Professionalize SEC Officiating

#27
#27
Vol in Buckeye Land said:
I was as upset with our coaching staff as anyone yesterday. A second-half collapse like that can’t be blamed solely on talent, depth, or quarterback play. I was overly emotional and reactionary and simply too harsh in my criticism of Heupel and the staff. I should have saved a little of my ire for the officiating crew instead.

I did not realize just how awful and completely one-sided the officiating this game was. I saw what I thought was a hold on Baron on Bama’s first td of the second half, but seeing the now-infamous photo made it hit home, along with single, glaring statistic: one penalty, five yards. The last two games, it has seemed as though referees are constitutionally incapable of throwing a defensive pass interference flag on our opponents. It is not only hurting our chances as a team, it is damaging the game itself.

Enough is enough. Major college football, and in fact, the SEC alone, is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Yet they treat officiating like this is little league. A part time gig. Fees on a per-game basis. Little (zero?) accountability.

Officiating in the SEC should be a full-time, salaried job. NFL refs make $200k or more annually. There’s no reason, with all the money the SEC is raking in, that they can’t pay a six-figure salary as well and attract the best of the best, as well as require rigorous training, standards, and a detailed oversight and review process.

Member institutions should exercise oversight on officiating directly, and there should be a formalized complaint process in place. There is too great a risk of bias to leave all oversight in the hands of a single executive, especially someone of as dubious character as Sankey.

The game has quite literally changed. NIL deals and the transfer portal get all the coverage, but noone seems to pay much mind to another, still fairly recent, development: legalized betting on college sports. The league has done nothing, to my knowledge, to address this brave new world in terms of officiating, and as such we have 20th century systems in place to deal with 21st century problems. The potential for corruption is massive, compounded by the preexisting good ole boy networks (no one from Tuscaloosa, particularly when their personal brand is crucial to their business in that area, should EVER be officiating an Alabama football game).

I’m not sure what good ranting on a message board can do, but I do think some grassroots agitating will be necessary if this is ever going to change. We are, after all, where all those billions of dollars ultimately come from.
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I agree , it’s the same In the NFL though look at Pitt getting stuffed on 4th down against rams officials won the game for them, look at the Indy Baltimore game look at Sf and Cleveland last week , officials face no consequences
 
#28
#28
DiderotsGhost said:
It's awful. I don't understand why the conferences have their own referees to begin with and why it's not handled by the NCAA.

That said, if it's going to be handled by the conference, they should do something like they for pre-trial jury selection, where each side's lawyers are allowed to weed out potentially biased jurors. Too many cases of SEC officials who have had indirect ties to a university (e.g. sibling / parent went to SEC school) or a likely source of bias (an official who is a realtor in Tuscaloosa). Let each team veto officials who they suspect of bias.
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Someone said on here yesterday the Tuscaloosa Realtor angle was debunked by Hyams and Pennington yesterday. And a thread I was ranting in got nuked yesterday on here as well.

Did some digging and that has been brought up by Ohio St fans during the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago too.

The guy is a doppelganger for the ReMax agent apparently.

None of this excuses the pathetic display on the field Saturday though.

And I agree 1000 percent on your points about the NCAA allowing the conferences to handle their own refs. NCAA is a joke and these sorry refs inviting corruption accusations are happening in virtually every big game in every conference at this point.

Something needs to be done ensure a level playing field.
 
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#29
#29
When Milton got the 1st down at the fifty, and watching the replay several times, then the head official watches it on review and they overturn the first down, I knew the fix was in. I was just discussing with my wife what I thought might make a difference; have an informal gathering of all the conference coaches during the off season an come to a decision to call out bad officiating and pay the fine. And then I realized, Saban and Smart would not agree to it, and probably rat them out. I mean, the calls are made in their favor.
 
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#30
#30
VolFreakJosh said:
Sports betting will eventually end professional and college sports.

Just like our government, it’s all corrupt.

It’s not worth investing our time watching this crap anymore.
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Sadly this is where I am as well. I'll probably tune in this coming Saturday just because it's such a habit (decades of doing this) but this past Saturday really revealed just how one-sided it is. And frankly even when we do manage to win despite the officials, it's definitely not easy and it's tough to watch at times.
 
