New NCAAF Referees In Each Conference

[russ]

Now that we are 5 weeks in to the season I think we can put together who the new Referees are in each Conference. Where they were last season in Parentheses.

P5:

ACC- No Changes. Same 10 Referees as last season.

Big Ten- Chris Coyte (Pac-12 Referee), Tim O'Dey (Big Ten HL/LJ, MAC Referee before that), Kole Knueppel (Big Ten HL). Replaces the retired Mike Cannon and Reggie Smith. Added a 9th crew this season.

Big 12- Hank Johns (AAC Referee). Replaces Scott Campbell.

Pac-12- Justin Elliott (Nowhere last season (injured?), Pac-12 CJ in 2020-2021, C-USA Referee before that), John Love (Pac-12 CJ), Chris Wiggins (Pac-12 CJ), Cravonne Barrett (Pac-12 LJ), Jeff Dahle (Pac-12 SJ). Replaces the retired Mike Mothershed and Steve Strimling as well as Chris Coyte and Frank Villar who moved to the Big Ten. Pac-12 added an 8th crew this season.

SEC- Dan Gautreuax (SEC FJ, Former C-USA Referee). Replaces James Carter.

G5:

AAC- Scott Hardin (C-USA Referee), Darryl DeBerry (AAC CJ), Steve Anderson (AAC CJ). Replaces Hank Johns. Went from 6 crews to 8 crews.

C-USA- Ron Hudson (MAC Referee), Garrett Dickerson (FCS Referee). Replaces Scott Hardin (AAC), Patrick Foy (MWC) and Kevin Vicknair (Retired?). Down from 7 crews to 6 this season. Many C-USA Officials moved to AAC.

MAC- Andrew Speciale (FCS Referee, Worked Non-Conference MAC Games as Referee), Rich Edwards (MAC CJ). Replaces Tom Stapleton (Retired) and Ron Hudson (C-USA).

MWC- Patrick Foy (C-USA Referee), Ken Ray (Nowhere last year, former Big 12 CJ and FCS Referee), Nolan Dumas (FCS Referee). Replaces Tim Davis (Pac-12 CJ). Up to 8 crews from 6.

Sun Belt- Same 7 Referees as last season.

[agpennypacker]

Thank you for putting this together, Russ.

It’s really interesting to me that Bryan Banks worked the featured Big Ten game in Week 1, Ohio State at Indiana, and he’s not even a full-time white hat.

[psu213]

Oct 14, 2023 14:10:46 GMT -5 agpennypacker said:

Thank you for putting this together, Russ.

It’s really interesting to me that Bryan Banks worked the featured Big Ten game in Week 1, Ohio State at Indiana, and he’s not even a full-time white hat.

I thought that too. Not saying that people don't deserve a second chance, but I was a bit surprise that Tim O'Dey was a Big 10 referee ahead of Banks after what happened in the 2016 Central Michigan-Oklahoma State game.

[psu213]

Oct 6, 2023 12:34:04 GMT -5 russ said:

Now that we are 5 weeks in to the season I think we can put together who the new Referees are in each Conference. 

Thank you for putting this together!

[russ]

Oct 22, 2023 20:27:52 GMT -5 psu213 said:

Oct 14, 2023 14:10:46 GMT -5 agpennypacker said:

Thank you for putting this together, Russ.

It’s really interesting to me that Bryan Banks worked the featured Big Ten game in Week 1, Ohio State at Indiana, and he’s not even a full-time white hat.

I thought that too. Not saying that people don't deserve a second chance, but I was a bit surprise that Tim O'Dey was a Big 10 referee ahead of Banks after what happened in the 2016 Central Michigan-Oklahoma State game.

That was definitely not great but to be fair Tim O'Dey did very much improve after that working 5 more seasons as a MAC Referee before joining the Big Ten and worked Bowl Games from 2017-2020 so he appeared to be one of the top Referees in the MAC. One bad game should not cost someone a chance at advancement.

[psu213]

Oct 23, 2023 15:12:59 GMT -5 russ said:

One bad game should not cost someone a chance at advancement.

Definitely. James Carter and crew "lost" a down in the Auburn-Penn State game in 2021, and he made it to the NFL.