The Southeastern Conference 2009 college football season was particularly controversial. Many coaches have complained about the officiating, and the conference has had to alter the punishments for violations of some of the rules.
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Alabama-LSU
On November 7, 2009, the LSU Tigers played against the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Alabama won the game, with the final score at 24-15. In this game, there was a controversial call dealing with a pass by Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy when there were just under six minutes left in the game and Alabama was ahead by six points, with the score at 21-15; LSU’s Patrick Peterson believed that he had secured the ball before going out of bounds, which would have made it an interception rather than an incomplete pass. However, the ruling on the field was confirmed after an official review, and it remained an incomplete pass. There was no “indisputable video evidence” for the instant replay official to overturn the call. Unlike Bobby Petrino, Dan Mullen, Lane Kiffin, and Urban Meyer, neither Alabama head coach Nick Saban nor LSU head coach Les Miles made negative comments about the officiating. Saban acknowledged that the officials work very hard and do their best to get all of the calls right. Miles pointed out that the officials were doing the best that they could. Javier Arenas, one of Alabama’s players, agreed with these coaches and stated that the referees have a very difficult job to do.
Alabama-Tennessee
The Tennessee Volunteers played against the Alabama Crimson Tide on October 24, 2009. Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin believed that Alabama’s Terrence Cody should have been penalized for unsportsmanlike behavior when he took off his helmet and threw it after he blocked a field goal on the last play of the game. This gave Alabama a win, with the final score at 12-10. Kiffin complained about this to the Southeastern Conference, stating that he decided to run the clock down at the end because he was afraid that the officiating would prevent Tennessee from making much progress. After he made that comment, he stated that he was certain that he would receive “one of those letters that really means nothing as Bobby [Petrino] got last week, but Alabama and Florida live on. Mike Slive responded by giving Kiffin a public reprimand, and the Southeastern Conference did not recognize the possible bad call. Slive also stated, “Coach Kiffin is on notice that for any further violation of SEC policies will subject him to additional penalties including suspension”. If Kiffin or another member of the University of Tennessee staff makes any more public comments such as these comments relating to the officiating, then Kiffin will be suspended for at least one game and the University of Tennessee could be fined. Kiffin had already been reprimanded once this year, after he accused Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer of breaking some rules concerning recruiting. Kiffin and Meyer have had a lot of conflict this season as well, causing Slive to have to talk to both coaches about it. After this new threat of suspension, Kiffin has not commented on the SEC’s recent changes in penalties for public criticism of officials. The SEC explained after the game why Cody and Alabama were not penalized: The foul for removing your helmet is treated as a dead ball foul (even if it occurs while the play is live) and assessed on the next play; since time expired on that play, there was no next play and thus no penalty.
Arkansas-Florida
Arkansas played at Florida on October 17, 2009. In this game, officials called a personal foul on Malcolm Sheppard, a defensive lineman for Arkansas. However, there was no video evidence for this penalty. In the end, Florida won the game 23-20. After Bobby Petrino, the head coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks, publicly commented on these calls, Mike Slive, the Southeastern Conference Commissioner, gave him a public reprimand.
Georgia-Florida
The Georgia Bulldogs played against the Florida Gators on October 31, 2009, and were defeated, with the final score at 41-17. After this game, Urban Meyer believed that a flag should have been called on Georgia linebacker Nick Williams for “knocking Tebow to the ground well after he had gotten rid of the football”. Tebow had handed the ball off to Jeff Demps and was watching the play when Williams hit him, before the play was over. In an interview, Meyer stated that he believed that there should have been a flag on that play and acknowledged that that was one of the plays that he sent in for review. After he stated this, Mike Slive announced that Meyer had violated the code of ethics for the Southeastern Conference and that “SEC bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that the coaches, players, and support personnel shall refrain from public criticism of officials.” Meyer was fined $30,000. He was the first to be fined under the harsher new penalties. Meyer responded by saying that he respected the league and its commissioner, and that he had not intended to criticize the official after being asked a question about that play. He then apologized for his comments on the subject.
Georgia-LSU
The game between LSU and Georgia, on October 3, 2009, was the beginning of this controversy. In this game, AJ Green, one of the players for the Georgia Bulldogs, was penalized for “excessive celebration” after a sixteen-yard catch in the end zone, giving Georgia a touchdown. This gave Georgia a 13-12 lead with just over a minute left in the game. This penalty forced Georgia to kick off from its own fifteen-yard line, which helped LSU to win the game. The final score was 20-13. The Southeastern Conference did admit the mistakes in this call, however.