#31
#31
Rockytoprowdy said:
The lone Bama penalty was a “snap infraction” on an inadvertent snap that should have been a live ball…
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You are absolutely spot on. The center didn’t just “move the ball or simulate a snap” he snapped the damn ball and Tennessee recovered !!! Just another example of the dishonest officiating we witnessed during the game. Sadly, greed and dishonesty have become all too commonplace today and touches virtually everything in our lives.
 
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#32
#32
Where do you fill out an application to become a referee? I would gladly GLADLY take the spot of one of these buffoons.
 
#33
#33
I find it funny that people want to turn officiating over to the NCAA, probably the same people that scream about how corrupt the NCAA is.

The simple fix for officiating is not to make it a full time job or to get the NCAA involved. The answer is to pay them well, I saw somewhere that the average SEC football official makes about $1900 per game and does between 8-10 games per season. That's peanuts for a part-time job that requires you to be gone 8-10 weekends every fall. So up the pay 4-5K per game with paid travel expenses, make their grades public and issue explanations for questionable/controversial calls. When an individual crew member or entire crew makes an egregious error fire them publicly and loudly. Let it be known that incompetence will not be tolerated.
 
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#34
#34
OP

I was watching the Dolphins @ Eagles game last night and watched the calls/missed calls closely.

I'm not a fan of either team, btw.

However, the Eagles definitely seemed to get the more favorable call or no calls throughout the game.

When the refs are seemingly already against you the only thing to do is perform better where calls can't determine your fate.

That is difficult but if anyone watched this game last night please share your thoughts on how it was called by refs.
 
#35
#35
The same refs were there in the first half when we dominated Bama. Play good enough and officials don't matter.
 
#36
#36
Probably have to get the SEC headquarters to Atlanta instead of Hoover.
 
#37
#37
UTFranklinVol said:
The same refs were there in the first half when we dominated Bama. Play good enough and officials don't matter.
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The officiating in the first half was almost as atrocious as it was in the second half, the difference was they weren't calling anything in the first half on either team then came out in the second half and called everything on UT.
 
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#38
#38
Vol in Buckeye Land said:
I was as upset with our coaching staff as anyone yesterday. A second-half collapse like that can’t be blamed solely on talent, depth, or quarterback play. I was overly emotional and reactionary and simply too harsh in my criticism of Heupel and the staff. I should have saved a little of my ire for the officiating crew instead.

I did not realize just how awful and completely one-sided the officiating this game was. I saw what I thought was a hold on Baron on Bama’s first td of the second half, but seeing the now-infamous photo made it hit home, along with single, glaring statistic: one penalty, five yards. The last two games, it has seemed as though referees are constitutionally incapable of throwing a defensive pass interference flag on our opponents. It is not only hurting our chances as a team, it is damaging the game itself.

Enough is enough. Major college football, and in fact, the SEC alone, is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Yet they treat officiating like this is little league. A part time gig. Fees on a per-game basis. Little (zero?) accountability.

Officiating in the SEC should be a full-time, salaried job. NFL refs make $200k or more annually. There’s no reason, with all the money the SEC is raking in, that they can’t pay a six-figure salary as well and attract the best of the best, as well as require rigorous training, standards, and a detailed oversight and review process.

Member institutions should exercise oversight on officiating directly, and there should be a formalized complaint process in place. There is too great a risk of bias to leave all oversight in the hands of a single executive, especially someone of as dubious character as Sankey.

The game has quite literally changed. NIL deals and the transfer portal get all the coverage, but noone seems to pay much mind to another, still fairly recent, development: legalized betting on college sports. The league has done nothing, to my knowledge, to address this brave new world in terms of officiating, and as such we have 20th century systems in place to deal with 21st century problems. The potential for corruption is massive, compounded by the preexisting good ole boy networks (no one from Tuscaloosa, particularly when their personal brand is crucial to their business in that area, should EVER be officiating an Alabama football game).

