing. That being said, there is absolutely bias in many cases. Every team encounters this, but there is no good way to change that. We are dealing with human beings that can only process things at a certain speed and are always open to corruption.

The most difficult thing about being an official is going against your understanding of the rules while trying to perform the way the league wants you to call the game. The biggest concern for an official is not being invited back to call more games. It’s a part of their income and the person who assigns the games is the person who they are trying to please.

When the officials are using suspect judgement and it’s going against one team, it’s because someone within the league wants it that way. Otherwise, you would never see that ref in further conference games.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Let's discuss. What has resulted in the officiating being so bad over the last few years? I can't recall a time when there have been so many terrible decisions on non-reviewable plays. Even as many penalties as Bama had they probably should have had five or six more that were instead called on us (thinking specifically on the off sides and then the ridiculous PI). And then the cluster F during the Texas/UGA game where it seems like these types of calls are happening with more and more frequency. So, it's left me wondering...

Has replay made refs lazy?

Or has the game gotten too fast for officiating to be trained like it's always been?

Something needs to change, because this stuff just keeps getting worse. And somehow we always seems to be the ones on the wrong side of them.

Even after reviews, they seem to still miss a lot of them.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Here's the thing. They could literally call a penalty on every play if they want to. 20% of the OL are pretty much holding on every play. WRs/CBs are hand fighting all the way down the field. Our DL is STILL lining up in the neutral zone. How many replays did they show Saturday night where our guys were holding WRs or vice versa?

It's impossible to predict when a ref is going to CHOOSE to throw a flag. The only way to stop it is to stop committing infractions. I don't see that happening either.

First, holding on "the inside" between the pads is taught to linemen and not considered a penalty anymore. Holding outside the shoulder pads, over the shoulder, or simply grabbing an arm or waist is a hold. Lots of people see an O Lineman grab a guy by the numbers and want a hold called...... forgetaboutit. That's not a hold.

The difference between high school and college and pro reffing used to be fairly accepted.

High School was weak, ticky-tack, often home cooked, and everyone kind of accepted it.

Pro was lots of contact, mano-y-mano 50-50 balls or hand slapping is accepted, and the league hold refs to standards.

College was in between. Some home cooking, some contact, some blown calls, but overall pretty decent for the student-athlete era.

College is pro now and the refs haven't caught up. The SEC and B1G should lead the way and employ, train, and control professional refs. Mark it down: if they don't, Vegas WILL (if they haven't already) get their money's worth from supplementing what college refs get paid.

 

[dobre_shunka]

The Freakonomics guys discussed home field advantage in one of their books and concluded it was from the influence of the crowd on the officials. Not completely on target with the thread topic but thought I'd throw it in because it does show officials can be subconsciously influenced by outside factors.

"Football Freakonomics": How Advantageous Is Home-Field Advantage? And Why? - Freakonomics

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

Call me a conspiracy nut all you like, but I think ref incompetence is a feature not a bug. There are certainly legitimate mistakes happening, which influence games. However, I also think the SEC and Vegas uses the refs to influence outcomes. They cannot totally fix the games, but you know how it goes: a ticky tack holding, 50/50 PI, a non-reviewable call, etc. can totally effect the outcome of a game. Plus, Vegas can and does pick up on reffing trends through the year to influence their lines. Too much room for influence.

Plus, these refs are part timers and are not paid as much as you think. They have full time jobs outside of football. Refs are the weakest link on the field for outside influence to effect outcomes.

They can make a call, knowing 100% that they don’t have to be correct, but that the call will stand unless there’s clear evidence to overturn it and the most they’ll get in terms of consequences is maybe a meeting or reassignment to another game/conference.
That most certainly influences games these days.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

I think all across American football, we're seeing the results of the following:
Ongoing lack of pride among workers.
An increasing attitude that lying is no big deal.
It's a thrill to destructively prank people with impunity.
A willingness to accept bribe in jobs where honesty WAS the norm.

