THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: More refs, larger crews, higher pay ... life is good for District 1 football officials

Look at the photo of the men in stripes which accompanies this column.

If you’re, say, Paul Manzardo, who is one of the people in the photo, you might beam with pride, knowing three others in the photo took the class you taught on officiating at North Idaho College, and are now working big football games.

If you’re, say, Roger Stewart, District 1 football commissioner, you might feel like the proud grandfather, watching the youngsters successfully adapt

If you’re a fan, you’re probably wondering, “Why are their seven refs in this photo? Don’t they usually only use five for high school games?”

OFFICIALS IN District 4 (Twin Falls area) and District 2 (Moscow-Lewiston area) have been advocating for it for years.

A couple of playoff games in those districts in 2022 actually had seven-man officiating crews, instead of the usual five.

This year they convinced the Idaho High School Activities Association, which pays for officials in the semifinal and championship rounds in the two largest-school divisions, and for all rounds in the smaller divisions, to pay for seven refs instead of the usual five. 

“Some of the commissioners, myself included, were opposed to it, because they don’t run that during the season … you want people to practice it first,” said Stewart, in his 39th year as a football official, and his 11th as the District 1 football commissioner. “I was a little reluctant.

"I said I’ve got college guys that know how to do this, and I can make it work, but I’m not really in favor of it as a general rule. But I like to show off my guys, so I said sure, we’ll do it.”

The home school pays for officials during the regular season, and in the larger-school divisions, for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Coeur d’Alene High liked the idea of a seven-man crew, and said it would pay for the extra two officials (at $87 per official) for its quarterfinal game vs. Rocky Mountain of Meridian in November.

Hence, the picture which accompanies this story.

Seven-man crews were used for every semifinal and championship game in each of the six classifications this year.

“What happens is, your coverage gets more specific,” Stewart said. “When you’re running five, you’re running more zone coverage early, especially on pass plays. With seven, you actually become more specific in who you’re looking at, and you stay with them longer. The idea is not to get more flags on the ground, the idea is to not miss those calls that you can’t miss. Just make sure it’s more balanced coverage.”

WHAT’S THE big difference?

On a five-man crew, there is a referee and umpire in the offensive backfield, one ref on each sideline at the line of scrimmage, and a back judge downfield, behind the defense.

For a seven-man crew, a side judge and field judge are added, one on each sideline, down the field.

Those two additional refs take some of the responsibility off the hands of the down judge and line judge — the two refs at the line of scrimmage.

“A lot of these schools do those bubble screens, passes near the line of scrimmage, where guys are blocking downfield, or they’re running receivers across the middle,” Stewart said. “And that makes it very difficult to manage what’s going on at the line of scrimmage, and what’s doing on 5, 10, 15 yards downfield. So you get an extra set of eyes watching those blocks underneath, while that pass is being thrown at the line of scrimmage.”

In this year’s Coeur d’Alene-Lake City game in October, Coeur d’Alene had two touchdown passes called back because of offensive pass interference.

“Because they were blocking downfield, and the pass actually ended up (caught) beyond the line,” Stewart said. “And to be able to block downfield, the pass has to stay behind the line until it’s caught. 

“We caught that with five (officials); it just becomes easier to see with seven. 

“The officials on that game were college officials, too.”

Another benefit to more officials is more sets of eyes on action away from the ball — hits that could lead to injuries, hits refs don't often see because they have plenty on their plate to watch.

“With five, they’re watching their area, more focused around the ball,” Stewart said. “So when you have those extra officials back there, they’re not watching that area around the ball; they can pick up more of those illegal hits.”

BACK TO those bubble screens.

With five refs, the down judge and line judge has to rule if the ball is caught, whether the ball is caught behind the line of scrimmage or in front of it. All the while, watching to see if there’s an ineligible lineman downfield — and rule on the legality of the blocks by the other receivers, in front of the receiver catching the ball.

Other than that …

“This (having seven refs) allows the side judge, and the back judge more so, to pay attention to those blocks, so the line official has narrowed his focus,” Stewart said. If there are linemen downfield, is the ball behind or beyond the line? He doesn’t have to pay attention to those blocks.”

