Hog Fan
Take it from a coach who does not ref if you do not believe these guys. I can tell you that if you come to this board with an open mind and read what these officials have to say on all topics, you will see the kind of detail that goes into the reffing of a mere HS JV game - and that refs work to get just to that level. Step up to varsity, you need to be a whole lot better. Do any college, it's going to be easier to get D3 or D2 than D1 (on which you comment). And if you do D1, they are looking at every game, and especially in the major conferences. I know a couple of D1 officials personally and they go through a lot to get there alone, and to get the good games requires that they really have a good game themselves.
I can also say that my rules knowledge is better by far since joining this forum. Trying to argue with these refs
has forced me into my rule book on more occasions than I can possibly remember. Before I got in there, I don't think i won too many because I sorta knew it, but didn't have the true facts. And I can say that what I have learned here (backed by rule and case) has shown me how little most announcers, fans, coaches and players know about the rules. I hear former coaches and players that now announce give some explanations that just make me cringe. And if these announcers are on 3-5 nights a week, we get that explanation 3-5 nights a week. Repeat a falsehood enough times with confidence and it becomes true. And the officials just get worse and worse the more we hear.
I still notice a few "botched" calls, but much fewer in the ACC/SEC/Big 10 games than in the lesser conferences. Not necessarily in every game though, and no pattern of botches (like your comment that they don't know how to call block/charge - never seen that to be true). And far more botched plays than botched calls! Far fewer botched calls since I learned the rules and official interpretations. And overall, I see a very high quality of officiating in the college ranks, and a poor quality of rules knowledge among those that comment on the game.