Giving Up High School Football

[Magician]

Don't get me wrong - if that's the path they wish to go, that's all them, I support it 100%. 

I DO question the decision to do such when you're going from on-field action to sitting in a replay booth or working the sidelines as an assistant and there's no action. 

Maybe my mind isn't working right, but it seems to me that replay is a great position for officials who are past their physical prime versus able-bodies on-the-field D2/D1 officials
who make the jump.

Regardless, whatever their choice, if they're happy with it, that's awesome.  I can't ever see myself doing that until I can't walk anymore.

The guys I've talked to who have done it say it's a lot more stressful than being on the field. And it's a way for those who likely won't advance on the field to be able to advance to D1 or the NFL. Doing it a younger age greatly increases that opportunity for advancement. They have found the retired guys who do it don't have the ambition to get better that the younger guys do. I've strongly considered it and have had conversations with D1 supervisors about it, but I love being on the field and interacting with players. I think I would miss that part too much. But I haven't ruled it out as a path.

[Magician]

The trend now is to get replay officials before they are past their physical prime.  There is at least one conference who is using replay assistants who have never officiated a game on the field (from what I have been told...I can't prove it).  It's the Dean Blandino model.  It looks like the guys who work into their 60s won't have the opportunity to go to the booth anymore. 

Our local Big Ten schools used to do that for red hats and communicators. We would tap a newer applicant as it would give them a great opportunity to work with top college crews and see college officiating first hand. It seemed to work well. The B1G has now started using their replay supplemental staff for the communicator role so they are now usually people who have worked at least some college football on the field. I believe the red hat is still a D3 applicant at both schools though. That role is more associated with the production crew than the officiating crew though.

[Grant - AR]

Our local Big Ten schools used to do that for red hats and communicators. We would tap a newer applicant as it would give them a great opportunity to work with top college crews and see college officiating first hand. It seemed to work well. The B1G has now started using their replay supplemental staff for the communicator role so they are now usually people who have worked at least some college football on the field. I believe the red hat is still a D3 applicant at both schools though. That role is more associated with the production crew than the officiating crew though.

These aren't guys who have applied to the conference as on-field officials.  They are strictly in the booth.  They are bringing younger guys in to go straight to the booth.  Those guys haven't worked any college football at all.  I've heard they have never worked high school football either.  They are just young, technical guys who they think can learn the ins and outs of instant replay.  I guess we will see how well it works. 

[JasonTX]

These aren't guys who have applied to the conference as on-field officials.  They are strictly in the booth.  They are bringing younger guys in to go straight to the booth.  Those guys haven't worked any college football at all.  I've heard they have never worked high school football either.  They are just young, technical guys who they think can learn the ins and outs of instant replay.  I guess we will see how well it works.

Years of playing Madden football is all the experience required.   

[ilyazhito]

Irrelevant. Madden doesn't have Be-A-Ref mode, so no way they get practice from Madden.

I'm not going to take that opportunity unless I'm in my 50's and don't get invited to the ODP. By then, there might not be an NFL. Who knows.

[sirhoagy]

The rule book was a different story...after a year or two in small college, I did not open the NFHS book at all.  I knew the differences at my position, but relied on my crew to deal with the enforcements.

This has been my mantra for a few years.  Stopped opening the rule book for NFHS as it was causing interference.  I have a large high school game this evening, working a different position than normal, and I've been asked to give a presentation on Rule #10 (my crew is bye this week, so I'm flying solo) by the host crew.  I had to actually *find* my high school rule book, open the damned thing for the first time in years, and familiarize myself with it.  Fun times.

[ilyazhito]

Even with reading both rulebooks, I sometimes think about the college response to the situation (A substitutes = Iron Cross), even if the specific college rule is different. I can't imagine myself a few years later making a college call in a high school game just because college rules and mechanics will be so ingrained in me. Maybe I need to move to Texas, where both high school and college games use basically the same rules ; ).

