Pac-12 fans will see same replays as referees

Fans at Pac-12 games will be able to see the same replays officials do during reviews. (USATSI)

BURBANK, Calif. — The Pac-12 has either hit upon the next great idea in fan engagement … or is primed for another officiating debacle.

This season, the league will begin showing on stadium scoreboards the same replays available to officials when they go under the hood for a review during a game.

If there are six angles of a particular play, fans in attendance will see all six angles. While those fans will be more informed, that doesn’t mean it will change their perception of the “right” call.

Commissioner Larry Scott isn’t worried.

“It’s more important we make the experience as interactive as possible,” Scott told CBSSports.com Thursday at the kickoff of the Pac-12 media days.

“I think our officiating gets a bad rap for reasons I don’t completely understand. That probably predated me. I’m going to push us in a direction to be more transparent.”

The idea is to cut down on the mystery surrounding reviewed plays. At least in the stadium, fans become increasingly skeptical and impatient as reviews drag on.

The overall length of games has increased almost 15 minutes since 2008. But don’t blame play reviews as those have stayed fairly constant — less than two per game lasted an average of 75 seconds.

Specifically for the Pac-12, it’s a road back to officiating credibility. The head referee in the infamous 2006 Oregon-Oklahoma game, Dave Cutaia, was suspended. Amazingly, Cutaia later became the league’s supervisor of officials.

The replay official in that game, Gordon Riese, was also an on-field official for infamous Cal-Stanford game in 1982.

Pac-12 coordinator Tony Corrente quit during last season citing unfair criticism of his officials. Scott said Corrente was “very, very resistant” to change.

“One of my criteria in bringing in a new a head of officiating was to be open, more transparent, more communicative,” Scott said.

Corrente has been replaced by former NFL official David Coleman, who also served as the league’s director of officiating following a stint with the Pentagon. The Pac-12 has made Coleman a full-time employee, unlike some other major conferences who use supervisors on a contract basis.

“We’re not about repairing [Pac-12 officials’ reputation], we’re about going forward,” Coleman told CBSSports.com.

Fans will see, “the exact thing that the replay official is looking at upstairs. It’s like you’re sitting right next to the guy,” he said.

A typical replay booth includes one replay official, a communicator and a technician. Some conferences use two communicators to coordinate contact with on-field officials.

It’s up to each conference regarding replays, according to Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of officials.

“There’s a balance between showing replays and running the risk of making officials uncomfortable,” Redding said. “Most officials don’t worry about that stuff.

“As it stands, there’s so much going on, fans can bring their tablets to the game. It’s not a big deal to the officials anyway.”

Scott said Coleman will be more available to the media and may also have his own show on the Pac-12 Network this season.

“It’s less of a position of defensiveness,” Scott said.

“It’s more transparency, more about the fan experience. I want to make sure fans have everything fans at home can see.”

More from the 2015 Pac-12 Football Media Days…

Tailback Storm Barrs-Woods wants to be the next Melvin Gordon. At least that’s the first thing that popped into the senior’s mind when former Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen came to Oregon State. “Most definitely,” said the Beavers’ leading rusher. Never mind that Barrs-Woods finished more than 1,800 yards behind the Wisconsin Heisman Trophy finalist, he is smitten with Andersen. “Immediately when they hired him, I was immediately on my laptop,” Barr-Woods said. “He actually called me the day after and talked to me for about 30 minutes. Everything he was saying blew me away.”
UCLA’s Jim Mora discussed Thursday the lack of expectations his team is facing this season. “I would like no one to ever rank us, no one to ever cover us, I would never like to be on TV,” he said. The Bruins were picked third in the preseason media poll behind USC and Arizona State in the South Division. They were picked fourth overall to win the conference behind USC, Oregon and Arizona State.
They say it’s good to have your toughest games at home. Don’t tell that to Colorado. The Buffaloes play in a division (Pac-12 South) where all five teams above it won at least nine games last year. CU’s home conference games this season are Arizona, Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State. All four are ranked in the top 22 of the first coaches’ poll released Thursday. That group includes the last two pairs of Pac-12 championship game participants. (Arizona-Oregon, 2014; Stanford-Arizona State, 2013). Combined winning percentage of those four teams the last two years — .743. Colorado, 2-10 last year, hasn’t had a winning season since 2005.
	Pac-12
Consider it the first informal lobby made to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Scott made sure he pointed out Thursday that the Pac-12 is the only conference that plays nine league games and a conference championship game. “No one will have a tougher road to the playoff than the Pac-12 champions,” Scott said. Big 12, your thoughts?
	Quote of the day
“I can’t put God on my jersey, so I had to put my mom.” — Oregon State’s running back on changing his name to Storm Barrs-Woods to honor his mother (Faith Barrs).

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