SEC officiating coordinator talks 10-second proposal

[berrytgr 0]

there are entirely too many old and old/fat officials.

As a former official there is nothing wrong with some age on a official. Having some experience and wisdom goes a long way in doing that job.

experience is one thing. Having a gut that could double as the spare tire for my semi is another.

Being fat and being old are two entirely different subjects. Plenty of fat young people too. Besides working as an official is not an athletic competition. You really don't have to run that much (unless it's a high school 7v7 game holy cow).

All I know is far too often the officials are out of position and missing calls as a result. With the players being more athletic should we not ask the refs to Be in a little better shape? With the hurry up offense that puts more demand on the refs as well as players. If a man can properly do his job as an official then I don't care if he's 90. The SEC is known for bad officials anyway. They really have not done much to improve things.

Really? I am shocked to see you say that. :-\ What league is known for good officials? The typical fan likes officials about as much as the IRS man.

I'm going to shut up now. I can get pretty mad when discussing the subject of officiating and fans.

[WarTiger 3,909]

This is a completely fabricated issue. The umpire ( the ref that stands near the LBers) is the one that places the ball. He should stand over the ball until the play is ready to begin. He will stand over it if the chains are being moved, or if the officials need time, or if the offense substitutes players. The system they have now works perfectly fine. These defensive coaches are trying to play mind games with the officials to influence them slow the game down.

I do agree its a completely fabricated issue. The umpire already does stand over the ball. However, the umpire no longer always stands over the ball until the chains are completely set. They started a new officiating mechanic not long ago, where when a first down is reached, the linesman drops his bean bag at the new line of scrimmage so the down marker goes to that spot and the chains can follow behind the down marker. The only thing that matters on first down is the down marker. The chains will actually quite often get set while the first down play is being run. This is particularly true for the hurry up offenses like Auburn runs. This mechanic alone shows the officials are doing everything they can to NOT slow the tempo of the offense despite what many seem to think. I really don't think an 8th official is necessary.

This is a completely fabricated issue. The umpire ( the ref that stands near the LBers) is the one that places the ball. He should stand over the ball until the play is ready to begin. He will stand over it if the chains are being moved, or if the officials need time, or if the offense substitutes players. The system they have now works perfectly fine. These defensive coaches are trying to play mind games with the officials to influence them slow the game down.

^ The bottom line. The ball is never snapped in college football until the umpire says "All ready".

This was just the next best argument Nick could think of when his "player safety" whine bit the dust.

Actually that's not completely accurate. While it is the umpire standing over the ball until (for example) the defense completes its substitutions, he's not the authority when the ball is available to snap. He's told when to move off the ball by the white hat.

[AU-24 3,100]

This is a completely fabricated issue. The umpire ( the ref that stands near the LBers) is the one that places the ball. He should stand over the ball until the play is ready to begin. He will stand over it if the chains are being moved, or if the officials need time, or if the offense substitutes players. The system they have now works perfectly fine. These defensive coaches are trying to play mind games with the officials to influence them slow the game down.

I do agree its a completely fabricated issue. The umpire already does stand over the ball. However, the umpire no longer always stands over the ball until the chains are completely set. They started a new officiating mechanic not long ago, where when a first down is reached, the linesman drops his bean bag at the new line of scrimmage so the down marker goes to that spot and the chains can follow behind the down marker. The only thing that matters on first down is the down marker. The chains will actually quite often get set while the first down play is being run. This is particularly true for the hurry up offenses like Auburn runs. This mechanic alone shows the officials are doing everything they can to NOT slow the tempo of the offense despite what many seem to think. I really don't think an 8th official is necessary.

This is a completely fabricated issue. The umpire ( the ref that stands near the LBers) is the one that places the ball. He should stand over the ball until the play is ready to begin. He will stand over it if the chains are being moved, or if the officials need time, or if the offense substitutes players. The system they have now works perfectly fine. These defensive coaches are trying to play mind games with the officials to influence them slow the game down.

^ The bottom line. The ball is never snapped in college football until the umpire says "All ready".

This was just the next best argument Nick could think of when his "player safety" whine bit the dust.

