Tommy Moore discusses why you need to bring your A game regardless of what level you officiate. As a deep wing official in the Southwest Conference to 12 years in the NFL then on to the replay booth, Tommy Moore has seen it all in football officiating.

Mentoring could be the most important element to a successful official’s career.

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about the chapter I’m currently writing on Mentoring. I went back through about 10 interviews and listened again to the NFL and NCAA guys speak about mentoring. I was blown away by what they said. I can honestly tell you that each and every person I’ve interviewed has Mentoring listed at the top of their list relative to how they achieved their current heights.
 
Here’s a few quotes I want to share with you:
 
“I think the absolute most important strategy that an official, if they want to advance or even get better at their current level, then they need to find that person who’s working at the top.  Humble yourself and go to that person and say, “Hey, I want to be where you are.  What are some things that you’ve done to make you successful to get there and, knowing my personality traits, my officiating style, what are some things that I can do to improve myself?” 
 
– Ken Rivera, Mountain West Coordinator
 
“Here were guys that would flat out look you in the eye and they’d tell you when you did something positive, and they’d flat out tell you when you needed to change something, you know?  And they did it without being judgmental.  But they could look you in the eye and they could say.”Hey, here’s what I would recommend you to do if that situation happens again.  And that’s what you need from people.  It’s great to have somebody pat you on the back but that’s not, if it needs to change somebody’s got to look you in the eye and tell you.  And then you’ve got to be able to accept that and move on.”
 
– Bill LeMonnier, Big 10 Referee and USA Football Consultant
 
Bill Lovett offered to all the officials, he said that mainly this is for the younger officials or guys that are having a little trouble or whatever and need some assistance.  But they offered their services to all the officials, and anybody who wants weekly calls or to look at film and help them out, they were offering that to anybody. The response that they got back from veterans, from guys that had just worked Super Bowls who were like, “Please take a look at me.” Guys are always trying to get better. They were wanting the training.  And just as a rookie official I looked at that like, that is unbelievable.  There are guys that you looked up to, these guys are the best in the world, and they are striving to get better. They are using tools like this to get better .
 
 – Allen Baynes, NFL Side Judge
 
I hope you see the importance of having a mentor in your officiating career. I know I have mine and they pay huge dividends.  

Please leave me a few comments on how mentoring has affected you and your officiating experience.

Have a great weekend!

Todd

I arrived at the stadium early as suggested by several, actually I was the first to hit the locker room. I had to find Coach Brohm to unlock the door and let me inside. Rumor had it that over 100 recruits and their families were on hand to watch teh scrimmage. Louisville closed the scrimmage to outsiders so the stands mostly empty.

My fellow officials began to arrive shortly after I did. It was rather chilly that day so we agreed to wear long sleeve shirts. Knickers had already been called earlier in the week. I had already shined my shoes the night before (a pregame ritual with me) so my uniform was in order. I also packed about 1000 butterflies in my stomach as well!

I hit the field with 8 other officials from the Big East (2), Sunbelt (1), Ohio Valley (2), Mid South (1) and two rookies (me included). Kavin McGrath, Big East HL and brother to John McGrath (NFL), was the organizer of the officials and had asked me where I wanted to work. My preference is the line of scrimmage but I also wanted to get a few snaps in at SJ/FJ too. Tommy Walsh made it almost to the field  before he realized he was missing a hat! Too funny.

One thing that concerned me was my lack of experience with NCAA mechanics. See that’s not something that’s easy to find, or to read up on. I did however, have a chance to review the rulebook and we covered the proposed 2009 rule changes prior to taking the field. So I followed John McGrath’s  advice: Get behind on of the veterans and ask questions. So I parked myself on the sideline behind Tommy Walsh from the Big East and did exactly that. Soaked it up.

Before I knew it, Tommy turned towards me and motioned me to the side line. Fortunately I had the Defense on my side so most of the coaching staff were located opposite of me. I still remember Tommy’s advice: “remember…they might be a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, but its still just football.” That helped calm my nerves…a little bit.

The first couple of plays were runs and relatively easy. The mechanics here are basically the same as high school. Then the Offense came out and lined up in the shotgun. Pass play. Something didn’t look  right on my side. Now Tommy had explaining how he counts players on his side of the ball. This was a little new to me so it took some time to process. I had been working on repeating my “SNAP, TACKLE, BACK” chant in my head while I counted  the players. Trying to gain some form of brain repetition with regards to football officiating. I also was learning my keys during  this time. But as I said before, something on this play didn’t look right but I must admit, the snap happened before I figured it out. Bad move.

You  see, rookie officials are not the only people on the field battling the butterflies. Seems WR’s have similar issues as well especially with regards to formations. The WR on my side was covering up the TE and upon the snap, guess what happened? You got it, they both released downfield. I missed it. No yellow flag on the ground to enunciate  the penalty. But the defensive coaching staff didn’t miss it!!! I then got my first taste of Big East ear-chewing, but you can bet I didn’t miss that again the rest of the day!