Now about the pranking stuff, remember the Domino foot salad, and snot pizza incidents several years back?
There's no limit to how far some folks today will go just for the self-gratisfaction of it.

 

[adam.vol]

They can make a call, knowing 100% that they don’t have to be correct, but that the call will stand unless there’s clear evidence to overturn it and the most they’ll get in terms of consequences is maybe a meeting or reassignment to another game/conference.
That most certainly influences games these days.

Weak consequences are why I see the possibility of manipulating outcomes, for any reason imaginable.

With so much money tied in with these contests, it should be illegal to intentionally manipulate a sporting event, whether financial reward can be proven or not. It should not matter whether the outcome hurts the tv ratings, sports bettors or even the players/ coaches. Someone is losing their living because the officiating does not hold consistent to the written rules of the game.

 

[superdave1984]

If the bad officiating was across the board it wouldn't bother me as much. But there just seems to be a bias. The overturned call in the ga-tx game was stupid. The call was wrong and in a perfect world should have been changed. But it is a non-reviewable call and the refs should have taken the uoroar and kept gping. They also should have penalized tx for the fans being idiots.
That being said, tx wasn't winning that game regardless.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Weak consequences are why I see the possibility of manipulating outcomes, for any reason imaginable.

With so much money tied in with these contests, it should be illegal to intentionally manipulate a sporting event, whether financial reward can be proven or not. It should not matter whether the outcome hurts the tv ratings, sports bettors or even the players/ coaches. Someone is losing their living because the officiating does not hold consistent to the written rules of the game.

Very difficult to prove legally that a bad call isn't just a bad call. Humans screw up unintentionally too.

It's seriously time, however, to rip the bandaid off this "it's amateur athletes and these guys are just out here competing for the love of sports and their school."

The money is ridiculous in all aspects of college sports. It's professional while the NCAA and SEC let the refs stay stuck in 1960s mode.

 

[VOLfrombama]

First, holding on "the inside" between the pads is taught to linemen and not considered a penalty anymore. Holding outside the shoulder pads, over the shoulder, or simply grabbing an arm or waist is a hold. Lots of people see an O Lineman grab a guy by the numbers and want a hold called...... forgetaboutit. That's not a hold.

The difference between high school and college and pro reffing used to be fairly accepted.

High School was weak, ticky-tack, often home cooked, and everyone kind of accepted it.

Pro was lots of contact, mano-y-mano 50-50 balls or hand slapping is accepted, and the league hold refs to standards.

College was in between. Some home cooking, some contact, some blown calls, but overall pretty decent for the student-athlete era.

College is pro now and the refs haven't caught up. The SEC and B1G should lead the way and employ, train, and control professional refs. Mark it down: if they don't, Vegas WILL (if they haven't already) get their money's worth from supplementing what college refs get paid.

Wrong. It may be taught, but its still holding if they grab with their hands. The rules say the palm must remain open and cannot be used to grasp an opponent.

Copied straight from the NCAA rule book

Holding and Use of Hands or Arms: Offense
ARTICLE 3. a. Use of Hands. A teammate of a ball carrier or a passer legally may block with their shoulders, their hands, the outer surface of their arms or any other part of their body under the following provisions.
1. The hand(s) shall bea) In advance of the elbow.(b) Inside the frame of the opponent’s body (Exception: When the opponent turns their back to the blocker) (A.R. 9-3-3-VI and VII).(c) At or below the shoulder(s) of the blocker and the opponent(Exception: When the opponent squats, ducks or submarines).(d) Apart and never in a locked position.
2. The hand(s) shall be open with the palm(s) facing the frame of the opponent or closed or cupped with the palms not facing the opponent(A.R. 9-3-3-I-IV and VI-VIII).b. Holding. The hand(s) and arm(s) shall not be used to grasp, pull, hook,clamp or encircle in any way that illegally impedes or illegally obstructs an opponent.
PENALTY—10 yards Penalties for Team A fouls behind the neutral zone are enforced from the previous spot. Safety if the foul occurs behind Team A’s goal line [S42].