 Officiating stories don’t all start the same—and that’s what makes them so powerful. This week, we’re spotlighting Cody, whose journey into football officiating started with a push from his wife and turned into a total life transformation. From calling fouls from the couch to running five miles a day and stepping onto the field 125 pounds lighter, Cody has found a new passion, a new team, and the best seat in the house. Here’s Cody’s story, in his own words: What made you decide to become a football official?
Honestly, this was something my wife really thought I should do. I had retired from the corporate life and was looking for something to fill my time. One lazy Sunday, we were watching football, and as most of us do, I was calling all the fouls from the comfort of my recliner in 4K. Karen turned to me and said, “That’s what you should do—you should go ref football. You’d be great at it!” I laughed and said, “Yeah, I doubt that.” At the time, I was over 330 pounds and in no shape to run around a yard, much less a football field. After listing all the reasons I wouldn’t be a good official, she fired back with her list of reasons I would. With that, and maybe a little bit of cosmic karma, I decided to set it as a goal. That was March 2021. By November 2022, I had reached my goal weight of 205 pounds—125 pounds lost—and was running an average of five miles a day. I emailed the association and started my officiating journey in May 2023 with my first meeting. Do you officiate any other sports? I did wrestling in my first year, which was a good experience. But this past year, I decided to really focus solely on football. What do you enjoy most about officiating? This is tough—there’s no way I could pick just one reason. My first year felt like playing a round of golf. Some games were rough, others were better, and once in a while, I’d hit that perfect “shot.” It was those moments when it all clicked that kept me coming back. My second year was a different experience. I was more relaxed, understood more, and I had the incredible opportunity to be assigned to an outstanding crew. That’s when I really fell in love with it. That group made every Friday night something I looked forward to. They pushed me to be better with each game. It’s all the love and excitement I had as a player, reborn—and it’s the best seat in the house. What would you tell someone who’s thinking about joining? Do it! If the thought has crossed your mind and you love the sport—go for it. The feelings you had as a player are the same ones you get to experience again while watching the next generation of student-athletes. You’re front row for every joyful and heartbreaking moment these games bring. How many years have you been officiating high school football? I’ll be going into my third year this upcoming season—and it can’t get here fast enough.
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 At SEFOA, we’re proud to have officials who bring not only experience and dedication to the field—but heart, energy, and a genuine love for the game. We’re spotlighting a few of our members to give you a closer look at the people behind the stripes. This week, we’re featuring Laura Kaiser, a multi-sport official who brings passion, perspective, and purpose to every game she steps into. From basketball and swimming to football and softball, Laura brings her all—and we’re lucky to have her on the team. Here’s what she had to say about her path to officiating and why she keeps coming back season after season.  Whether you're already part of the SEFOA or just curious about what it takes to become a high school football official, we invite you to join us for a casual night out at Back Bay Brewing Co. Farmhouse on Friday, April 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.
We’ll be showing up in our stripes—literally. No formal presentations, no pressure, just a group of officials enjoying a beer and being available to answer questions for anyone who wants to learn more about what we do. For SEFOA Officials: If you’re part of our association, we’d love to see you there. Throw on your stripes and come hang out. The first 20 officials who attend in uniform will receive their first beer on us. It’s a simple way to show up, be visible, and help others see what makes this profession special. For Anyone Interested in Officiating: If you’ve ever thought about officiating high school football—or just want to learn more—this is a great chance to talk with real officials and hear what it’s like. You’ll get honest answers about what’s involved, how to get started, and why so many of us keep coming back year after year. No pressure. No signup required. Just come hang out, grab a beer, and see if it might be a good fit. Event Details: Sips & Stripes Friday, April 18 | 6–8 p.m. Back Bay Brewing Co. Farmhouse 1805 Kempsville Rd, Virginia Beach, VA We'll be the ones in stripes. Hope to see you there. SEFOA proudly trains and supports football officials across Southeastern Virginia.