So I alternated with Tommy a few more series then Kavin McGrath came over from the LJ  side to work with me. Tommy moved back to Side Judge and I had the chance to brush up on the finer points of working the Line of Scrimmage from not one but two outstanding Big East officials. it was great just to be in an environment where I could immediately ask another official about a play, situation, possible penalty or otherwise.

So three hours later, the scrimmage came to a close. After the first few series, the butterflies subsided and I found I was really enjoying myself. It was a great experience, one filled with many learnings, some good laughs and a few mistakes from which I will not soon forget. When you are passionate about the game of football, surrounded by the comraderie of fellow officials and sharing the field with the best of the best, I couldn’t help but feel very fortunate for the chance to don the knickers in March.

August can’t come soon enough.

I am humbled by the responses to my question last week and thoroughly impressed with the feedback. Below is the list of suggestions or things to consider in advance of my first NCAA spring scrimmage. I also have to tell you that Friday I interviewed NFL Head Linesman John McGrath. John is consistently one of the top rated HL’s in the NFL and his advice was to “keep your whistle out of your mouth and the flag in your pocket.” He also gave me some very good advice about arriving with the right mindset. I’ll update everyone on his interview and my scrimmage in a few days.

Its safe to say, I was much better prepared given the suggestions below and I thank each and every one of you who took the time to send them in.

·         Identify a weakness for every game to be worked. Read the associated mechanics or rules. Write down your success criteria. Evaluate yourself against the criteria after every game.

·         Review mechanics for your position along with the mechanics of two other positions you will interface with. Be able to let them know what to expect from you and what you expect from them.

·         If you are applying to a conference, wear your cleanest knickers/socks/shirt/shoes/etc…

·         If you have never been to a school before, find out where the locker room is before your scrimmage date.  I neglected to do this my very first college scrimmage, and ended up in a personally embarrassing situation. Be prepared to ask lots of questions and receive lots of input. Relax and have fun.

·         Physical Preparation – Depending on how long of an off-season one may have had, pre-season training should be well underway and getting back in the gym and running on a track or field is a must. You want to be in mid-season game shape at the beginning of the season

·         Mental Preparation – Get back into the rule book. I’ve even started organizing local weekly meetings with officials in my area to prepare for the season and advancing through the levels of play

·         Try and review everyone’s mechanics. This will not only help you during the season, by knowing what everyone should be doing, but also it can help you work any position during the scrimmage if something happens to the guy who was supposed to work that position. Also, you look good being able to move around and hopefully do it well.

·         “Failing to prepare is Preparing to fail”!

·         -Always be early.  At least 45 min early.

·         -Work NCAA Mech. Not High school.

·         -Always listen to Supervisor or TA and be open to working different positions.

·         -Relax and always have fun

·         Personally  I would check my luggage two or three times to make sure I had all the necessary equipment and uniform.  Maybe even carry some of it as carry on just to make sure.  I worry about that more than anything.  Good luck with the games and looking forward to the book.

·         Be sure to have cell phone numbers for everyone working the scrimmage with you (or as many #’s as possible) just in case you need to contact someone en route. Make sure the others know how to contact you. Also, have the number for the person who assigned you the game if he is not part of the crew.

-                Be aware of the 2009 rule changes and be prepared to respond if a coach asks you about any of them. Anticipate their questions as much as you can prior to arriving on site. If there may be an interpretation you are unsure about, don’t fake one. The changes have just come out and it’s not inappropriate to admit you’re waiting for an official interpretation either from the NCAA or the supervisor. If the crew chief is a regular member of the league officiating staff, make sure to let him know of the question. He may want to pass it on to his ‘boss’.

-                Never forget that for that day, you ARE a part of the league officiating staff so represent them accordingly.

·         I believe the first thing supervisors see of you at a spring game is your uniform.  That being said, everything you wear, even down to your beanbag should be new or nearly new.  That way you present a clean crisp appearance.  Nothing looks better than a fresh bright uniform with shiny polished shoes.  You only get one chance to make a first impression.

·         Relax, have fun, and do what you already know how to do. Nobody on that field is better than you than you are at your position. Why? Because of your preparation, you are more prepared than anyone to deal with what may happen at your position.

·         I think you might want to venture into an area that Ken Rivera talks about.  “What Can you as an official control?” 

-                You control your rules/mechanics knowledge.

-                 You control you personal and family life.  Important because we as officials leave our families at home quite a bit during the football season and just as we make sacrifices, so to do our wives and children.

-                 Your physical appearance.

-                These are the 3 things that you as an official can control.  Outside of that everything else is beyond your control as far as advancement.

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.