High school coaches suggest ways to improve officiating

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After the SEC suspended an officiating crew that made bad calls in two games, the quality of officiating has been the hottest topic in the football world.

In high schools, just like every level of football, the officials' work gets mixed reviews by coaches, players and fans. We asked several metro Atlanta coaches for suggestions on how to improve it:

Mickey Conn, Grayson: "I think they work extremely hard to improve, as do coaches and players. It would be nice if we did not add new rules changes every year."

Corey Jarvis, M.L. King: "I believe that officials should have to do even more clinics, passing leagues, and even some form of professional type of training -- like the NFL, NCAA, and CFL -- with some of those top officials [observing] to see how they do things."

Randall Smith, Pebblebrook: "The officiating is good. Georgia is better overall than other states. I would like to see the crews [agree more] on calls, but we have a good system ... The best way to improve is have training sessions for officials year-round, so they stay sharp and updated on the techniques. This means the GHSA must be willing to teach on the field and not just give them a test."

TK Dodd, Campbell: "I'm not a proponent of more officials on the field. I think that's too extreme, but I'm for more situational clinics for officials. I think instant replay in high school championships should be the only time it's used." Note: NFHS, the nation's governing body for high school athletics, approved instant replay for certain situations in basketball championship games, but it has yet to be adopted by the Georgia High School Association.

Derrick Cook, Kell: "For the most part, they do a good job ... They should get more feedback from coaches, and they should be given a copy of each game film so they can review it as a group to see if they made the right call in some instances. They don't have a way to improve if they can't see their mistakes."

Johnny White, Creekside: "The only thing I would change in the state right now would be the ejection rules. Under GHSA rules, if a player is ejected, he missed that game and the next game. My problem is that if the official makes a mistake by ejecting a player, there is nothing that can be done, no appeal process, no third party looking at the footage, nothing ..."

Dante Ferguson, Stone Mountain: "More officials in games could assist. It's always a plus to have more eyes on the field ... Instant replay does sound good, and I would support such measures, as long as it doesn't become a nuisance."

Ed Koester, South Cobb: "In the most general terms, I feel officiating is OK ... I wish they understood we appreciate them. However, they [affect] my livelihood ... My problem with officiating is that we get no voice in their performance. No rating card, no say at all."