Football Rules Changes - 2019 BY STATE ASSOCIATION ADOPTION, USE OF VIDEO REVIEW ALLOWED FOR STATE POST-SEASON CONTESTS [1-3-7 NOTE (NEW), TABLE 1-7 – 1-3-7 NOTE (NEW)] Rationale: By state association adoption, instant replay may only be used during state postseason contests to review decisions by the on-field game officials. This adoption would allow state associations to develop protocols for use of video replay. IMPROVED VISIBILITY OF NUMBERS [1-5-1c, 1-5-1c(6) (NEW)] Rationale: The purpose of numbers on jerseys is to provide clear identification of players. In order to enhance the ability to easily identify players, the committee has clarified the size requirements for jersey numbers through the 2023 season. The committee also added a new requirement that, effective in the 2024 season, jersey numbers must be a single solid color that clearly contrasts with the body color of the jersey. REDEFINED REQUIREMENTS FOR A LEGAL SCRIMMAGE FORMATION (2-14-1, 7-2-5a) Rationale: A legal scrimmage formation now requires at least five offensive players on their line of scrimmage with no more than four backs. This change will make it easier to identify legal and illegal offensive formations. 40-SECOND PLAY CLOCK (2-35-1, 3-6-1, 3-6-2a, 7-2-1) Rationale: To have a more consistent time period between downs, the rules committee approved situations where 40 seconds will be placed on the play clock. The new rule defines when 40 seconds will be placed on the play clock and when 25 seconds will be placed on the play clock. PROHIBITION ON TRIPPING THE RUNNER [2-45, 9-4-3o (NEW), 9-4-3o PENALTY (NEW)] Rationale: In an effort to decrease risk, tripping the runner is now prohibited. It is now a foul to intentionally use the lower leg or foot to obstruct a runner below the knees. ILLEGAL KICKING AND BATTING PENALTY REDUCED (6-2-1 PENALTY, 9-7 PENALTY) Rationale: The penalty for illegally kicking or batting the ball was reduced from 15 yards to 10 yards. HORSE-COLLAR TACKLE ADDITION (9-4-3k) Rationale: Grabbing the name plate area of the jersey of the runner, directly below the back collar, and pulling the runner to the ground is now an illegal personal contact foul. 2019 EDITORIAL CHANGES 1-1-9, 1-3-6, 1-5-5, 1-6-1 NOTE, TABLE 1-7, 2-6-2b, 2-8, 2-24-3, 2-25-1, 2-26-5, 2-28-1, 2-43, 3-1-2, TABLE 3-1, 3-3-1, 3-4, 3-4-1, 3-4-2, 3-4-3, 3-4-4, 3-4-5, 3-4-6, 3-4-8, 3-5-2 NOTE b, 3-5-3, 3-5-6, 3-5-7j, 3-5-9, 3-5-10, 3-5-10a, 3-6-2d, 4-1-6, 4-3-6, 5-2-2, 5-2-4, 5-3-1, 5-3-2 NOTE, 6-5-4, 6-5 PENALTY, 7-1-5, 7-1-7, 7-2-6, 7-2 PENALTY, TABLE 7-5-2, TABLE 7-5, 8-3-2, 8-5-2 EXCEPTION, 9-2-3a, 9-3 PENALTY, 9-4 PENALTY, 9-4-6b, 9-9-5 NOTE, 10-4-2c EXCEPTION, 10-5-1c, 10-5-1j, Resolving Tied Games, Nine-, Eight-, Six-Player Rules Differences, Penalty Summary, Index. 2019 POINTS OF EMPHASIS
For the next 12 weeks, The End Zone will be advice from the "Next Level" series in Referee Magazine. I hope you all take advantage. There is some great advice here. This is a great way to enhance your off-season training. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a just getting started, this is information we can all use. Enjoy! WEEK 12: MISCELLANEOUS
1. Have a short memory. It’s important to have a short memory when it comes to a missed call. An official who stews over a missed call on one play loses focus and is more likely to miss several subsequent calls. 2. Don’t take comments to heart. There will be times when coaches or others will approach you to tell you what a good job you did. Take those kudos with a grain of salt. If you believe them when they say you’re great, you have to believe them when they say you stink. Ask crewmates for input on your performance. Fellow officials know the rules and mechanics better than non-officials and are more likely to give you an honest and accurate appraisal. 3. Use cross-field mechanics when appropriate. The official on the side of the field on which a play ends may have players blocking his view. The official on the opposite side is likely to have a good open look and can help with the spot. When blocked out on the sideline, look across the field to see where your counterpart has marked the spot. Then go to it like you knew it all along. 4. Always count the players. Make eye contact with other officials who count the same team. If you have 11, extend your fist in front of you. If you count less than 11, place your palms on your chest and splay your fingers. If you count more than 11, place two fingers of each hand on your chest. If the official you’re looking at gives a different signal, you should both quickly recount until you agree. If you don’t complete your count before the ball is snapped, officiate the play. As soon as it’s over, quickly count the team in question. If the count reveals there are more than 11, throw your flag. That’s illegal participation. When the ball is dead, pay attention to substitutions. If your team doesn’t substitute, guess what? You’ve still got 11. But you still need to signal to your crewmate. For the next 12 weeks, The End Zone will be advice from the "Next Level" series in Referee Magazine. I hope you all take advantage. There is some great advice here. This is a great way to enhance your off-season training. