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Ichi...
First, let me say that I agree with everything other posters have said before me on this thread. There's no excuse for the coach confronting you after the game...he lost face and sounds like he couldn't deal with it and that now must be addressed with your association, state, etc. However......
Go back to the start of the confrontation...you started it when you dorked up with the IW. Not a major mistake and one easily corrected, but it was your mistake to start with (and we've all done similar "DOH's"). When the V coach started yelling that you had proceeded incorrectly (incorrectly, BTW) you had a choice to make and it sounds like you reacted defensively. Technically you were correct, but, IMO, you escalated the situation by immediately telling the V coach "You're wrong" and then directing the frosh coach to shut up his "assistant" and keep him in line. Again IMO, you put the frosh coach on a huge spot because it's rare the HS frosh coach who is an "equal" to the V head coach...the frosh coach invariably works for the V coach in some capacity and is unlikely to direct or stand up to the V coach. Now the V coach has been publically humiliated over a minor mistake in a freshman game and the proverbial molehill has grown into a mountain.
What would I have done? Being a freshman game, and even though the V coach was technically an assistant, I would have brought him and the frosh coach together and explained my mistake and that we're going POI per the rules (I don't have my rules book with me so I can't cite the exact rule). By treating the V coach (who, face it, would be my real target for pacification in light of my error) as the de facto guy-in-charge, it would probably prevent any further blow-ups. Call it game management, call it humility, call it real-politick, but I want the game to continue without unecessarily bringing on more and bigger problems. This should never have escalated into a pi$$ing contest between me and the V coach.
For me the toughest part of officiating is dealing with coaches, and when I let my emotions overcome detached calm and logic, that's when I start to have real problems. Just one guy's 2 cents worth.
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