How Are Officials Selected For, And Advanced Through, The Tournament?

[Bobref]

This is the first of a 4-part post, the goals of which are:

1. To inform those who do not know how official playoff selection and advancement works.
2. In particular, to explain how the coaches' vote system works, both in theory and practice, and why it is the major determinant in an officiating crew's playoff advancement.
3. To critically examine the coaches' vote system.
4. To offer suggestions as to how the system might be improved to better achieve the articulated goals.

In this first post, I've attached an IHSAA public document which explain the process in summary fashion. There is another IHSAA document, publicly available, which goes into painstaking detail how each component of the selection process is calculated. And if I can figure out a way to get it to upload, I'll do that. But before we get too far into the weeds on the way the current process works, I'd like to hear from coaches, fans, officials, anyone out there who has an interest in seeing these games officiated well, in answer to the following question:

What goals should an official playoff selection and advancement process be designed to accomplish?

And, we might as well get straight from the outset, it is not the purpose of this discussion to serve as a b*tch session for officials who don't like the system and/or are unhappy with their playoff advancement. We will critically examine aspects of the current system. But we do so in the spirit of evaluating the current system in light of the goals we identify, and then discussing how the system might be improved.

Finally, there are a lot of really smart and experienced people out there who might know comparatively little about officiating, but know quite a bit about how to devise an evaluative process in order to further some articulated goals. I'd really like to hear some out of the box thinking from those people.

Tournament Official Assigning Policy Football.pdf

[Impartial_Observer]

On 12/8/2021 at 12:25 PM, Bobref said:

7. Coaches' vote dependence influences officiating behavior in a negative way.

It stands to reason that since advancing in the playoffs is a goal for many crews, the officials on those crews will adopt behaviors they perceive as more likely to help them advance. Unfortunately, those behaviors do not necessarily correlate with good officiating practices. In same case, the coaches' vote system has operated to reinforce negative behaviors. Two examples come to mind.

First, sideline management and control has been a point of emphasis for a number of years. This is a safety issue, not a cosmetic or "territory" issue. As a consequence, the IHSAA has repeatedly urged officials to strictly enforce the restricted area and sideline rules. In contrast, many coaches don't like that. They like to be as close to the sidelines as possible, or even a little way out on the field, so that the players on the field can easily see and hear them. There is a perception among officials that coaches react negatively to being told to get off the field, get out of the restricted area, etc., and that negative reaction manifests itself in the coaches' vote. So, some officials are lax in enforcing the sideline rules in the belief they are avoiding the negative effect on their coaches' vote rating.

A second area where the fear of an unfavorable coaches' vote causes some officials to let things slide is uniform violations. The IHSAA has been very clear with its officials. They want uniform violations cleaned up. Uniform adornments, pants or jerseys that are too short, face paint that looks like it came right out of Braveheart, etc., all those things need to be caught in the pregame and corrected. But more than one coach has expressed frustration when a crew member comes up to him just before game time and informs him that he's got 10 kids with illegal face paint and two that are wearing pants that don't cover the knee. So, some officials let those things slide. And it's not a defense that they are "nitpicky." We all have a boss. Our boss wants those rules enforced, so we should enforce them.

Although the vast majority of coaches undoubtedly participate in the process in an ethical way, every official has a story about a coach who threatened a bad coaches' vote after a controversial call. Such conduct is grounds for an immediate unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but again, apprehension about the effect such an action would have on a coaches' vote -- one that would follow a crew for several years -- sometimes prevents officials from doing what they should. 

In short, while incentivizing behavior that leads to better officiating is a goal of our process, in this regard the coaches' vote actually works contrary to the articulated goal.

Someone’s been listening to Freakonomics. Incentives seldom achieve the state goal. 

[Yuccaguy]

On 6/30/2022 at 10:02 AM, Impartial_Observer said:

Someone’s been listening to Freakonomics. Incentives seldom achieve the state goal. 

A week PRIOR to every contest, I alert each school the "uniform policy" and that it WILL BE ENFORCED!  In most situations this has NOT be an issue when we arrive at the game site on Friday nights.  Occasionally it has been an issue, and that's when the silliness begins.  

As for the sidelines, I have each of MY Line guys address this during our pre-game meeting and tell each school it WILL be enforced.....VOTES BE DAMNED!   

I honestly don't understand why crews continue to worry about what they perceive as vote 'slights' when they seem to be the OUTLIERS in enforcement of the published rules/suggestions via the IHSAA/NFHS.  

Honestly, this may be a "holier than than thou" pontification on my part...As many of you know who I am....  But I believe that if we ALL ascribed to the same basic principles.  The vote/ranking situation could even itself out with the 'middling crews' and allow them to advance.   

IMO..it seems to be those that are outside of the norm just show up on Friday nights and let things slide....are the most vocal and egregious who wonder how/why they cannot advance due to the current system in place.

We have too many crews officiating the same school(s) multiple times in the regular season; Too many crews officiating within the same classification(s) during the regular season; Too many crews officiating within the same conference(s) during the regular season; Too many crews not seeking diverse offensive/defensive schemes during the regular season. 

