19 people signed the petition since September 17, 2009

Petition for the NCAA to Allow Coach-Initiated Reviews of Penalty Calls

Expand College Football's Instant Replay Review to Include Penalty Determinations


This petition is designed to send a clear message to the NCAA - that college football fans want coach-initiated reviews of penalty calls to be made available.

Under the current NCAA system, officials can review such determinations as whether a receiver's foot was in bounds, whether the quarterback crossed the line of scrimmage prior to passing, or whether a runner was down by contact prior to fumbling, yet there is no mechanism for challenging whether pass interference, offsides, or holding occurred on a given play.  Quite frequently, the latter determinations are ultimately more important than the former to the outcome of a game.  In any event, it is awkward and logically inconsistent that one set of circumstances would merit review while the other would not.

We find it appalling that the officials habitually stop the game numerous times for five minutes to insure that certain calls are perfect, but are not even allowed the latitude to consider reviewing even the most questionable of penalty calls. Penalty calls are often the most difficult of determinations to make correctly due to the speed of the game.  Any college football fan can recant numerous incorrect calls (oftentimes identified and lamented by the television announcing crew) that ultimately cost his/her team the game.  Due to the fast-paced nature of the game, officials are all too often out of position or unduly rely on anticipation to make calls.   Basically, as hundreds of instant replay reversals have demonstrated time and again, they are human.

This petition calls for the implementation of a procedure through which coaches would be able to challenge penalty calls the same way they could challenge other calls.  Basically, the coach would be allowed to exhaust the number of challenges he is currently given on challenging a penalty, should he so choose.  Because, coaches would not be receiving any more challenges than already allowed, the length of the game would not be greatly altered.

The implementation of this procedure should be of great benefit to college football fans, coaches, and players, especially by curbing bad fan behavior often exacerbated by obviously missed calls.  Further, it would be of great benefit to officials.  In allowing them to correct mistakes as the game progressed, it would diminish their exposure to threats from slighted fans and feelings of guilt resulting from what the officials later discover to be an incorrect call at a crucial moment in the game.  And while it is true that an official's first instinct as to whether a penalty should be called or should not be called is still valuable, it is indisputable that officials with the benefit of different camera angles and playback modes would stand in a better position to make a crucial penalty determination during a game.   As the current replay procedure has suggested - the initial call made is all too often wrong.  Surely this is true of penalty determinations as well.

We, the fans of college football, hereby demand that provisions be made for allowing coach-initiated instant replay challenges for a penalty call (or a lack of a call) for the integrity of the game and the benefit of coaches, players, fans, and officials throughout the nation.

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