Cleveland's head coach, Jason McCowan, gets a technical foul while arguing with a referee during a 2011 game with Bradley Central.At the start of every high school athletic event there are two certainties: Both teams want to win, and at some point both will believe the officials are making it tougher to reach that goal.
Officials at times have determined the outcomes of games and championships. Because of that, a majority of coaches in the tri-state area have begun asking for more input into who officiates playoff games.
All but two of the nearly 70 area high school coaches, from a variety of sports, responding to a Times Free Press poll, agreed they should be allowed to evaluate referees and umpires during the regular season to help the state governing bodies determine who should call playoff games and championship tournaments.
Similar to the way only the best teams move on in the playoffs, those coaches feel the same should be true of officials.
"I feel like our association does a good job, but we as coaches should be allowed to have a voice," Cleveland boys' basketball coach Jason McCowan said. "We put so much time and effort into the game, and so do the kids, but we have no say if we feel like we've been wronged in a big game. If they miss a call and it costs us a game now, we're told we have to live with it and move on.
"There has to be some accountability for them. If a coach or a player makes a mistake, we're held accountable. There's a two-game suspension and $250 fine for the school if a coach or player is ejected, but there is no penalty for an official that blows a call and costs a team the chance to move on in the playoffs.
"It shouldn't be about egos. We have the technology to evaluate them and ensure that we have the best officials in the bigger games, so why not fix the problem?"
Currently in Tennessee and Georgia, referees and umpires are graded during each season by their local supervisors of officials, who report directly to the state high school sports' governing bodies and make recommendations on who should call state playoff or tournament games. Those supervisors typically do not ask for input from coaches.
Signal Mountain football coach Bill Price and McCallie baseball coach Chris Richardson said they believe the current officiating process doesn't need to be tweaked and that they accept there will be human errors and missed calls during games.
But the groundswell of support for a change has grown with a rash of controversial calls during postseason events this school year. In one case, the Bradley Central boys' basketball team fell just shy of the Class AAA state tournament when a technical foul resulted in a two-point loss at Blackman rather than a chance in overtime.
Following a Bradley turnover, during a Blackman timeout as both teams walked toward their respective benches with 1.5 second remaining, Bears senior Miles Morgan was whistled for a technical foul when the official farthest from the Bradley bench said he heard the player use profanity. Blackman's Darius Thompson hit two free throws for the win.
"The thing about it is the official closest to us, just a couple of feet away, never heard anything," Bears coach Kent Smith said. "The guy 30 feet from the play, and in a noisy gym, said he heard Miles use the 'F' word. The game wasn't decided by the players. The way that game ended has bothered me more than anything else in all my 20 years of coaching."
Citing the fact that Obion County shot 26 more free throws than his team, who had three players foul out, McMinn Central's 34-year coaching veteran Johnny Morgan boiled over in frustration moments after a first-round girls' state tournament loss two weeks ago.
"I've never said this before. But you know what I think the difference was? The officiating," Morgan said. "I've never said that in the 15 years I've been [to the state tournament]. I think the officials get nervous the same as players and coaches because it's a bigger stage. If you're nervous you make mistakes."
Leon Rash, who has been the supervisor for Tennessee's Southeast region basketball group for 22 years, oversees 125 officials, 65 of whom work exclusively on the varsity level. He said he knew there would be a backlash after hearing about the call that ended Bradley's season.
"If I'm an official in that game, I don't make that call," Rash said. "You penalize the kids, in my opinion, with that call. But I have never penalized an official for a judgment call. I would if they missed a game without calling ahead, but making judgment calls is part of the job. Everybody is going to miss some during their career. Nobody is perfect -- not the officials, the coaches or the players."
Veteran refs don't mind
Joe Scruggs and Jeff Wilkerson are two of Chattanooga's most veteran prep basketball referees, and both said they would not object to being evaluated by coaches.
