Playoffs
Light summary of differences for the LJ and HL with 7-man mechanics and whether playoffs are officiated differently than the regular season
DAFOA offseason with Ryan Walters and Andy Hamilton
Ryan Walters and Andy Hamilton talk about the off-season training meetings they have set up in Dayton and, next year, in Cincinnati.
Pregame - excerpts from Rule 2
We break down some definitions with Rule 2 that may be different from how you remember them - block in the back, clipping, invalid fair catch signal, force, and out of bounds
Illusion of precision
We play a couple of responses to the Des Moines episode and go over why we use a precise indicator like chains when all the actions up to that point, from setting the initial line to gain to spotting the ball, are imprecise.
Des Moines disappointment
A bonus episode portraying my thoughts regarding current incidents in Des Moines and West Memphis
Tack-ons and IWs
Three scenarios: tack-on fouls, how the neutral zone matters for illegal forward passes and ineligible downfield players, and inadvertent whistles.
FNS Pregame: Back judge
A pregame covering the primary responsibilities of the back judge with some play scenarios mixed in
Weird happenings on routine plays
Joey Garrison from Georgia joins to talk about when strange situations happen on routine plays
FNS Pregame - Passing
Review of the passing game and all of the elements within it
A kick is a kick is a kick
Review of a muffed kick with other shenanigans involved, multiple fouls when one occurs at the goal line, and principles on clock watching and hurdling
FNS Pregame - Penalties and flags
Overview of basic spots, all-but-one principle, running vs loose-ball plays, special enforcements - hopefully anything that involves fouls and penalties
Concepts and Absolutes
Short discussion around the two types of calls that we make - those that are absolutes that we should all call the same and those that we all have varying concepts of
FNS Pregame - Inside the head of a wing official
For this pregame episode, step into the thought process of a head linesman and a line judge during two plays.
Phantom fair catches and penalty enforcements - 2019 Review week 2
Review of play scenarios including post-game recovery, horse-collar tackles (or not), fair catches that aren't, false starts that might be, and options on a couple of different penalty scenarios.
FNS Pregame - Free kicks
Pregame episodes take a single topic and dive into them. This episode is solely on free kicks.
Goal line crashes and disagreement on spots - 2019 review week 1
Kicking off the start of football season with the first of many review episodes. Topics include players making themselves legal by going between the numbers between downs, goal line crashing by the wings, wings disagreeing on spots, getting turned around on punts when reporting fouls, unseen DPIs, and taking notes after games.
Overview of ZOOOM (the extra O is for Officials) with Andy Hamilton
Andy from ZOOOM joins to talk about their video platform and how it is specifically designed for officials
Getting excited for the season with Ron Wright
Ron Wright joins from North Dakota to talk about rationale in when to throw a flag, safety fouls, and patience.
Training and evaluation with Brad Brunet and TJ Restau from WMOA
Brad and TJ from WMOA discuss changes they've made to evaluate and rate officials for assigning to games and how training plays into all of that as well
40/25-second play clock rule change
I break down the new rule change regarding the play clock including about 10 play scenarios and how to treat each one.
Recap of Sioux Empire Clinic
Lessons learned from the Sioux Empire Football Officials Clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Summer preparation for season
Prior to heading to Sioux Empire Football Officials Clinic, I share some thoughts on how I'm preparing for the season and what some goals might be.
Game clock handling
A blown situation leads to re-reading of the rule book and time to dig into game clock handling
Formations
Quick run through of the various formation rules and how some of the odd formations we see out there cause us to think through the rules.
2019 Rule Changes (not involving play clocks)
Review of the new rule changes for 2019 - all except the 40-second play clock, which we'll cover in a future episode
National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) With Ken Koester
Ken talks about the benefits of NASO membership from Referee magazine, liability insurance, an annual Sports Officiating Summit, and many other great assets.
Whistle in a Haystack with Rick Hartzell and Dave Simon
Author Rick Hartzell and Editor Dave Simon talk about their book Whistle in a Haystack and how officiating can bring life lessons.
Tackling scenarios
Tackling scenarios are the subject of the day regarding horse-collar, face tackling, and spearing.
Free Kicks with Tyler Spear
Tyler Spear talks about free kick positioning and some momentum and onside kick scenarios
Punts with Mark Bradley
Mark Bradley joins to discuss punts and the various situations that can happen during a punt.
Referee-specific calls with Dan Johnson
Dan Johnson joins to talk about some of the calls that a referee is responsible for and how to start thinking about those situations as a newer referee
Emphasizing more technical content
This is a short episode transitioning to a slightly new format where we'll focus more on breaking down play scenarios packaged together.
Importance of Rule 2 with Jeff Carnes
Jeff Carnes from Gadsden, AL discusses importance of the definitions in Rule 2 and how they impact the rest of the rulebook.
Playoff prep with Jason Carroll
Jason Carroll returns to talk about how he approached playoffs as a referee for a crew that went to a state championship game.
Discovering history with Scott Hanson
Scott Hanson talks about working in the Phoenix area, pick plays, safety, sportsmanship, and two books he has authored about Arizona history related to sports.
Pregames with Josh Canales
Josh Canales from Bakersfield, CA talks about the pregames he's been in and those he's run, what is important to cover, and whether having pop quizzes during the pregame is useful. Starting this week, each podcast will contain about 10 minutes of reading from the rule book at the end, just in case you want another way to consume the rule book. In this episode, we start with Rule 2.
Rule committee evaluation with Will Prewitt
Will Prewitt, a high school official of 22 years and commissioner of the Great American Conference, talks about his time with the NCAA rules committee. We also talk about the mindset of how to handle officiating controversy in public.
Video Review as a part of your toolkit with Tim Kiefer
Tim Kiefer, founder of MIBTOnline.com, describes how the virtual association within MIBTOnline reviews plays on a weekly basis during the season and helps with preparation in the offseason.
Camping in the Dakotas with Sioux Empire Football Officials Clinic
Orrin Anderson, Director of the Sioux Empire Football Officials Clinic, comes by to talk about the Clinic, held June 24th and 25th, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Training throughout the early stages with Mike Bezner
Mike Bezner with the Big Sky Conference and Portland Football Officials Association discusses various stages of training they go through in their association and we talk officiating philosophies.
HS to small college path with Dwayne and Tyler from Rule 11
Hosts of the Rule 11 podcast, Tyler and Dwayne, join to talk about their start as officials, how they got their podcast started, and camps to consider.