photo | Jacob Ford
HOOVER | The eight-person officiating crew is a good thing, and it’s here to stay, SEC Coordinator of Football Officials Steve Shaw said Tuesday morning during the opening of day two of Media Days.
The eighth official allows the crew to call a better game, Shaw said, alluding to how the game has changed since 1986 when crews went from six to seven officials. The conference experimented with the eight-person crew in 2014 with one game each week officiated by an eight-person team.
Shaw used video examples of holding and 12 men on the field to illustrate how an eighth official helps a crew chief call a more consistent game.