"It's not going to change how I officiate," said Scruggs, a former player and coach who has called games locally for 39 years. "You do worry that the only time you would hear from coaches is when they're upset with an official, rather than grading one who they thought did a good job.
"But if we all try to work together, it wouldn't be a bad thing. If we can make the game better, everybody benefits."
Wilkerson, who has been a high school referee for 26 years and also calls NAIA and junior college games, said he agreed with the majority of coaches who voiced their concern over not being able to communicate with many of the younger officials.
"There has to be a mutual respect," said Wilkerson, who officiated his third girls' state tournament two weeks ago. "You can't tell coaches to sit down and shut up like I've seen some of the young guys do. You can't be arrogant and think you're going to be right on every call. Go ahead and swallow your pride because we all miss a call and it's not a smooth ride home when you know you may have cost a team a game.
"Everybody in the gym knows you missed it, so if they're calling you horrible, maybe you are horrible that night. But all you can do is admit to the coach that you missed that one and try to do better on the next one."
TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress said that while the organization's bylaws are written in a manner that doesn't allow an official's call to be overturned, the state's prep sports governing body would listen to a proposal to allow coaches to grade officials. Childress added that the best-officiated games are the ones when the referees seem unnoticed.
Alabama has evaluations
Some states, including Alabama in football and Kentucky in basketball, do allow coaches to fill out forms rating the referees after each game, using those responses to determine crews for postseason contests. Football coaches in Alabama are asked to fill out a ranking system that was set up online by the state's officials association.
If a coach gives a referee a low grade, he is asked to explain why, and according to North Jackson football coach Shawn Peek, the head of his local officials' association comes to the school several times each season to discuss calls or even watch video and allow the coaches to ask questions or voice concerns about what they feel referees need to improve on.
Only the highest-rated officials are allowed to work during Alabama's playoffs, ensuring that those with consistently low scores do not continue working past the regular season.
"It's not a way to disgrace or demean officials. It lets you give positive reaction for young guys that maybe wouldn't get recognized because they don't have as much seniority," Brainerd basketball coach Robert High said. "Or it can be a constructive way for the supervisors to talk with officials about things they can work on.
"The main thing it does is it holds them accountable. Everybody makes mistakes, but a system like that only rewards the best, and that's what you want when you're in a game with high stakes."
The stakes couldn't have been higher for Gordon Lee's wrestling team that is still grappling with the reason it lost the Georgia Class A state duals championship last month. The Trojans lost a 31-29 controversial decision to Holy Innocents' when a Gordon Lee wrestler was called for a flagrant-misconduct penalty at the conclusion of the next-to-last individual match. Freshman Jonny Ragsdale was ahead 18-6 when time ran out, a major decision that would have given the Trojans a six-point lead.
Instead the head referee ruled Ragsdale intentionally head-butted his opponent. Gordon Lee was stripped of the four points, Holy Innocents' was given six and the Trojans penalized three team points. Raby was told the head butt was a judgment call and could not be questioned. The Gordon Lee coach could not, and still does not, understand how the team lost the four points Ragsdale had won since the match was technically over when the incident occurred.
Had the three team points been deducted, the Trojans would have needed to win at 113 pounds to win the title. Instead, they were locked out following a 20-minute discussion that included members of the GHSA head table. Trojans coach Brent Raby also was penalized a team point for questioning the referee's judgement.
"I questioned the points not being awarded for winning the match, and when I asked the head referee why they were given points in that situation, he warned me," Raby said after the match. "When I asked to see the rule book, they threatened to eject me. The key here is the match was over."
Gordon Lee coaches and administrators will have their appeal heard by the GHSA's executive committee Monday morning for a final ruling.
"We're not appealing the officials' judgment call," Raby said. "The rule clearly states that no winner should have been declared, so there shouldn't have been points awarded either way.
"I may vent but I've never written up an official because you worry they will hold a grudge against you. I don't have a problem with judgment calls or how much officials make, but if it's a job, like any other job they need to be held accountable. It's time for coaches to have input and evaluate who is calling their games. It would make every sport better all around."