Florida-Mississippi State
Florida played at Mississippi State on October 24, 2009. With 8:25 left in the game, Florida’s Dustin Doe intercepted a pass by Mississippi State’s Tyson Lee and then returned it for twenty-three yards, giving Florida a 28-13 lead. When Doe crossed the goal line into the end zone for the touchdown, the ball was knocked out of his hand and recovered by wide receiver Brandon McRae. After review, it remained a touchdown for Florida, although from the replay, it appeared as if the ball “may have come out before Doe crossed the goal line”. If the replay officials had decided that the ball did come out before he crossed the goal line, then Florida’s touchdown could have been taken away and Mississippi State would have gotten the ball at their own 20-yard-line with the score at 22-13, with Florida in the lead. After the game, Mississippi State’s head coach, Dan Mullen, complained about this officiating, stating that he hoped that the official would be punished severely. The Southeastern Conference replied by pointing out Rule 12-1-2 in the NCAA football rule book: "The instant replay process operates under the fundamental assumption that the ruling on the field is correct. The replay official may reverse a ruling if and only if the video evidence convinces him beyond all doubt that the ruling was incorrect. Without such indisputable video evidence, the replay official must allow the ruling to stand. The SEC refused to make any further comment on the call." They gave Coach Mullen a public reprimand and did not acknowledge the possible error in officiating.
Suspension of officials
Following the Arkansas-Florida game, the Southeastern Conference suspended the crew of referees that worked the LSU-Georgia game and the Arkansas-Florida game. Mike Slive commented on the fact that the calls were not to the standard that officiating crews for the SEC are expected to have This was the first time that the SEC has suspended a crew publicly. According to Mike Slive, “because the two calls we had to deal with came from the same crew we felt it was important to do something we don’t normally do, which is to talk publicly about the situations." These referees were suspended until November 14, 2009.
Harsher penalties for publicly criticizing SEC officials
After three Southeastern Conference coaches publicly criticized officiating and were reprimanded, the conference decided to fine or suspend coaches for future violations of the rule against public criticism of officiating, and Mike Slive will set the fines and determine the suspension length. Whether the comment is made by the head coach or by an assistant coach or other personnel involved in the institution’s athletic program, the head coach will receive the penalty. The decision to make the penalty for violations of this bylaw more severe was unanimous among the SEC’s Athletic Directors, and it had the full support of the twelve Presidents and Chancellors in the SEC. Although the penalties for violating bylaw 10.5.4 are harsher than in the past, the coaches will still have appropriate methods of addressing concerns of officiating; the conference will “continue to address reviews of officiating calls on specific plays with each institution’s head coach and no public comments will be made concerning these communications”.
Conspiracy theory
As a result of all the controversial officiating and the public reprimands for the criticisms made by the coaches who may or may not have been the victims of bad officiating, many people came to the conclusion that the Southeastern Conference was trying to help Florida and Alabama win their games. Lane Kiffin intensified this conspiracy theory when he stated that he let the clock run down instead of making another play because he was afraid that the officiating would work against him. He claimed that he was sure that he would get a letter of reprimand after saying these things, while Florida and Alabama continued their winning streaks. After these statements, however, Mike Slive argued, “there is no conspiracy involved here. I want to put that idea to rest”. He refuted the claim that SEC officiating crews were trying to help Alabama and Florida remain undefeated, adding that, “I think that takes these issues to a place that really doesn’t make sense”. He pointed out that his job is to try to do what was best for the conference, and that that is what he is trying to do. The Southeastern Conference’s coordinator of officials stated that he did not believe that the officiating in the 2009 season was any worse than in other seasons, but that several incidents received a lot more attention because they were more high profile. David Parry, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating, argued that the SEC has some of the best officials and that the officiating is very good; it’s just that the mistakes that have been pointed out this year have greatly affected the game, so these are more memorable mistakes. Slive agreed with the idea that the officiating is no worse than usual when he asserted that he has not received more complaints from SEC coaches this year, but he believes that the comments this season were sharper. Slive also pointed out that the officials are human and will make mistakes, but that the league will evaluate the officiating program. He, along with Rogers Redding, who is the coordinator of officials, and others, are going to meet after the season to talk about the officiating mistakes and make sure the officiating is the best it can be. He firmly believes that the Southeastern Conference officials are honest, diligent, and loyal, and that they want the best for the league.