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Originally Posted by Forksref
I have mixed feelings on coaches' evaluations. First, most coaches don't know rules very well and mechanics even less. But, they can tell if an official can communicate and handle the game. I think we should look at the big picture in coaches' evaluations. Last year we sent out cards to coaches that they would receive on the Monday after the Friday game so that they would have a "cooling off" period. We gleaned two consistent points from the coaches that they saw as areas needing improvement: (1) communication; (2) rules knowledge. We threw out the occasional cheap shot, etc. and looked at the trend in our results. This year we made those two areas an emphasis in our association and I think we are better for it.
My advice is to look at the big picture (consensus if you will) of the evaluations that you get from coaches and act on those items. I think coaches can give us valuable feedback if we throw out the garbage and look at the big picture. In my profession and in my avocation of officiating I like to use the term "feedback" rather than evaluation if possible. Feedback gives the process a more positive look to it and we view it that way now.
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As we have stated, how can you glean rules knowledge from coaches "feedback"? As I, and many others have stated, coached do not know the rules so taking away that I need to improve my rules knowledge my a coaches feedback is not something I am willing to do. As Rich said so well, these guys know little if nothing about what we do and how we do it. They should focus on coaching the game and not worrying about what we do.