[CalhounLJ]

Giving up HS became a very easy decision for me.  As a backjudge I was actually bored and anxious watching blow out games, watching the clock and starting to do math in my head of: when this game would end, when would I get home, hopefully fall asleep, get up early and drive to the college game.  The reps were not quality reps, the pace of play was slow, the coaches inability to understand the rules was frustrating, the monetary consideration was worth it.  I might have felt different if I was on the line or referee full time.  I wanted to be a college official and advance as far as I could.

Much better reps and time spend on Monday night college JV games or working practices at the local NFL team during the week.
The spring and fall practices is much more beneficial for me in getting ready for the season for reps, rules, speed of the game.

This is a great reason to make a change. Either to another level, another sport, or another vocation. When your heart is not in it, nothing else matters and you are not doing justice to the sport.


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[Joe Stack]

Maybe I need to move to Texas, where both high school and college games use basically the same rules ; ).

Texas guys struggle with the same issues and have for quite a while. I don't recall exactly when it was, but a few years ago, the small college conferences (around here anyway) went mostly TOWARD feeder/trainer type conferences for D1 (with camps, crews from different areas, etc.). Not that that's a bad thing but it created the problems we're talking about here. Prior to that, the assignors would hire the crew chief, have him form the crew from his area and expect good results. That's how many of us got some college games.

Its one thing for the FCS/FBS conference guys to think about quitting high school (especially in Fed states) but it is ridiculous for small college guys to. In my experience, you don't get paid enough and don't work enough games per year to keep your skills up. Snaps, even at the high school subvarsity level, are important. Anything to keep your mind in the game. Its funny that, years ago, assignors in D3 conferences in the south loved Texas guys (due to using NCAA rules on Friday night) so much, they insisted on putting ONE Texas guy on each crew instead of a few Texas guys on one crew so they could travel to their game together (or more easily). Yet now assignors are saying don't work HS football for whatever other reason. I know guys that quit D3 ball because after travel, they made more money working peewee on Saturday and it took less time to do it.

High school has a huge problem. The good, young officials that get started want to go to college ball as soon as they can and the older guys are retiring. What's left is, well, ...

[psv]

I live in Texas in a major metropolitan area.  For the guys I know that call college ball, this is roughly how I have seen it break down (I am sure there are exceptions). 

D2 and down - they still call High School.  Periodically there is a game that is far enough away they have to travel on Friday and give back a game or two.  But generally speaking, those calling D2 and down still call high school ball.

When they start getting into D1-AA they start giving back a lot of their high school schedule.   Again, they will still work high school, either as part of a crew or fill ins. 

D1 - generally they do not call high school ball.  Every once in a while as a fill in on a Thursday night they might get an assignment.  That is few and far between.

That is what I have seen.

[ajones10]

I live in Texas in a major metropolitan area.  For the guys I know that call college ball, this is roughly how I have seen it break down (I am sure there are exceptions). 

D2 and down - they still call High School.  Periodically there is a game that is far enough away they have to travel on Friday and give back a game or two.  But generally speaking, those calling D2 and down still call high school ball.

When they start getting into D1-AA they start giving back a lot of their high school schedule.   Again, they will still work high school, either as part of a crew or fill ins. 

D1 - generally they do not call high school ball.  Every once in a while as a fill in on a Thursday night they might get an assignment.  That is few and far between.

That is what I have seen.

I live in SLC, Utah and this is pretty much how it goes here as well.

[HLinNC]

We have a white hat in his mid-70's.  He made it to the best D1 conference as a U and had a nice career.  He still worked Friday nights except for when he had to travel to the west division sites.  Our booking agent would try and book him on Fridays in the direction he was scheduled to travel.  When he hit the conference's retirement age, he went back to the FCS level to finish his field career.  He's now working Group of 5 conference as an observer and still works most Friday nights.

He's also bionic with 2 new knees, a hip, and a reattached quad.  Every time I think about hanging up it up (feet, knees, booking agent crap) I look at him and say "Don't be a weenie."

