Recommended Readings to Help you Become a Prepared Football Official
When it comes to football officiating, there are a number of great books for you to read to help you progress as an official. Some books specialize on the high school game while others concentrate on college football. When ordering books, be mindful of what level the book is for. Many times there are books titled the same thing, but one is for high school and one for college. For high school, it will usually say NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) and for college it will usually say collegiate or have a CCA (Collegiate Commissioners Association). If you have other books that you highly recommend, please let me know by contacting me here! I would love to let others know and read them myself if I haven’t already!
Since we have been talking about the difference in books for high school and college, it seems fitting we start with a book that discusses the difference in rules between the two games. If you want a great book on the differences between college (NCAA or CCA) and high school (NFHS) I highly recommend the newest edition of “Football Rule Differences” by Paul Whiteside, George Demetriou and Jeffrey Stern. The book does a great job of breaking down all the differences in a way that makes sense. The book is formatted just like the rule books are for both levels of football. It has each rule broken down NFHS and NCAA back to back so it is easy to see. But the best part of this book is the hundreds of example plays. The book gives example after example of plays that use the rule it is talking about and it goes on the say how the play would be officiated in both circumstance. In some instances there may be a flag in one and not the other, or it could just be a change in how the penalty is enforced. I highly recommend this book and you can find the most recent version of the book here.
The next book I will recommend is for High school officials. If you are officiating high school football, you need to get the NFHS “High School Football Rules Simplified and Illustrated.” This book is a wealth of knowledge! My first year of officiating I didn’t have this and when I found it the summer before my second year, I was so happy I had come across it! If you have read through the regular rule book before, it is very likely that at some point while reading it you dozed off. It just has that affect. Everything is so technical with all the exceptions and to follow you have to jump back and forth pages. Seriously who designed that? Well this simplified and illustrated rule book is what the title says! And who doesn’t love a good picture book! Be honest, we all do. This book breaks down the different rules and puts them in a way that actually makes sense. Plus, almost all of the rules come with a picture to help you visualize the rule. It also at times takes some of the unnecessary language out of the rule because it isn’t needed. This lets you focus on just what is important. If you would like to look at this book or order it, it can be found here. I highly recommend it for High school officials of any experience level!
Along with this book, there is also a simplified and illustrated rule book for the college rules. For any college official, or official thinking about taking the jump up to college in the next few years, I highly recommend this book. The title is “Collegiate Football Rules Simplified and Illustrated” and is by the CCA. This once again simplifies the rules and gives you pictures to help actually visualize what is happening. Sometimes, I think it would be better to just have these simplified and illustrated books rather than the technical rule books. If you would like to see or order this book, it can be found here.
The next book I want to recommend is the “Football Officiating Mechanics Illustrated” by Jeff Stern. For high school you will get the book for 4 and 5 person high school crews. This book is your life raft to keep you from looking like a lost puppy out on the field. This book breaks down each official’s responsibilities from pregame to post game. It includes everything from what your keys are on a pass play to where you line up on a kickoff or field goal. This book is a true life saver and I can’t give it a stronger recommendation! You can find the crew of 4 & 5 book here.
Additionally, there is a mechanics book for the college level as well. This book goes over the same things previously talked about for the high school book but for the college game. There are also some big differences between books because in college you will almost always have either 7 or 8 officials on a crew as opposed to 4 or 5. This means what you are responsible for watching is more narrowed. This book is titled, “Football Officiating Manual For A Crew Of 7 & 8.” You can find the crew of 7 & 8 book here.
My final book recommendation for you all is “The Redding Study Guide to NCAA Football Rules.” Additionally there is a “The Redding Study Guide to NFHS Football Rules” which is for high school. These both do a great job of going rule by rule and once again explaining things in terms that people can understand. They also give abundant play examples of how the rule is inforced. Reading this book will without a doubt help you be more prepare. Something unique about this book however is that it seems to always be extremely helpful when it comes time to take your test. Many of the plays on test can be quite complex and at times you may find yourself wondering, does this actually ever happen in a game? The Redding Study Guide will greatly help you with those tests! If you would like to order the NCAA Redding Study Guide it can be found here. And the NFHS book can be found here.
