Tim Crowley, the Coordinator of Football Officials, fully endorses the SkyCoach replay system

Many of the rule changes that have happened over the last few years in college football have been about making the game safer for players and that includes implementing officials replay amongst numerous Division II conferences, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Officials replay enhances the game, but it also eliminates as much human error as possible, according to Tim Crowley, the Coordinator of Officials for the Southwest College Football Officials.

Crowley has been a college football official for more than 30 years, starting in the Big 12 in the early 90s. In his current role with the SCFO, his group oversees the assignments for officials for the Lone Star Conference, which is Division II, and the American Southwest Conference and the South Collegiate Athletic Conference — those are Division III. Also, the Sooner Athletic Conference, which is NAIA, and the Southwest Junior Colleges Conference located in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“We’ve got 38 schools across all those levels in 10 different states,” Crowley told SkyCoach. “We’ve got a lot of hands-on experience.”

“SkyCoach is so adaptable. As long as you meet the setup standards with line of sight for the antennas and a tented area so it’s in the shade—it’s terrific.”

With that experience comes knowledge of the game and how it can improve. Crowley has been and continues to be a major champion for officials replay with SkyCoach.

“Last year was our first experience with SkyCoach and it was terrific. It did exactly what it’s designed to do,” Crowley said. “We’re hoping it catches fire in the junior colleges and at the NAIA so that there’s uniformity across all levels around the country in officiating.

“The No. 1 thing it has been most helpful in, and this is across the board around the country, is targeting. Those are automatically reviewed. Those have been very well received. The turnover percentage is a little higher than we’d like. We’d rather be better on the front end, but the philosophy has always been if there’s any doubt, throw the flag and let it be reviewed. If it’s not targeting then you can always take it off. Our goal is to get our guys to understand that.”

Crowley’s group of officials spent time training via Zoom and an online tutorial with a SkyCoach trainer.

Regarding making the game safer, Crowley said: “The targeting aspect of it has been really helpful. When a kid gets disqualified for a targeting call then he sits out the rest of that game and some of the next game. In some leagues there’s another penalty that adds another game to that because he was ejected from a contest. In a junior college setting, if they only play eight or nine games then he’s missing 25 percent of his schedule.”

Junior college football players all have goals of transferring to a four-year program and do to that he needs to have as much game film possible to help in the recruiting process. Meaning, staying on the field is crucial for JUCO players.

When asked why schools and conferences should use SkyCoach for officials replay if they don’t already, Crowley said: “It’s not that expensive for the commitment they’re making. They could also use that equipment for volleyball or other sports. Once schools and conferences understand that, they’re more receptive. We’re preaching the Gospel to get more schools signed up because then our officials will have more experience working with it and it will become universal. And people have come to expect replay. ‘What do you mean you don’t have replay?’ That kind of deal. At the end of the day, can you imagine a basketball game being officiated by just two officials? You need three. That’s the standard. That’s what people expect. I really believe that’s the biggest allure of this thing. When they can invest a little bit of money and have replay available for football games, people expect it. SkyCoach has that going for them. That’s where we are in the game and in society.”

SkyCoach continues to be the market leader for sideline and officials replay across the country for high schools, colleges and even at the pro level with the CFL. Whether it’s the versatility, affordability or the simplicity of the setup, the SkyCoach technology will beat the rest of the replay market.

“SkyCoach has done a great job writing the software and putting the thing together and making it operate because every stadium is different, every camera is different and every operator is different. But nothing about it is limiting,” Crowley added. “SkyCoach is so adaptable. As long as you meet the setup standards with line of sight for the antennas and a tented area so it’s in the shade—it’s terrific.”