In Tennessee, football referees make $100 per game, basketball officials make $85 for each night's work of calling one girls' and one boys' varsity game, wrestling officials earn $60 per match, baseball umpires get $65 per game and softball umps earn $55. Most sports also pay for officials' mileage when traveling for the postseason.
Football playoff issues
At least three blown calls decided football playoff games last fall in Tennessee. During a Class 3A quarterfinal-round game, Christ Presbyterian Academy advanced by beating Goodpasture Christian on a missed call in the final seconds. Trailing by one point with no timeouts left and just seconds to go, CPA's quarterback took a knee rather than spiking the ball to stop the clock and allow the field-goal unit to come on the field. The clock should have continued running, but an official stepped in and signaled to stop it. Before he corrected the call, CPA made a kick that provided a two-point victory margin.
That same night, Boyd-Buchanan lost a 2A quarterfinal on another questionable call.
With the Buccaneers leading Friendship Christian by six points in overtime, and the Commanders facing fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line, quarterback Brennan Swindoll scrambled and lunged for the pylon. He was given a touchdown, but video later showed his knee was down before he reached the goal line. The Commanders went on to win the semifinal and championship game each by at least 33 points.
"That call probably cost us the state championship," Reynolds said. "It's tough to know kids and coaches put in so much time to prepare for a game and you have a crew that comes in and in a two-hour span can blow it. I sent the film in to the [TSSAA], but they told me all I could do was write the crew off and never have them again. I did do that, but I wanted an apology. Somebody needed to be held accountable.
"You'll experience wins and losses, but something like that, it takes a piece out of you," Reynolds continued. "I hurt for the kids for a long time after that one. I still do, actually. There's nothing that prepares you for looking into the face of the kids who play for you, that you love, that have worked so hard, and they have the chance to reach their goal taken away by a missed call. You hug the kids and that's all you can do."
Compounding Reynolds' frustration was the fact that the officiating crew who worked his game against Friendship Christian later called the Baylor/Ensworth Division II-AA state title game. Similarly, the official who issued the technical that ended Bradley's basketball season also worked the state tournament last week.
"Mediocrity shouldn't be rewarded," East Hamilton football coach Ted Gatewood said. "Passing a test on paper and knowing the rules on the field aren't the same. About every coach I know will tell you one of the most frustrating things for us are the guys who instead of explaining a call will just yell at you to get back on the sideline and shut up.
"This was the worst year of my career as far as dealing with officials. It's like some of them are more concerned with how many sweatbands or towels a player is wearing instead of making the right call. They've already handcuffed the kids from having fun by going overboard with the celebration rule. It's an emotional game, with emotional teenagers. They're trying to put football on Ritalin."
When a Class 6A opening-round playoff game between Franklin and Smyrna went into overtime, Franklin won the coin toss and elected to go on defense first. Both teams scored touchdowns, but instead of alternating and putting Franklin's offense on the field to begin the second overtime, officials ruled that Franklin would get to play defense first again. After Smyrna was forced to kick a field goal on its possession, Franklin scored the winning touchdown.
The officiating crew later admitted they had made the wrong call, but their original judgment stood and Franklin advanced.
"It bothers me how easy it is for some of these guys to be able to determine the outcome of my games and the fate of a lot of people on our staff," said South Pittsburg athletic director Vic Grider, who also coaches football and softball at the school. "They're making calls that can get people fired. The day after the game they go back to their real job and never give it a second thought. If they were held accountable -- not allowed to call a game or two for costing a team a win with a bad call -- maybe missing that paycheck would help some of them take more pride in what they do.
"I can handle missing a judgment call, but there are some that don't know the basic rules of the game. I've talked with guys at the TSSAA and shown film to officials' supervisors of examples of an guy who obviously didn't know basic rules, but they just tell us that there will always be mistakes. We shouldn't have to just accept that."