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a just getting started, this is information we can all use. Enjoy! WEEK 11: KICKING 1. When determining the penalty for hitting a kicker, the leg makes a difference. Punters in the act of kicking and who have just completed the kick are unable to protect themselves. The rules offer protection in the form of two fouls — roughing and running into the kicker. The punter’s non-kicking leg is vulnerable, whether or not it is planted on the ground. When the defender contacts that leg, there should be no question that roughing the kicker is the call. The lesser foul is usually appropriate for contact on the kicking leg, including when the defender rolls under the kicker. Remember, however, that a rusher who touches the ball and then unavoidably contacts the kicker is excused. When in question, the foul is roughing, not running into. 2. Beanbags are important implements on kick plays. Beanbags are used to mark non-penalty spots. Two of those occasions involve the spot where a scrimmage kick ends and the spot where the kicking team touched the ball. Due to post-scrimmage kick penalty enforcement, the spot where the kick ends (a kick ends when a player gains possession or when the ball becomes dead by rule, such as going out of bounds) is vital. The covering official must drop his beanbag on the appropriate yardline in case it becomes a spot of penalty enforcement. When the kicking team is first to touch a kick, the spot at which that touching occurs is important. Depending on the outcome of the play, the receiving team may choose that spot for its new series. For the next 12 weeks, The End Zone will be advice from the "Next Level" series in Referee Magazine. I hope you all take advantage. There is some great advice here. This is a great way to enhance your off-season training. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a just getting started, this is information we can all use. Enjoy! WEEK 10: SCORING PLAYS
1. When in question, it is not a touchdown. Touchdowns should be earned rather than awarded on a technicality. Be sure the ball is in the runner’s possession and that it breaks the plane of the goalline. Wing officials earn their salt by being able to discern the location of the ball when a runner takes the ball into the middle of the line on a goalline play. Don’t mirror a signal made by another official unless you are positive of your call. Two wrong signals don’t equal one correct call. 2. When in question, it is not a safety. The entire ball must be out of the end zone in order for a team to avoid a safety. That being the case, because a safety is a scoring play, the offense is given the benefit of doubt if the official is unsure of the location of the ball. For the next 12 weeks, The End Zone will be advice from the "Next Level" series in Referee Magazine. I hope you all take advantage. There is some great advice here. This is a great way to enhance your off-season training. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a just getting started, this is information we can all use. Enjoy! WEEK 9: OFFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE
1. Actions that constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to the following four categories: • Initiating contact with a defender by shoving or pushing off thus creating separation in an attempt to catch a pass. • Driving through a defender who has established a position on the field. • Blocking downfield during a pass that legally crosses the line of scrimmage. • Picking off a defender who is attempting to cover a receiver. 2. Offensive pass interference for blocking downfield should not be called if the pass is nowhere near the contact. If the pass is thrown to one side of the field and a block is thrown on the far opposite side, it is unrealistic to think that defender was prevented from making a play on the ball. It is good preventive officiating to counsel the blocker that the same block may be illegal if it occurs in the vicinity of where a pass is directed. 3. Offensive pass interference should not be called on a screen pass when the ball is overthrown behind the line of scrimmage but subsequently lands beyond the expanded line of scrimmage (up to three yards) and linemen are blocking downfield, unless such blocking prevents a defensive player from catching the ball. Officials realize not everything is black and white; some situations involve shades of gray. Good referees understand that potential interference on a screen pass is one of those gray areas. The art of officiating should be applied to not prolong the series unnecessarily. No advantage is gained by a man downfield on that play. 4. A flag for interference should not be thrown at the instant an offensive player initiates contact downfield. Remember that the play must ultimately involve a pass that flies beyond the neutral zone. If the offense runs the ball or tosses a pass behind the line, the early contact is not illegal. So, when an end hustles out to throw a block on a defensive back or linebacker, you must store that action (and the jersey number of the blocker) in your memory to let the play unfold. Delay the flag until that preliminary block qualifies for a pass interference call. For the next 12 weeks, The End Zone will be advice from the "Next Level" series in Referee Magazine. I hope you all take advantage. There is some great advice here. This is a great way to enhance your off-season training. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a just getting started, this is information we can all use. Enjoy! WEEK 8: DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE
1. Actions that constitute defensive pass interference include, but are not limited to, the following six categories: • Early contact by a defender who is not playing the ball is defensive pass interference provided the other requirements for defensive pass interference have been met, regardless of how deep the pass is thrown to the receiver. • Playing through the back of a receiver in an attempt to make a play on the ball. • Grabbing and restricting a receiver’s arm(s) or body in such a manner that restricts his opportunity to catch a pass. • Extending an arm across the body (arm bar) of a receiver thus restricting his ability to catch a pass, regardless of the fact of whether or not the defender is looking for the ball. • Cutting off or riding the receiver out of the path to the ball by making contact with him without playing the ball. • Hooking and restricting a receiver in an attempt to get to the ball in such a manner that causes the receiver’s body to turn prior to the ball arriving. 2. Develop a feel for the legality of contact. When determining whether contact qualifies for an interference call, some officials employ a test similar to the block-charge distinction used by basketball officials. Did the offensive player charge into the contact, or is it a case of unavoidable contact that warrants a no-call? Still other officials think in terms of advantage-disadvantage when deciding whether contact should draw a flag. While those notions can give you a feel for the play and help build consistency in the way you call interference, do not rely on them to the exclusion of knowing and applying the rules. 3. Enforce a penalty only in those cases in which the contact involves an obvious intent to impede the opponent. You will often see a play in which a defender has one arm across the receiver’s back while his other arm reaches across to knock the pass away. Some officials (and most offensive coaches) incorrectly think that should automatically draw a flag for defensive pass interference. However, unless the defender uses the arm across the receiver’s back to grasp, control, spin or slow the receiver, let a good football play stand and keep the flag in your pocket. The same philosophy should apply any time a receiver and defender trip accidentally when their feet entangle. Don’t make a cheap pass interference call when the contact is inadvertent or incidental to fair play. Distinguish those examples of unavoidable or incidental contact, where a no-call is appropriate, from the type of play in which the defender knocks the pass away from a position directly behind the intended receiver. If the defender hits the opponent flush between the numbers when making a move to deflect the ball, defensive pass interference should be called. The penalty is legitimate because the defender could not have broken up the pass without going through the receiver’s body. Calls on pass interference can be tough, close calls. When a safety hits the receiver even a split second before the ball arrives, the contact is illegal. Make sure, though, that you actually see the interference; don’t let crowd reaction influence you to call it. 4. Once the offense throws the ball, all eligible players on both teams have equal territorial rights to move toward, catch or deflect the pass. Do not flag either side when there is a collision (unavoidable or incidental contact) between opponents who are both trying to catch, bat or otherwise make a play on the ball. Know a good, fair football play when you see it and don’t ruin it with an unwarranted penalty. A defender cannot exercise that right, however, if he is not looking for the pass. Thus, two things an official should consider in a potential defensive pass interference call are whether contact occurred and whether the defender was “playing the ball” (looking for it) or “playing the receiver” (looking at him) when the contact occurred. (In NCAA rules, the ball must also be catchable.) There is no foul if a receiver and defender get “tangled feet” and both hit the ground, as long as both of them are looking for the ball; if one is playing the opponent and not the ball, he will draw a flag. |
Blog AuthorLance Ulrich has been a football official since 2002, and a member of SEFOA since 2009. Archives
March 2023
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