Actually that's not completely accurate. While it is the umpire standing over the ball until (for example) the defense completes its substitutions, he's not the authority when the ball is available to snap. He's told when to move off the ball by the white hat.

Good info, thanks!

I wish the NCAA would explain information like this to the media covering the 10 second controversy, the way you just did. It just seems as big as this story has become, possibly more information and clarification would be help clear things up.

[BirdofPrey76 0]

Although I really like Steve Shaw a lot and think he is a good man, I will say that I hope that because he is a bama grad that Saban hasn't influenced what he is saying.

"Snicker"

[AUfan_UAgrad 230]

How does not being able regulating pace of play turn in to being able to substitute? If the officials are not in place, then stand over the ball for few seconds. I mean even if they did 5 seconds that is a long time but not enough time to substitute. I seem to recall Nick having 1 timeout left against us. In fact just doing some quick checking against A&M there is no record of Alabama taking a timeout, against Ole Miss they took 3 in first half 2 in the second half, against us 3 in first half and 2 in the second half. This is from rolltide.com looking at play-by-play for these games and did not even take in to account whether it was timeout for offense or defense. In fact looking at several other of the Bama games they did not take any timeouts or only 1 or 2 all game. So if it is about Player Safety then seems to me that in the games where teams run a fast pace then he would have used all his timeouts. Since he didn't does that mean that he values his timeouts more than his player safety?

[Newbomb 193]

How does not being able regulating pace of play turn in to being able to substitute? If the officials are not in place, then stand over the ball for few seconds. I mean even if they did 5 seconds that is a long time but not enough time to substitute. I seem to recall Nick having 1 timeout left against us. In fact just doing some quick checking against A&M there is no record of Alabama taking a timeout, against Ole Miss they took 3 in first half 2 in the second half, against us 3 in first half and 2 in the second half. This is from rolltide.com looking at play-by-play for these games and did not even take in to account whether it was timeout for offense or defense. In fact looking at several other of the Bama games they did not take any timeouts or only 1 or 2 all game. So if it is about Player Safety then seems to me that in the games where teams run a fast pace then he would have used all his timeouts. Since he didn't does that mean that he values his timeouts more than his player safety?

There someone goes again wasting logic on Bama...

[AU64 10,122]

I'm hoping in the end, the officials (and Shaw) accept that the game is about the GAME...and it is not the job of the refs to set the pace of play. Each team can/should set the pace of play that suits it and the system has always allowed each offense to decide when to snap the ball....within the full number of seconds allowed. It is the officials jobs, IMO, to be in position to call the game when the ball is snapped. I get it that the chains should be in place...but the chain gang, just like other officials should make it a point that they are not a factor in the game.

Schools like Oregon, Ariz and a bunch of others run more plays per game than AU and somehow, their refs are able to be in place when the ball is snapped. Any SEC ref calling an AU or Ole Miss game should know what's coming and get with the program...when the play is over, get their butts in position for the next snap.

[AU-24 3,100]

I'm hoping in the end, the officials (and Shaw) accept that the game is about the GAME...and it is not the job of the refs to set the pace of play. Each team can/should set the pace of play that suits it and the system has always allowed each offense to decide when to snap the ball....within the full number of seconds allowed. It is the officials jobs, IMO, to be in position to call the game when the ball is snapped. I get it that the chains should be in place...but the chain gang, just like other officials should make it a point that they are not a factor in the game.

Schools like Oregon, Ariz and a bunch of others run more plays per game than AU and somehow, their refs are able to be in place when the ball is snapped. Any SEC ref calling an AU or Ole Miss game should know what's coming and get with the program...when the play is over, get their butts in position for the next snap.

And if their butts are not in position, the umpire will continue to stand over the ball not allowing the snap until (he is signaled by the white hat according to WarTiger) the officials are in position. There is absolutely no rule change needed!! Lil nickie is going here because his player safety argument fell flat!!

Now can a person in a NCAA leadership position please step-up and explain this so we can all be done with the nonsense?!

[TexasTiger 12,948]

HUNH is big in high school ball-- maybe we need high school refs to trade places with slow college refs.