Please take the time to read at least a few of these books. I promise they will help prepare you for the football season and help you grow your rules knowledge!
Since we have been talking about the difference in books for high school and college, it seems fitting we start with a book that discusses the difference in rules between the two games. If you want a great book on the differences between college (NCAA or CCA) and high school (NFHS) I highly recommend the newest edition of “Football Rule Differences” by Paul Whiteside, George Demetriou and Jeffrey Stern. The book does a great job of breaking down all the differences in a way that makes sense. The book is formatted just like the rule books are for both levels of football. It has each rule broken down NFHS and NCAA back to back so it is easy to see. But the best part of this book is the hundreds of example plays. The book gives example after example of plays that use the rule it is talking about and it goes on the say how the play would be officiated in both circumstance. In some instances there may be a flag in one and not the other, or it could just be a change in how the penalty is enforced. I highly recommend this book and you can find the most recent version of the book here.
The next book I will recommend is for High school officials. If you are officiating high school football, you need to get the NFHS “High School Football Rules Simplified and Illustrated.” This book is a wealth of knowledge! My first year of officiating I didn’t have this and when I found it the summer before my second year, I was so happy I had come across it! If you have read through the regular rule book before, it is very likely that at some point while reading it you dozed off. It just has that affect. Everything is so technical with all the exceptions and to follow you have to jump back and forth pages. Seriously who designed that? Well this simplified and illustrated rule book is what the title says! And who doesn’t love a good picture book! Be honest, we all do. This book breaks down the different rules and puts them in a way that actually makes sense. Plus, almost all of the rules come with a picture to help you visualize the rule. It also at times takes some of the unnecessary language out of the rule because it isn’t needed. This lets you focus on just what is important. If you would like to look at this book or order it, it can be found here. I highly recommend it for High school officials of any experience level!
Along with this book, there is also a simplified and illustrated rule book for the college rules. For any college official, or official thinking about taking the jump up to college in the next few years, I highly recommend this book. The title is “Collegiate Football Rules Simplified and Illustrated” and is by the CCA. This once again simplifies the rules and gives you pictures to help actually visualize what is happening. Sometimes, I think it would be better to just have these simplified and illustrated books rather than the technical rule books. If you would like to see or order this book, it can be found here.
The next book I want to recommend is the “Football Officiating Mechanics Illustrated” by Jeff Stern. For high school you will get the book for 4 and 5 person high school crews. This book is your life raft to keep you from looking like a lost puppy out on the field. This book breaks down each official’s responsibilities from pregame to post game. It includes everything from what your keys are on a pass play to where you line up on a kickoff or field goal. This book is a true life saver and I can’t give it a stronger recommendation! You can find the crew of 4 & 5 book here.
Additionally, there is a mechanics book for the college level as well. This book goes over the same things previously talked about for the high school book but for the college game. There are also some big differences between books because in college you will almost always have either 7 or 8 officials on a crew as opposed to 4 or 5. This means what you are responsible for watching is more narrowed. This book is titled, “Football Officiating Manual For A Crew Of 7 & 8.” You can find the crew of 7 & 8 book here.
My final book recommendation for you all is “The Redding Study Guide to NCAA Football Rules.” Additionally there is a “The Redding Study Guide to NFHS Football Rules” which is for high school. These both do a great job of going rule by rule and once again explaining things in terms that people can understand. They also give abundant play examples of how the rule is inforced. Reading this book will without a doubt help you be more prepare. Something unique about this book however is that it seems to always be extremely helpful when it comes time to take your test. Many of the plays on test can be quite complex and at times you may find yourself wondering, does this actually ever happen in a game? The Redding Study Guide will greatly help you with those tests! If you would like to order the NCAA Redding Study Guide it can be found here. And the NFHS book can be found here.
Please take the time to read at least a few of these books. I promise they will help prepare you for the football season and help you grow your rules knowledge!
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