A lineman can’t be more than 2 yards downfield when the ball is released from the passer’s hand — if the pass is caught past the line of scrimmage. If the pass is caught behind the line, linemen can be as far downfield as they want. 

Also, for those blocking in front of the receiver, if the ball is caught beyond the line and they’re blocking, that’s offensive pass interference. If it’s caught behind the line, they can block all they want.

“That’s why the ref has to stay on the line,” Stewart said.

The referee and umpire, both in the offensive backfield, watch the line play at the snap. Then, if it’s a pass and there’s a pass rush, their focus moves toward the quarterback, to watch for roughing the passer.

The back judge keeps an eye on the inside receivers on each side, watching for stuff in the middle of the field.

“The idea is not to call more, but to call better,” Stewart said.

FOR YEARS, Manzardo taught an officiating class at North Idaho College, covering several different sports. Many of those students became basketball officials; some became football refs.

In the aforementioned picture with this story, showing the officials who worked the Coeur d’Alene-Rocky Mountain state 5A quarterfinal game, three of the men who worked with Manzardo — Neal Pederson, Brandon Litalien and Mike Martin — took his officiating class while at NIC. Manzardo was recently named District 1 Football Official of the Year, by a vote of his peers.

NIC hasn’t offered that class for years; Stewart said a class might help attract more younger officials.

As it is, North Idaho Officials Association has done a pretty good job recruiting new officials — 13 or 14 this year, Stewart said, and the totals are up 20 over the past two years, from 36 to 56. The game fee for District 1 officials has gone up from $67 to $90, which has helped with retention.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for advancement,” said Stewart, in his 29th year as a college official, and 21st in the Big Sky Conference. “We have five officials working in the (NAIA) Frontier Conference right now. Josh Behrens is now a Big Sky official, Bob Burton’s a full-time Big Sky replay official, Jacob Iverson is now a Big Sky replay communicator, and Steve Hudson, Shane Anderson and Steve Currie are in the Pac-12.

“There’s a lot of room for growth.”

And many of those guys give back by mentoring the younger officials. It’s not uncommon for, say, Hudson, back from working a Pac-12 game on a Saturday, to be down in St. Maries on Wednesday for a freshman game, working with younger refs during the game.

Currie just worked another Pac-12 championship game, and just finished his 11th year working in the conference. Shane Anderson has worked Pac games for some 15 years. Next week Hudson, a 25-year veteran of the Pac, is reffing in the Peach Bowl.

“These are big-time officials that we’re pretty blessed to have here helping us,” Stewart said.

STEWART LEARNED recently that in soccer, 16-year-olds could work as linesmen in non-varsity games.

In football, you had to be 18 to ref, period.

So after a couple years of prodding, Stewart convinced the IHSAA to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work non-varsity football games. 

“Now what we’re getting is 16- and 17-year-olds that are showing up for training,” Stewart said. “They’re going out to Junior Tackle and making 75 bucks a game. They’re making more money than they can working at McDonald’s. Then we’re putting them in high school games with Steve Hudson, and Paul Manzardo and Bob Burton, and they’re getting pretty advanced training. “We’ve got guys now, 19-, 20-, 21-year olds, and they’re pretty stinkin’ good. They’re well-trained, they’ve gone through the wars of Junior Tackle and getting yelled at by moms. And they see they get some support, and get some confidence … ”

NOW WHAT?

Stewart isn’t sure.

He said Ty Jones, who is retiring as IHSAA executive director at the end of the school year, was an advocate for seven-man officiating crews.

Who knows if the new IHSAA head, when they are selected, will push to approve it.

The increased number of officials in District 1 would help handle the need for larger crews.

Either way, the more refs, the less they have to work 3-4 nights a week, leading to less burnout.

One thing’s for sure. Stewart, who was the umpire for the UAlbany-South Dakota State FCS semifinal last weekend, says he can feel good about the quality and quantity of officials he and the other experienced refs have helped developed.

“As the proud grandpa, as you will,” he said with a smile.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.