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The Crew In Striped Shirts: Breaking Down the Positions
EXCLUSIVELY to Monday’s Chalktalk, Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, provides insights about rules changes and the mindset of college football referees. The CFO is the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level.
Every college football game is officiated by a crew of seven officials. Although it is quite common to refer to all of them as “referees” in fact each of the seven works a position with its own name and unique set of responsibilities. Here is a brief description of the seven-man crew. The letter in quotation marks is on the back of the official’s uniform.
REFEREE “R”: The Referee is the crew chief, a “first among equals.” His white cap is unique in the crew; all the other officials wear black caps. He determines correct penalty enforcement, and his announcements communicate penalties and other elements of the game. The Referee is responsible for action in the offensive backfield, particularly involving the quarterback. He starts each play about 15 yards deep, always on the throwing-arm side of the quarterback.
UMPIRE “U”: The Umpire is in the defensive secondary, about 5-8 yards from the scrimmage line. He is responsible for observing the interior offensive linemen. The Umpire is to be alert for movement by the offense as well as holding and other personal fouls on the interior.
HEAD LINESMAN “H”: One of two officials on the line of scrimmage, the Head Linesman directs the operation of the first-down chain and down box. He is at the sideline on the side of the field opposite the press box. The Head Linesman rules on offside, formations, motion by the offense, out-of-bounds plays, short passes and forward progress.
LINE JUDGE “L”: On the press-box sideline at the line of scrimmage is the Line Judge. He mirrors the Head Linesman and has similar duties. The Line Judge also assists the Referee in ruling on whether a pass behind the scrimmage line is forward or not.
SIDE JUDGE “S” and FIELD JUDGE “F”: These two officials are on the sidelines about 20 yards deep. The Field Judge is on the press-box side and the Side Judge is directly across from him. They principally rule on pass plays and have primary responsibility for the widest receiver on their side. Pass interference is a prime focus for these two officials.
BACK JUDGE “B”: The back judge roams center field, starting at an initial position about 25 yards deep. He is responsible for ruling on deep passes as well as covering action on punts.
Lafayette College Retires Number of Longtime NFF Board Member F.M. Kirby
Lafayette College retired the number of former NFF board member F.M. Kirby on Saturday, Oct. 1. A 1942 Lafayette graduate, Kirby wore No. 53 for the Leopards and was a longtime friend and benefactor of the NFF. Locker number 53 in the Bourger Varsity Football House will also remain unoccupied in Kirby’s honor. Kirby’s number will mark the first time Lafayette College has ever retired the jersey of a former player. A member of the Leopards’ undefeated 1940 squad, Kirby played end on both sides of the ball. He also earned letters in swimming and wrestling. After serving in World War II, Kirby succeeded his father as chairman and CEO of Alleghany Corporation, a position he occupied for 39 years. An attendee of 52 consecutive NFF Annual Awards Dinner, he was honored with the Gold Medal in 2000. He served on the NFF’s board from 1982 until his death in February and on the executive committee from 1989 to 1996. The NFF has endowed a National Scholar-Athlete Award in his honor. Kirby was 91.
NFF Announces 2011 Candidates for the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and Semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy
Selected as the best and brightest from the college gridiron, The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced last week the 127 candidates for the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments®, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans in higher education . The 127 nominees also comprise the list of semifinalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.
The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Wednesday, October 26. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2011 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City be honored December 6 during the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.
To see the full list of candidates, please click here.
NFF Honors Three College Football Hall of Fame Inductees with Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments
Three members of the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame class were honored with NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes presented by Fidelity Investments on Saturday. Florida wide receiver Carlos Alvarez was honored during the Gators' game with Alabama, and his salute was shown to a national primetime audience on CBS. NFF COO Matthew Sign was accompanied the inductee. Oklahoma running back Clendon Thomas was honored as the Sooners hosted Ball State, while NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell and NFF board member Joe Castiglione were on-hand for the event. Divisional College Football Hall of Fame coach Mike Kelly of Dayton was honored as the Flyers hosted Butler on Saturday.