I’m not sure what good ranting on a message board can do, but I do think some grassroots agitating will be necessary if this is ever going to change. We are, after all, where all those billions of dollars ultimately come from.
Click to expand...
At this point I don't think its an SEC officiating thing... we get bad calls consistently from all crews. Part of me rationalizes it as the wide splits. Does the fact we have such wide splits spread them out too much or something? Make it harder? Or do they just get pissed off by the pace and do that crap because they don't like all the nonstop running they have to do?
 
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#39
#39
HalfullVol said:
OP

I was watching the Dolphins @ Eagles game last night and watched the calls/missed calls closely.

I'm not a fan of either team, btw.

However, the Eagles definitely seemed to get the more favorable call or no calls throughout the game.

When the refs are seemingly already against you the only thing to do is perform better where calls can't determine your fate.

That is difficult but if anyone watched this game last night please share your thoughts on how it was called by refs.
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I did watch that game but not as closely just because I'm not anywhere near as passionate about the NFL as I am college. But I think it's been well-documented how one-sided their officiating has been over the years as well. The Saints, if I recall correctly, were royally screwed out of a Super Bowl appearance a few years back and the video evidence on replay was glaring. It was played over and over on ESPN and elsewhere but not much was really done about it. As long as people are into it and paying money above all else, it will stay the way it is.
 
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#40
#40
cherokeeeVOL said:
I did watch that game but not as closely just because I'm not anywhere near as passionate about the NFL as I am college. But I think it's been well-documented how one-sided their officiating has been over the years as well. The Saints, if I recall correctly, were royally screwed out of a Super Bowl appearance a few years back and the video evidence on replay was glaring. It was played over and over on ESPN and elsewhere but not much was really done about it. As long as people are into it and paying money above all else, it will stay the way it is.
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Agreed.

There is TOO MUCH $$ involved for these games to not have officiating influenced.

When replay reveals what the call should've been and there is widespread support for the correct call, yet the officials on the field somehow can't see what everyone else sees you know the fix is in.

This happens at most all of the larger stage games due to the amount of interest/$$.

Sad but telling.

The only way to beat having the officials against you is to play better than the other team and that isn't going to be easy.
 
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#41
#41
hog88 said:
I find it funny that people want to turn officiating over to the NCAA, probably the same people that scream about how corrupt the NCAA is.

The simple fix for officiating is not to make it a full time job or to get the NCAA involved. The answer is to pay them well, I saw somewhere that the average SEC football official makes about $1900 per game and does between 8-10 games per season. That's peanuts for a part-time job that requires you to be gone 8-10 weekends every fall. So up the pay 4-5K per game with paid travel expenses, make their grades public and issue explanations for questionable/controversial calls. When an individual crew member or entire crew makes an egregious error fire them publicly and loudly. Let it be known that incompetence will not be tolerated.
Click to expand...

Going with the NCAA is due to a lack of better options for a uniform policy and oversight across the sport from my viewpoint.

I think the NCAA are a joke too but it would beat the piece meal way its handled now from conference to conference and just might cut down on the inherent bias these officials develop over the years calling the same teams every year.

I really don't think any of this actually happens any time soon, just something to chat about while getting the truck serviced LOL
 
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#42
#42
HalfullVol said:
Agreed.

There is TOO MUCH $$ involved for these games to not have officiating influenced.

When replay reveals what the call should've been and there is widespread support for the correct call, yet the officials on the field somehow can't see what everyone else sees you know the fix is in.

This happens at most all of the larger stage games due to the amount of interest/$$.

Sad but telling.

The only way to beat having the officials against you is to play better than the other team and that isn't going to be easy.
Click to expand...
This is a very minor example from the other day, given what transpired in the 2nd half. When Squirrel clearly caught that touchdown in the 1st quarter, and the broadcast and officials spent the amount of time dissecting it that they did, I knew it would be a long day for the Vols.
 
#43
#43
Vol in Buckeye Land said:
I was as upset with our coaching staff as anyone yesterday. A second-half collapse like that can’t be blamed solely on talent, depth, or quarterback play. I was overly emotional and reactionary and simply too harsh in my criticism of Heupel and the staff. I should have saved a little of my ire for the officiating crew instead.

