Communicating with Coaches

Communicating with coaches was one of the hardest skills I learned as an official. I started refereeing when I was 17 years old, so most coaches were twice my age. I think I did a pretty good job calling the game on the floor, but when it came to communicating with the bench, admittedly I was a lost zebra amongst lions.

I’ve been officiating long enough now to have experienced several different strategies employed by veteran referees, supervisors of officials, and college conferences on how to deal with head coaches and their staff. When I first worked for the Southwest Conference in the mid-1990’s, there was no communication between the officiating crew and the bench. You were instructed to listen but not respond. When you had enough with the coach or their staff, then you expected to put up a “stop sign” with your hand and/or whack them with a technical foul. As a new college official, I wasn’t really looking to get into a game-long conversation with any coach, but I must admit there were times when it would have helped my cause if I could have explained my call to the coach. If there was ever a need to communicate with the bench, then the most veteran official, usually the referee, did the listening and talking. But that was also a rare occurrence.

And I don’t think the Southwest Conference was the only conference with that expectation when it came to limited conversation with the bench back then. It seemed most college conferences were interested in coaches coaching and officials officiating, and never the twain shall meet.

Thankfully, today is different. Communication between coaches and officials has never been more active and involved. Coach communication has become a big part of an official’s ability to manage the game. So, if it’s that important, it’s imperative that officials improve their bench communication skills.

Ralph Edwards, supervisor of officials for the American Rivers Conference, shared a handout last summer titled “Appropriate Responses to Coaches.” Using that document as a start, my referee experience suggests there are at least five circumstances officials need to be prepared for when communicating with coaches and their staff:

1. Coach saw the play different than the official.

This happens all the time in the game. You know why? Because most coaches look at the game differently than we do as officials. Coaches look at the game with the desired outcome that their team will win the game. Officials, on the other hand, view the game with fairness being the ultimate goal.

If you have a coach who says something like, “Oh, you missed that call. No way that was a charge!”, then you might respond with “Why do you think it was a block?” I’ve learned that you want to get as specific with a coach as possible, and that means asking clarifying questions back to them.

Let’s say the coach comes back with this: “It was a block because the opponent didn’t establish legal guarding position.” That is about as specific and sophisticated as we can hope for when it comes to a coaching response. If that is the coach’s statement, then you as the official have two response options. You can respond by explaining why you thought the opponent had established legal guarding position, or you can say “You might be right. I might have missed it.”

• Coach questions a partner’s call.

A few years ago, I was working a college game with a new partner. That partner had two calls back-to-back against the same team, so that team’s coach wasn’t real happy with that official. The coach wanted me to explain the two calls, and stupidly I did. Why stupid? Because I wasn’t the calling official on either play, and because this was my first game working with my new partner, I was basically guessing at what he had in mind when he whistled those two calls. I would have been a much better partner if I had switched positions and asked the coach to talk to my partner about both calls. That way, the coach gets the right information from the official most responsible for the calls, and I don’t run the risk of appearing to “cozy up” to the coach while my new partner wonders exactly what I’m saying. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with saying this to a coach: “You’ll have to talk to him (another official) about that play.”

Now, if I am working with a crew of officials that I’ve worked with over many seasons, then I have a better chance at understanding exactly what that partner called, and I don’t run the risk of the other official thinking that “I’m throwing him under the bus” with the coach.

Finally, if a coach questions a partner’s call and that official, in your estimation, was in the right position with good eyes on the play, there’s nothing wrong with telling the coach exactly that – “Coach, my partner was in great position and had a great look at the whole play.”

• Coach is raising their voice asking a question or making a statement.

Basketball is an emotional sport. Coaches want to win. Sometimes coaches become animated and raise their voices. So, what do you do when that happens, or continues to happen?

It’s fair to assume you will be yelled at when you officiate basketball. But, being yelled at doesn’t mean you have to continue to accept being yelled at throughout a game.

A calm, even-toned reaction to an upset coach is the best starting point. If the coach is yelling a question at you, then a proper response might be, “Coach, I’m going to answer your question, but I would appreciate it if you lowered the volume a bit.”

If the coach isn’t asking a question, but offering commentary in a loud voice, then you might say, “Coach, I really want to have a conversation with you tonight, but I’m not going to scream at you, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scream at me.” If the coach doesn’t calm down after two or three comments, then it might be time to remind them that you are not raising your voice to them, that you are listening to them, and you would appreciate it if they took the volume down a bit. If the coach continues to yell, then it might be time to momentarily move away from the situation (because you can and will always come back).

When you return, if they are still yelling at you, then it’s probably time to react with a “caution” (simple as showing a “stop sign” directed to the coach) and/or assess a bench decorum warning to the coach and place that warning in the scorer’s book.

If the coach continues to yell, then the next one or two trips down the floor might be the time to assess a technical foul, and, if the yelling continues, then a second technical foul leading to an ejection might be warranted.

• Coach is commenting on something every time down the floor.

Hand checks, traveling, illegal screens, rough post play – all of these are fodder for a coach to stick on regarding his comments toward you. When this happens, again, try to get as specific with the coach as possible, i.e. “What is the opponent doing that makes you think they should be assessed a foul for hand-checking?” “Why do you think that was traveling?” “What number do you think set an illegal screen?” Most of the time coaches cannot move to the specifics since they just want a whistle to penalize the opponent.

If you receive more information from the coach, then you can form a better response to the coach – “Coach, your player got around the defensive player (who might have been hand-checking) and scored a layup. I’m not going to whistle a hand-check in that situation.” “The opponent kept his/her pivot foot on the ground before they started a dribble. By rule, that’s not traveling.” “I’ll watch #44 for illegal screens.” “Your #54 was called for an offensive foul in the post because he initiated a swim stroke.”

Most evenings I have a running conversation with one or both coaches. Make sure you pick spots in the game when the coach is not coaching their kids, but a conversation goes a long way to disarming a coach who could, without that conversation, end up blowing their top and receive a warning or worse.

• Coach has a good point and might be right.

Sometimes coaches are right. When that happens, be accountable and admit that the coach is correct. A few nights ago, I had a coach identify a travel right in front of his bench. I didn’t whistle it and missed it. At the next dead ball, I walked over to the coach and said, “Good call. The kid traveled. I missed it.” The coach told me he respected my honesty, and we moved on to the next play.

But don’t think you can admit missing calls all evening. And, we must make sure we don’t miss calls that matter most in the game – calls that change ball possession, calls that either take away scores or produce unearned scores, calls that decide games. We must get those calls right. If you miss one of these game changers, then be ready to take the heat from an unhappy coach.

Finally, whenever dealing with coaches, try to follow this script if possible: Listen, Respond, Caution, Warn, Assess, Eject. Listen as much as possible. Respond when warranted. Caution when a coach is crossing the line. Warn by giving a coach and/or their staff a bench decorum warning by placing it in the official scorebook. Assess technical fouls when needed. And don’t be afraid to eject coaches, players, or spectators when it serves to improve the game of basketball. And that’s “The Primary Focus.”