Meanwhile our local FCS conference now requires their officials to be on site Friday night so we've lost several quality HS officials.  In the end I guess its personal preference or what your college supervisor expects.

[hefnerjm]

These aren't guys who have applied to the conference as on-field officials.  They are strictly in the booth.  They are bringing younger guys in to go straight to the booth.  Those guys haven't worked any college football at all.  I've heard they have never worked high school football either.  They are just young, technical guys who they think can learn the ins and outs of instant replay.  I guess we will see how well it works.

Carol,
I cant speak for anyone but myself, but this scenario sounds like a dream to me.  I am young (ish...mid-30s) and absolutely love the technical / film side, but have to face some realities about my physical ability to make higher levels on the field.  I think there is a lot of validity to taking someone who is hungry to get better from an analysis perspective and has the technical acumen to be successful on the production side, to get involved in the replay pipeline...contrasted against some of guys who have 24 point font on their cell phones when texting....just sayin 



TL:DR - where do I sign up?   

[Magician]

Carol,
I cant speak for anyone but myself, but this scenario sounds like a dream to me.  I am young (ish...mid-30s) and absolutely love the technical / film side, but have to face some realities about my physical ability to make higher levels on the field.  I think there is a lot of validity to taking someone who is hungry to get better from an analysis perspective and has the technical acumen to be successful on the production side, to get involved in the replay pipeline...contrasted against some of guys who have 24 point font on their cell phones when texting....just sayin 



TL:DR - where do I sign up?   

Definitely connect with the college officials in your area. They can guide you on who and how to approach. Start with lower level guys if you know them, but you'll ultimately need an advocate at the D1 level where they hire replay officials. It's still a process so be patient.

[Grant - AR]

Carol,
I cant speak for anyone but myself, but this scenario sounds like a dream to me.  I am young (ish...mid-30s) and absolutely love the technical / film side, but have to face some realities about my physical ability to make higher levels on the field.  I think there is a lot of validity to taking someone who is hungry to get better from an analysis perspective and has the technical acumen to be successful on the production side, to get involved in the replay pipeline...contrasted against some of guys who have 24 point font on their cell phones when texting....just sayin 



TL:DR - where do I sign up?

I agree that it's a dream scenario for a lot of people.  And, I've heard there are some young(ish) guys, like you, who are in the pipeline.  They have some officiating experience and have the technical acumen for the job.  I don't have a dog in the fight, but some of the rumblings I've heard are that some of these guys haven't officiated at any level.  Without any officiating experience, I can see where there might be a higher learning curve.  It might work perfectly, but it's too new to see at this point.

[ilyazhito]

Carol,
I cant speak for anyone but myself, but this scenario sounds like a dream to me.  I am young (ish...mid-30s) and absolutely love the technical / film side, but have to face some realities about my physical ability to make higher levels on the field.  I think there is a lot of validity to taking someone who is hungry to get better from an analysis perspective and has the technical acumen to be successful on the production side, to get involved in the replay pipeline...contrasted against some of guys who have 24 point font on their cell phones when texting....just sayin 



TL:DR - where do I sign up?

In your position, I'd try to get some college on-field experience to understand what the college game is like. Just  my opinion.

General consensus for leaving HS football is Division 2 or higher, earlier if assigner says otherwise. Do I understand this correctly?

[zebrastripes]

There is no black-and-white answer that anyone can give you. You have to do what you feel is best, understanding and accepting the potential ramifications of whatever decision that is.

[Punter]

This is a purely personal decision.  I work in a D3 conference as an R.  It was too hard for me to try to officiate well under 2 codes.  Additionally, the Friday night travel was probably not a good thing.  Sometimes, I have to wake up as early as 4:30 AM to get to pregame.  With all of that being said, I made the choice to give up high school (while the money is nice, I do not do this for the money).  At the end of the day, I decided I wanted to be the best D3 NCAA R that I could be so I gave up HS.

As I said above, this decision is purely personal, and someone else could decide differently.  There is no right or wrong answer.  Only what is right or wrong for you.