By Jaime Stein
CFL.ca
Congratulations to the Canadian Football League for signing Jim Daley as their new senior advisor, officiating development and football operations.
The end result is that more time and effort will be put towards the league’s officials – an oft cited source of frustration for coaches, players and fans – although the reasons given for hiring Mr. Daley may not be fully accurate.
“This is really not a move to correct any problems we have,” said CFL chief operating officer Michael Copeland. “This is a move that just helps to continue to get better.”
The CFL should be given the benefit of the doubt in that they have chosen to take a proactive step to improve officiating. However, the public perception through the media and fan Web sites dictate that the CFL’s officiating is in dire need of improvement and this is incongruent with Mr. Copeland’s view.
The positive news is that the league office has taken steps to improve the league, something that has not always been the case either due to budgetary constraints or other political reasons. Thus, the hiring of Mr. Daley should mark a watershed moment for the league.
Whether you choose to believe that the CFL officiating is in need of a drastic overhaul or not, perception is reality and right now public confidence in the CFL’s officiating is low.
Flags for blocking infractions were handed out on kick returns more often than police handed out speeding tickets on the final day of the month. Clearly, there was a miscommunication on the intent of the rule suggested by coaches and general managers with the actual interpretation by the officials.
Video review produced positive results in its first season, but fans will remember the handful of times where the wrong decision was made. But the biggest single officiating issue was the inconsistent basis in which some rules were interpreted and applied.
It is with these sources of contention that Mr. Daley, a former coach, will be able to help most. His background as a coach will provide the league office with a different perspective on things. His presence should also improve the communication lines from the league office to the coaches and general managers who may feel more comfortable speaking to one of their own.
Mr. Daley will also review game film and evaluate officials. This will provide the director of officiating, George Black, with a second set of eyes to make sure that the rules are being applied consistently across the board. Consider Daley to be the Senate of the CFL; the house of sober second thought.
“Jim brings a hands-on football perspective as a long-time CFL head coach and assistant head coach that will offer a different perspective that will allow officials to focus on improvement,” Black said in a statement.
In this new era of glasnost, Mr. Daley should also be pushing for more openness on the football field. Officials should be encouraged to increase communication with coaches and players, the later being a real source of contention amongst some league veterans.
This is not the first time in recent years that the CFL has made steps to improve their officiating – it might be the most public though.
Mr. Black has made an effort to recruit a new generation of officials by stepping up the association between the CFL and the university ranks. There has also been talk of fast-tracking ex-players into the system to become CFL officials. The notion is that former players are able to offer a different perspective on the game which compliments those viewpoints of career officials.
The CFL is not being asked to reinvent the officiating wheel, nor are they trying to make an attempt to do that. Instead, this is simply another small step towards the bigger goal of successful officiating. For that, the league should be commended.
Jaime Stein is the the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Argonauts.
