So let’s quickly revisit Larry Synder’s list of “What It Take To Be A Great Football Official.”

Study Rules of the Game

• Rule Book
• Tests & Quizzes
• Ask Other Officials
• Quiz a Buddy
• Never Stop Learning

Study Mechanics of Game

• CCA Mechanics Manual
• Camps & Clinics
• Philosophy
• Attend area meetings/rules study groups (Do any of you do this now?)
• Surround yourself with better officials
• Its hard to soar with the eagles, when you are surrounded by turkeys.

Part Two

• Watch film – the single biggest factor to rapidly improving your learning and accelerating your advancement. Countless seasoned NCAA and NFL veterans have pointed out to me during their interviews that film review tremendously improved their abilities. In some ways you can consider watching film as a close substitute for snaps. Granted, nothing will take the place of live play, but watching film can definitely add a different perspective while adding to your experience level. Some have suggested that it can advance your learning by a factor of four! What this means is that you can shave three years off your experience level if you are trying to get promoted to a higher level. An aspiring motivated official with 4 years of experience (1 of which was heavy on film review) is similar to an official with 7 years experience (no film review). How do you think guys get into the NFL at age 34? You can bet they spent time in front of a TV reviewing film.

• Experience – How much is enough? Larry is very clear here. Get as much experience on the field as possible. This means youth league, spring and fall scrimmages, junior varsity games, varsity games at the high school level and then basically the same process at the college level. When making the transition to college, you will find conference supervisors are looking for those individuals that are willing to take the scrimmage and JV games. They want a prospect to have a few games under their belt before putting them on the field. There truly is no substitute for experience. I have personally stood on teh sidelines behind seasoned Division I officials just to ask questions, watch from that angle and get a feel for the speed and quickness of the game at the higher levels. Without a doubt, this helped me in my first scrimmage giving me a small comfort level (that is, until the whistle blew!).

• What You Have Control Over – This was the cornerstone of Larry’s list. I hear often, officials at all levels, complain that they can’t get the good games, they can’t get the supervisor’s attention, can’t get noticed and so on… You can probably name a few in your local associaiton or area too. So let’s look at that statement. What can we control? Well for one, I can control my ability to study and know the rules and mechanics of the game. I can use the rule book, study groups, practice or scrimmage activity to really and fully know the rules. I can stay in good physical conditioning. This will allow me to get into position, be quick and react in a timely manner. It will help me look athletic in my uniform. Let me be clear – The Division I conferences have a ZERO tolerance for officials out of shape or overweight. Coaches and players prepare year around for the season. The zebras are no exception. Just take a look at the NFL staff. The athleticism and physical fitness is at its highest level. Its that important.  Attend every learning opportunity you can. Clinics, camps, rules study groups, association meetings, scrimmages, film sessions. While not necessarily consistent across the board, learning opportunities still abound in various forms in every city, state or region. Whether you take advantage of them or not is another topic.

So that’s all for my comments on Larry’s philosophy. I personally know several officials that have been mentored by Larry and they are all performing at the highest levels today. They will all admit that the process wasn’t easy and often times the requirements were not what they wanted to hear. Yet the followed the path and Larry led them in the right direction.

This post is getting long so I’m going to save my next story for tomorrow. It’s about how I applied Larry’s philosophy to gain entrance into the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Be the Best on the Field!

Todd

The NFL requires it, John McGrath has it, all NCAA conference supervisors desire it.

Integrity.

Success in sports is familiar territory to John McGrath. Once the Kentucky High School Athelete of the Year, football scholarship recipient to the University of Kentucky then later the Kentuckiana Football Officials Association Rookie of the Year, John still remains humble and thankful to those that helped him obtain his current position as Tony Corriente’s Head Linesman.

So where did Integrity come into play in John’s career? Well as John was getting started officiating high school football he had a chance to work some small college games. One of John’s mentors, Paul Schmidt; asked John to join him in a Independant Officials group which would work NCAA games for those independant schools not affiliated with a major conference (pre-conference USA). The acceptance date was in January. Now John had been applying to enter the SEC for several years and this was no different. Problem was the SEC didn’t decide until mid February. John went ahead and accepted Paul’s offer in January.

Guess who called in February? You got it, the SEC. They offered John a position on an SEC crew. After a 24 hour wait, John called the SEC back and declined the job. He had already given his word to Paul. Now you might think…WHAT? Turn down the SEC? No way, man!

John officiated  in the Independant group for one year and then it folded. He was now without a major conference. So he applied and was eventually accepted to the Big East where he worked ten years (and in nine bowl games).

Later, John was called to New York City to interview for the NFL. During the NFL, several of the interview committee inquired as to why John turned down the SEC. His response, “I gave the man my word.” And  John firmly believes that was a determing factor in his being hired to the NFL.

Integrity is one of those intangible qualities you can’t teach, train or demand it be there. It shows up in the toughest decisions, the trying times, moments that define you as an official. It’s also completely under your control…And when you think no one notices, your decisions from the past are brought back up for inspection and review. Just be sure they don’t haunt you.

Picture this: you have in the room a group of veteran NFL, NCAA officials and NCAA conference supervisors. They are at your beck and call. They will share any and all information with you, all you have to do is ask.

• What information would you like to know?
• Who would you most like to talk to and why?
• What questions would you ask these guys?

Please post those comments and you can help me on this book project.

By the refs, for the refs.

I had the first (of what hopefully will be many) interview with Ken Rivera, MWC’s Coordinator of Football Officials and owner of the Reno Football Officiating Camp, LLC. For those that don’t know, I’m conducting a series of interview with NFL and NCAA officials and NCAA Conference Coordinators on the subject of “Moving Up, Getting Hired and Improving your Football Officiating Craft.” Ken is the first interview in this series. Jim Jackson, Coordinator of Football Officials with the Ohio Valley Conference, is scheduled for tonight.

Here is a link to Ken’s bio on the MWC website: http://themwc.cstv.com/staff/staff-dir-bio-rivera.html

Here is a link to Ken’s Reno Football Officials Camp website: http://www.footballofficialscamp.com/index.html

Ken provided an insightful and informative session based on his 27 years of officiating experience. Not only did I gain specific knowledge on how to prepare for a NCAA Division 1 career, Ken provided valuable information on such topics as mentoring, balancing family and officiating, video breakdown, MWC’s application process, what he looks for in prospective football officials, and choosing the right camp/clinic. After discussing the Reno camp with Ken, I’m please to say I’ve registered for this event in early June and I’m looking forward to the experience.

Thanks for everything Ken!