Throwing Flags on Coaches

[Ed Hickland]

Originally posted by Simbio
Would you or wouldn't you agree that having coaches and athletic directors rating and assigning games really undermines the integrity of the officials working the games?

With that being said, what do you think the pros and cons are with having coaches rank officiating crews as opposed to other officials ranking officials? Thoughts?

I started out in an association like yours. I was delisted after two years because of coach problems before I ever got to the varsity level. That was 10 years ago. Now I work in an association where the other officials control the ratings. It allowed me some time to get the major mistakes out of my game without worrying about what the coaches think

Coaches and ADs don't really have a command of the game. I think everyone would agree football officiating is the most complicated of all the sports with the complex rules, number of officials on the field and officiating coverage. You ask how can an AD administer and a coach coach and still be able to provide an objective critique of officials?

There is no simple answer on how to improve officiating but the antiquated AD/coach selection procedure is a definite impediment to overall improvement to officiating.