And then these same crews,  year in and year out cannot figure out why they do not garner the votes/rankings that allow them to advance. Diversity and an ongoing familiarity with multiple schools and schemes they employ is needed. 

Occasionally the term "homer" needs to be taken into consideration:  Perhaps hinted as the "MO" the crew has employed as their past and future.....Changes needed?  

Just my $ .02

 

[Bobref]

The most troubling thing I heard about the coaches’ vote recently was when someone told me that, in some cases, assigners were asked to do the coaches’ voting by some of the schools they assign. Does anyone know this to be a fact?

[JustRules]

Getting a bad vote because you enforced a uniform or sideline rule may make a difference between a first or second round assignment or getting a first round game. In a few rare cases it could separate a second round crew from a sectional final crew. Also keep in mind every crew in that mix probably has bad votes for they would consider "silly" reasons. So there is no guarantee the order would change significantly if they threw out all requests for these bad votes.

The crews advancing to the regional round and beyond are largely due to a VOLUME of votes. Yes you can get some volume by working a larger variety of schools around the state. But the biggest reason for getting a larger volume of votes is by having a crew member (especially referee/crew chief) who is well known by a large number of coaches and/or ADs. These officials often work deep into the basketball and/or baseball tournaments. Other sports can impact as well but to a much lesser extent. Some are current or former coaches/school administrators.

This is the product of the nature of the vote process. Each AD accesses the voting ballots and sees a list of those they can vote for. Prior to last year they would see all crew chiefs that applied for the tournament. Last year they limited it to crews the IHSAA had on file who had worked that school's games in the last 3 years. This has a chance to upset the historical benefit the veteran crews have received. We'll see how it plays out going forward.

I agree with the earlier poster who says the regional round is often the backlog. The IHSAA did do something last year where the crews who had worked a state final the previous year would only work 2 rounds rather than the 3 rounds they were eligible to work to allow more crews to work the sectional final round making more eligible crews next year for the regional round. This shows the IHSAA is thinking about ways to create more eligible crews for later rounds and giving them that opportunity. Time will tell how this plays out in practice.

[Bobref]

3 hours ago, JustRules said:

The IHSAA did do something last year where the crews who had worked a state final the previous year would only work 2 rounds rather than the 3 rounds they were eligible to work to allow more crews to work the sectional final round making more eligible crews next year for the regional round. This shows the IHSAA is thinking about ways to create more eligible crews for later rounds and giving them that opportunity. Time will tell how this plays out in practice.

The IHSAA should be applauded for their efforts to enlarge the pool of crews available to advance. Unfortunately, this amounts to putting lipstick on a pig. As long as the coaches’ vote is the primary factor in advancement, the problem remains. Perception is reality. And the prevailing perception among officials is that there is no direct connection between the coaches’ vote and officiating proficiency. It is very difficult to convince officials that if they pay more attention to things like proper mechanics and consistent application of proper philosophy, they will became better officials, when the perception is that coaches don’t know anything about mechanics or philosophy, nor do they care and, therefore, excellence in those areas is not reflected in the coaches’ vote. This perception is bolstered when, for example, a crew shows up every 4 years for decades in Indianapolis on Thanksgiving weekend, and their mechanics look like a Saturday Night Live skit. Other officials see that and ask themselves why they should care about those things if the coaches who hold the crews’ tournament advancement in their hands don’t. It’s hard to fault that logic. So, some officials quit in frustration. But even those that don’t are not being properly incentivized, and the quality of officiating suffers as a result.

[Yuccaguy]

On 7/4/2022 at 2:25 PM, JustRules said:

Getting a bad vote because you enforced a uniform or sideline rule may make a difference between a first or second round assignment or getting a first round game. In a few rare cases it could separate a second round crew from a sectional final crew. Also keep in mind every crew in that mix probably has bad votes for they would consider "silly" reasons. So there is no guarantee the order would change significantly if they threw out all requests for these bad votes.

The crews advancing to the regional round and beyond are largely due to a VOLUME of votes. Yes you can get some volume by working a larger variety of schools around the state. But the biggest reason for getting a larger volume of votes is by having a crew member (especially referee/crew chief) who is well known by a large number of coaches and/or ADs. These officials often work deep into the basketball and/or baseball tournaments. Other sports can impact as well but to a much lesser extent. Some are current or former coaches/school administrators.

This is the product of the nature of the vote process. Each AD accesses the voting ballots and sees a list of those they can vote for. Prior to last year they would see all crew chiefs that applied for the tournament. Last year they limited it to crews the IHSAA had on file who had worked that school's games in the last 3 years. This has a chance to upset the historical benefit the veteran crews have received. We'll see how it plays out going forward.

I agree with the earlier poster who says the regional round is often the backlog. The IHSAA did do something last year where the crews who had worked a state final the previous year would only work 2 rounds rather than the 3 rounds they were eligible to work to allow more crews to work the sectional final round making more eligible crews next year for the regional round. This shows the IHSAA is thinking about ways to create more eligible crews for later rounds and giving them that opportunity. Time will tell how this plays out in practice.

The BOLDED and italicized statements WILL again be employed this season, for those crews that seek to advance and are of the belief that crews who've been at LOS aren't in compliance with wanting MORE crews to also get to a State Final.....