{"id":1173,"date":"2025-01-28T20:46:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T02:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desmoinesofficials.com\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2025-01-28T20:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T02:46:40","slug":"communicating-with-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desmoinesofficials.com\/?p=1173","title":{"rendered":"Communicating with Coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve 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\u2019s, 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 \u201cstop sign\u201d with your hand and\/or whack them with a technical foul. As a new college official, I wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s ability to manage the game. So, if it\u2019s that important, it\u2019s imperative that officials improve their bench communication skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Edwards, supervisor of officials for the American Rivers Conference, shared a handout last summer titled \u201cAppropriate Responses to Coaches.\u201d 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Coach saw the play different than the official.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you have a coach who says something like, \u201cOh, you missed that call. No way that was a charge!\u201d, then you might respond with \u201cWhy do you think it was a block?\u201d I\u2019ve learned that you want to get as specific with a coach as possible, and that means asking clarifying questions back to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s say the coach comes back with this: \u201cIt was a block because the opponent didn\u2019t establish legal guarding position.\u201d That is about as specific and sophisticated as we can hope for when it comes to a coaching response. If that is the coach\u2019s 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 \u201cYou might be right. I might have missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n