Upon Further Review: Consistent Inconsistency in ACC Officiating

There are three basic traits that league commissioners and their officiating managers want to see in their crews. Professionalism, game management, and consistency. When I was with NASCAR, David Hoots and the tower staff made every effort to be consistent – not perfect. Consistency means that the game is fair, and competitors know what's expected of them during the event.

The ACC officiating this year has been anything but that, and the recent meltdowns of Narduzzi and Fisher are just moments where the frustration has reached the public eye. There are a LOT of illustrations I can pick from this year – pass interference, holding, ineligible downfield have all been called inconsistently in games – and not just in games played by Virginia Tech. Let's take a look at the targeting rule and application in the Duke game. This a great, high profile example.

If you need a primer on targeting, check out this post from earlier in the season.

The call against Edmunds is correct, by rule. It's also the exact situation I mentioned, where the booth initiated the targeting call during the dead-ball injury time out. There needs to be some discussion at the NCAA Rules Committee level to address situations where the defender is attempting legal contact and the offensive player initiates the contact in an attempt to make the ubiquitous football move. That's the case with Edmunds, and it didn't matter because the rule itself has no "wiggle room" for officials. That's where the statement in Rule 9-1-4 makes it clear that "when in question, it is a foul."

The hit on Virginia Tech TE Chris Cunningham stands in stark contrast to Edmunds'. The intent of the Targeting rule is to protect players from unnecessary blows to the head. The Duke defender turns his hips, crouches, and explodes into Cunningham. The first point of contact is the head.

That's EXACTLY the type of hit that's supposed to be flagged. Crouching and/or launching into the player are specific indicators of targeting. As with Edmunds, there was a dead ball period immediately after the hit. There was plenty of opportunity for the Replay Official to look at this and buzz Ron Cherry.

And therein lies my Key Point here for The Key Play. Inconsistent officiating extends beyond the on-field crew all the way down I-85 to Greensboro, North Carolina. Those of you that follow me on Twitter know I'm passionate about officiating. I'd much rather explain the nuances of why a particular call was correct than criticize officials en masse. The ACC has a bunch of good people on the field in stripes, but the system in which they are operating is absolutely broken.

The time has come for independent review and grading of sports officials/crews, perhaps in all the top-tier college sports.

The tools are there. The system being used for instant replay provides a wealth of synchronized HD video and should be improving the overall consistency and quality of officiating. They added the 8th official last season, and have expanded and centralized replay. So why are coaches and players not seeing increased consistency? The ACC makes no bones about the fact that there is a very low turnover of on-field crews. Perhaps it's time to rethink that philosophy. The players, coaches on the field and sidelines have to earn the right to be there every week. So should the officials on the field, in the booth, and in Greensboro.