How much do you talk to coaches?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I only talk to them when they ask questions or when the ball is clearly dead like during or after a timeout. Otherwise I do not seek them out or try to say much to them. They have a job to do and there is not much reason to talk to them. I also do not answer statements or address them when they are yelling.

I hate that coaches can say some pretty stupid things at times, but there's wisdom in the saying that "You can't misquote silence." I've learned to ignore a lot of meaningless comments that are said during the heat of the game.

The hardest thing officials need to learn is to not care what coaches think about them during a game. Sure, an official wants to be known as professional, approachable, hard-working, etc., but the nature of the job is that there are a lot of close decisions that will annoy or anger one of the two coaches. It's part of the gig.

My biggest growth on the football field has been to let my wings (I'm a referee) handle 100% of the communication with the coaches unless someone specifically requests my presence as the crew chief). My biggest growth on the basketball court has been to learn that sometimes the best response to a comment (or even a loaded question) is to show the coach the back of my shirt.