NFF to Honor Will Shields with an Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments
The NFF and Nebraska will jointly honor College Football Hall of Fame inductee Will Shields with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute presented by Fidelity Investments on Saturday. The Cornhuskers take on Ohio State in their first-ever Big Ten home game. The game will be shown nationally at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
THE BLITZ
NFF Chairman and College Football Hall of Famer Archie Manning (Ole Miss) has joined the University of New Orleans Football Development Committee. Among those joining Manning on the 16-member committee are Kansas City Chiefs CFO Dan Crumb, New Orleans Voodoo owner Dan Newman and general manager Jon Norris. UNO intends to launch its football program by the 2015 season as a member of the Gulf South Conference in NCAA Division II.
Notre Dame will unveil a statue of College Football Hall of Fame coach Dan Devine on Friday in a ceremony at Notre Dame Stadium.
2010 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Stefen Wisniewski (Penn State) was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Week for Week 3. Wisniewski, an offensive guard, helped the Oakland Raiders rush for 234 yards and surrender just one sack in a 34-24 victory over the New York Jets.
Oklahoma’s 1956 national championship team, coached by College Football Hall of Famer Bud Wilkinson and featuring Hall of Famers Clendon Thomas and Tommy McDonald, held a reunion at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 30.
College Football Hall of Famer Charles Haley (James Madison) has been named the FCS Ambassador for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.
College Football Hall of Fame inductee Eddie George led No. 5 Ohio State past College Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno No. 12 Penn State in this week's featured moment from 1995 in This Week in College Football History. To see video of this game and read the full entry, please click here.
Robert Stebbins (Central Michigan) and Mike Ryan (Washington) have joined the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association.
The NFF releases a weekly comprehensive TV schedule, complete with announcing crews, for all of FBS and FCS games at FootballFoundation.org every Thursday.
Stay involved with the game. Become an NFF member here.
OVER THE MIDDLE
Southern Connecticut State head football coach Rich Cavanaugh spoke at the NFF New Haven Chapter meeting last week. . . . The NFF Memphis Chapter is hosting the Third Annual Bill McElroy Golf Tournament on Oct. 31. Former Arkansas State head coach Larry Lacewell will be the featured speaker.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Scheduling
Michigan will host Central Michigan in 2013. . . . BYU and Boise State have extended their home-and-home series though 2023. . . . North Carolina and East Carolina will continue their home-and-home series through 2013. . . . Nevada has scheduled a home-and-home series with Washington State in 2014 and 2017, a home-and-home series with Oregon State in 2017-18. Nevada has also scheduled games with Northwestern State (2012), UC Davis (2013 and 2015), Southern Utah (2014) and Cal Poly (2016). . . . Oregon State will host Weber State in 2015.
Media
Big Ten Network will host a special one-hour pregame show live from Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday as Northwestern hosts Michigan. BTN will show the game at 7 p.m. ET, with BTN Countdown to Kickoff beginning at 6 p.m.
Community Service
Boise State fans challenged Nevada fans in Hunger Bowl IV, a drive to see who can donate the most food to benefit Idaho Food Bank. . . . Elon partnered with Little Pink Houses of Hope to raise breast cancer awareness for Saturday’s game with Georgia Southern.
Miscellaneous
Tickets are available for the 2012 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Championship Game. The contest will be held at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Tex., on Jan. 7, 2012. . . . Dartmouth hosted Penn on Saturday in its first home night game in 130 years of football, a history spanning 1,132 games. . . . Former football player Marcus Spears will enter the Northwestern State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Obituaries
Former Eastern Illinois football player Mike Heimerdinger passed away passed away Friday, Sept. 30 at 58. Heimerdinger was an assistant coach at Air Force, Cal State Fullerton, Duke, Florida, North Texas and Rice, and most recently spent 15 years as an assistant coach in the NFL, where he was a part of two Super Bowl champions with the Denver Broncos.
2011 Schedule
Oct. 26, 2011 - Announcement of the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments/Campbell Trophy Finalists - Irving, Texas
Dec. 6, 2011 - The 54th Annual Awards News Conference at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.
Dec. 6, 2011 - The 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.
Dec. 6, 2011 - The 22nd Presentation of Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, to the nation's top scholar-athlete at the Waldorf=Astoria - New York, N.Y.
NFF Information
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Notes
The NFF would like to thank correspondent Bo Carter for his contributions to this report.
NFF Chalktalk items are welcome, and should be submitted to news@footballfoundation.com.
