Days after Steve Spurrier was reprimanded by the SEC for complaining about football officiating, Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer has been added to the pillory for daring to speak out.
Laughably, he was cited under a “Code of Ethics” that prohibits public criticism of league officials. One has to wonder how long *that* concept would stand up under First Amendment scrutiny.
Fulmer apologized, of course, saying, “I should have worked through the SEC office channels to express my frustrations.”
Now *there’s* a winning strategy. Just ask Steve Spurrier how well that’s worked for him over the years. Ask LSU how much the apology they got for the blown call at Florida earlier this year has helped their ranking in the polls. Ron Zook might have a comment or two as well.
Rivalries aside, the SEC is comprised of some of the best educational institutions in the nation, schools that spend real resources striving to portray themselves in a positive light to enable them to fulfill their academic missions.
What the SEC *can’t* afford is prime-time reinforcement of the Mayberry, RFD stereotype already attached to schools in the South. Yet when a coach dares to complain, the league’s imperious, smack-down response invariably gives just that.
The problem with “working the system” is that the core issue never gets addressed: Officials are demonstratably making mistakes, big ones, that are affecting the outcome of league games. Surprisingly, some of the coaches are a bit miffed about that.
A better path for the league might be to pay more attention to what is *causing* the coaches to speak out in the first place. I think I can speak for every team out there when I say that they want to win, or lose, honestly and fairly.
The Ol’ Ball Coach embraces the best idea yet for dealing with the issue: Do away with the concept of ‘league officials’. Let the NCAA establish the metrics for officiating competency and provide the personnel to call the games.
Sounds like a plan.