Article about what NCAA referees make

[HokiePaul]

Most interesting statement from article for me was:

"Every year, there's always a question of whether these guys are working too hard. Back in 2010, John Clougherty, the supervisor of officials for the ACC, told the New York Times that the workload issue "has been an ongoing problem for 20 years," but coaches want those seasoned vets over and over."

I didn't know that coaches picked (or had significant input) in selecting the officials at the college level. Is this common in all conferences?

Seems like it would result in a conflict if officials have an incentive to please the coaches in order to continue to get top games.

[Andy]

I seriously doubt that the D1 coaches have any significant say in who works their games.

However, I'm also sure that they certainly make their preferences known to their ADs and perhaps the officials supervisors in the respective conferences.

I was once told by a D1 official that all of these coaches have control of those big, beautiful facilities, the lives of 12 or so kids, the careers of their assistants, etc....About the only thing they don't have control of is those three guys out there in the striped shirts...and that drives them crazy....so they would prefer to have a known entity (veteran official) vs an unknown (new guy in the conference).

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Andy

I seriously doubt that the D1 coaches have any significant say in who works their games.

AAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAHAHAAAAAA

Oh, you're serious?

Coaches have influence. Big influence. Look at the rules committee — all coaches, no officials ... not even a coordinator of officials.

It's not like coaches are assigning officials to games, but they certainly have big input — even at the D1 level (and especially at the lower college levels). Put it this way — if you are working a conference with 12 teams and 6 of the coaches don't like you, you're not going to last long.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

I didn't know that coaches picked (or had significant input) in selecting the officials at the college level. Is this common in all conferences?

Originally Posted by Andy

I was once told by a D1 official that all of these coaches have control of those big, beautiful facilities, the lives of 12 or so kids, the careers of their assistants, etc....About the only thing they don't have control of is those three guys out there in the striped shirts...and that drives them crazy....so they would prefer to have a known entity (veteran official) vs an unknown (new guy in the conference).

It happens at the H.S. level, too. Another back story from my MSG experience last weekend: One of the coaches was upset because the crew's names weren't posted on the league's website until less than 18 hours before game time (during most of the playoffs it's 3-4 days in advance, if possible). One of the assignors told us it was all because of...control.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

One of the assignors told us it was all because of...control.

Translation: I don't want coaches calling me up trying to get me to remove / change some of the officials.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

"Every year, there's always a question of whether these guys are working too hard. Back in 2010, John Clougherty, the supervisor of officials for the ACC, told the New York Times that the workload issue "has been an ongoing problem for 20 years," but coaches want those seasoned vets over and over."

It's also a legal issue. Officials are contractors — the conferences cannot dictate to them where and how much they can work. I don't think that any of the conferences are interested in fighting that battle.

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

I didn't know that coaches picked (or had significant input) in selecting the officials at the college level. Is this common in all conferences?

In a word, yes. It depends on the coordinator of course — some allow more influence than others.

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

Seems like it would result in a conflict if officials have an incentive to please the coaches in order to continue to get top games.

Definitely. I think there already is a conflict of interest. Coaches can complain, gripe, and moan about you — they can get you taken off of their games later in the season.

I was taken off a D1 game because I whacked the coach. He was out on the floor yelling across the floor at my co-official, so I stuck him. He deserved it. He knows he did. But he didn't like it — so he called and complained about me. So I lose the game fee and the airfare for that next game. Wouldn't that make anyone think twice before the next time they gave a coach a technical foul?