I did not realize just how awful and completely one-sided the officiating this game was. I saw what I thought was a hold on Baron on Bama’s first td of the second half, but seeing the now-infamous photo made it hit home, along with single, glaring statistic: one penalty, five yards. The last two games, it has seemed as though referees are constitutionally incapable of throwing a defensive pass interference flag on our opponents. It is not only hurting our chances as a team, it is damaging the game itself.

Enough is enough. Major college football, and in fact, the SEC alone, is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Yet they treat officiating like this is little league. A part time gig. Fees on a per-game basis. Little (zero?) accountability.

Officiating in the SEC should be a full-time, salaried job. NFL refs make $200k or more annually. There’s no reason, with all the money the SEC is raking in, that they can’t pay a six-figure salary as well and attract the best of the best, as well as require rigorous training, standards, and a detailed oversight and review process.

Member institutions should exercise oversight on officiating directly, and there should be a formalized complaint process in place. There is too great a risk of bias to leave all oversight in the hands of a single executive, especially someone of as dubious character as Sankey.

The game has quite literally changed. NIL deals and the transfer portal get all the coverage, but noone seems to pay much mind to another, still fairly recent, development: legalized betting on college sports. The league has done nothing, to my knowledge, to address this brave new world in terms of officiating, and as such we have 20th century systems in place to deal with 21st century problems. The potential for corruption is massive, compounded by the preexisting good ole boy networks (no one from Tuscaloosa, particularly when their personal brand is crucial to their business in that area, should EVER be officiating an Alabama football game).

I’m not sure what good ranting on a message board can do, but I do think some grassroots agitating will be necessary if this is ever going to change. We are, after all, where all those billions of dollars ultimately come from.
Click to expand...
You have to run this past the coach doing Aflac commercials first
 
#44
#44
Tennman said:
correct, I am a big complainer about officials, but its not just UT games, its nationwide. something needs done. I hope its not the result of gambling.
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There’s no way some of it isn’t a product of gambling. Most institutions are largely corrupt these days, why would big time college football be any different? It’s a shame, but there are refs on the take out there.
 
#46
#46
bigorangepoppa said:
When Milton got the 1st down at the fifty, and watching the replay several times, then the head official watches it on review and they overturn the first down, I knew the fix was in. I was just discussing with my wife what I thought might make a difference; have an informal gathering of all the conference coaches during the off season an come to a decision to call out bad officiating and pay the fine. And then I realized, Saban and Smart would not agree to it, and probably rat them out. I mean, the calls are made in their favor.
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Saban and Smart would funnel the money to the offending official to pay the fine. There’s always a work around.
 
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#50
#50
JoeMiltonsAgent said:
Going with the NCAA is due to a lack of better options for a uniform policy and oversight across the sport from my viewpoint.

I think the NCAA are a joke too but it would beat the piece meal way its handled now from conference to conference and just might cut down on the inherent bias these officials develop over the years calling the same teams every year.

I really don't think any of this actually happens any time soon, just something to chat about while getting the truck serviced LOL
Click to expand...
I actually wouldn't mind seeing the NCAA take it on. It'd give them something useful to exist for. My personal twist on it:

- Nationalize officiating for the P5 conferences (or whatever those teams look like after the PAC-2 finishes imploding). No more conference affiliations, for seemingly obvious reasons.
- Let the NCAA oversee officials' wages, assignments, and professional development requirements.
- Let the NCAA "make their grades public and issue explanations for questionable/controversial calls" (copied this from hog88). This. This, this, this. Also, this.
- Make postseason assignments based on regular-season performance. You don't get onto a conference championship or bowl/playoff game crew for making bad decisions. Pay crews extra for postseason assignments. Like double, maybe.
- Have every P5 team pay the NCAA annually for officials, out of their TV money. Or just let your conference handle it, prior to distributing revenue to teams. Something like $75k-$100k per game, per team. Even for a 15-game season, that's still probably like 2-3%, tops, of an SEC team's annual football TV revenue.

If the NCAA was making $150k-$200k per game, they could pay everyone on an officiating crew $5k for the game, cover travel/lodging/per diem, run a centralized video replay facility, run their front office to manage the whole thing, etc. If it's possible to approach a six-figure salary for calling games for five months, that starts being a pretty viable day job for someone.
 
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