I'm curious as to how often you attend off-season rules/mechanics clinics? Are they run by the NCAA on a national level or are they conference based.
There are dozens of clinics around the country in the off-season. Most don't start until late February and run through early June. They are usually organized by senior or retired officials and are largely geographic. Some have developed positive reputations and will get people traveling from far distances. One of those is in Michigan. I've met officials from Norway and Germany there. Most are from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois though. The clinicians will be NFL, B1G, and MAC officials and they'll bring in the CFO commissioner or Rogers Redding (former rules editor I mentioned earlier) as guests.
The D1 supervisors (probably 10-12 guys since many staffs combine multiple conferences) try to coordinate the message as much as possible so it's consistent. Rule changes and their application are discussed. A lot on mechanics and philosophies and communication. If training videos have been published by the CFO, they will be used as well. They range anywhere from 1 day to 3 days.
For guys trying to get into college officiating (usually start at D3 or NAIA level, JuCo only exists in a couple pockets around the country) or trying to move up they often look for clinics where the supervisors of the conference they want to work is most likely attending. Like anything there is a lot of networking and being visible when trying to move up.
Some of these clinics will have an on field portion, especially the ones that take place during Spring scrimmages. Clinicians will observe and provide immediate feedback to the officials both on the field and in film review after.
Regular study groups also occur during the off-season. We did a monthly one here in Indy and review rules quizzes and video. These are often D2/D3 guys helping newer officials. If you've ever been involved in mentoring or training, you can learn a lot by trying to help someone else learn.
I've been to clinics in Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia. I try to hit at least 1 or 2 each year. Officials also try to work as many scrimmages in the Spring, both to get experience and to get feedback from those you are working with. I'm a D3 official but I've been fortunate to work scrimmages at IU, Purdue, Notre Dame, Ball State, and Miami, plus several FCS schools. I've worked with guys who worked your national championship game.
From mid July to early August each conference has their own clinic. These are more reviews of the schedule, procedures, and communication. There will be breakouts by position and/or crew and training video review as well although most will expect you to do a lot of that on your own time.
The NCAA itself doesn't put any of this on, but the CFO works closely with them through the rules committee and I guess functions as an arm of the NCAA. They officials are all hired by the conference and not the NCAA, and the pay comes from the home school.
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