"We love it, keep pushing": Officials urge for change in college football, reveals insider

Officiating is an integral part of any sport, and as with many fast-paced games like college football, mistakes and missed calls happen. Insider Josh Pate thinks that college football officiating needs work, something he discussed on his eponymous show on Tuesday:

“College football officiating is broken. I think it’s bad. I think college football officiating in a lot of cases outright sucks.”

While he believes the officials themselves usually try their best, the system that oversees them is flawed.

“It’s not the officials that I have the big problem with," Pate said. "I’ve got a problem with the fact that … people who run college football have really screwed up officiating. For the officials, but especially for us. … The problem is not in blown calls. … The problems (is) with the lack of national standards.”

He mentioned that there are no universal rules that all conferences follow, which makes the officiating inconsistent. Pate thinks the real issue is not the occasional bad call but the lack of unity and transparency in how the game is officiated.

“The certification process is jacked up," the insider said. "What’s required of them is jacked up. What is emphasized in one conference versus another conference is jacked up. There is this inexcusable resistance to transparency that’s jacked up.”

He pointed out that when a mistake happens, people in charge don’t give a proper explanation, even though fans and teams invest so much emotionally and financially into the sport. Pate believes that college football administrators owe an explanation whenever a bad call is made.

Even with these issues, Pate mentioned that officials themselves are eager to see change:

“I think college football officials, by and large, are extremely good at what they do. … I talk to these guys a lot. … You would think they’d hate it and they said, 'We love it, keep pushing.'” (Timestamp: 1:30)

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Josh Pate’s solution to the officiating issue in college football

Believing that transparency is needed and that disunity is at the root of the problem in college football officiating, Pate proposed a solution:

“Here’s the fix: nationalize college football officiating. It’s 2025, I don’t think there’s really any need for SEC officials or league officials to exist. College football officials should exist. Same certification. Same training. Same grading system.” (Timestamp: 9:05)

Time will tell if Pate’s solution becomes a reality as the 2025 season will be underway on Aug. 23.

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