By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Getting the call right is extremely important to Adam Loudin.

The 2006 Waterloo High School graduate has been working toward that perfection since beginning his basketball officiating career in 2007.

A year later, in 2008, he jumped onto the gridiron to begin his football officiating career.

His desire to transition his love for sports — Loudin was a three-sport athlete for the Vikings (football, basketball, baseball) — transpired while he was a Portage South Hot Stove umpire as a teenager.

“I enjoyed it,” said Loudin, who is now the assistant principal at Youngstown East High School after graduating from Kent State in 2011 with a degree in secondary social studies education and earning his Master’s in 2018 from Youngstown State in educational leadership.

“My senior year of high school, I asked one of the officials working our (basketball) game, how they became an official,” Loudin said. “He got me all the information, and I signed up for a basketball officiating class. I had no intention of ever working football, but after working basketball, Brian Harrell talked me into taking the football class.”

Loudin has been officiating games ever since.

Now, as part of a weekly series titled “Under Review with Adam Loudin,” he offers some insight on some of the more challenging calls he is faced with and how they impact his decisions to throw a flag or not throw a flag.

Keep in mind, these decisions are being within fractions of a second. It always seems easy from the bleachers, but much tougher on the field, while sprinting and sometimes shielded.

TODAY’S TOPIC: PASS INTERFERENCE

Q: What makes calling pass interference so difficult?

A: Pass interference and offensive holding are two of the most difficult fouls to officiate in football, in my opinion. Angles in football, especially in a high-school game with only five officials, make it even more challenging.

When looking for pass interference on both offense (OPI) and defense (DPI), the first thing to look for is, “is there a victim?”

This goes back to the basic-officiating philosophy of advantage/disadvantage. Did either player do something illegally to put their opponent at a disadvantage? Once we have determined that there may have been a foul, we categorize the type of DPI or OPI:

For DPI, we look for: 1. Early contact; 2. Grab and restrict; 3. Playing through the back; 4. Arm bar; 5. Cut off; 6. Hooking and restricting.

For OPI, we look for: 1. Blocking downfield; 2. Creating separation/space; 3. Driving through an established defender.

Q: What are some of the key elements you look for?

A: The first thing we typically do is “referee the defender” and try to “qualify” him as legal or illegal. Has he done anything to gain an advantage illegally? A lot of officials have their own methods for doing this, but the first thing I look for is, can I see all four hands? If the answer is yes, then I know I probably don’t have to worry about arm bars or hooks, grabs and restrictions on the defense. If I have identified all four hands, it will be easier for me to determine if the offensive player pushes off to create space. At this point, if both players “play the ball” when the pass is in the air, the likelihood of there being a foul is greatly decreased.

Another aspect that we look for, especially for DPI, is whether or not the defender is in “chase mode.” Typically when a defender is in “chase mode”, you will see fouls for early contact and not playing the ball. The defender usually runs into the receiver, who is looking back for the ball on these types of plays.

Q: How has the interpretation of the rules changed since you first started?

A: Honestly, not much has changed with pass interference. However, in high school, “face guarding” used to be a foul or pass interference, but that is no longer the case. For a “face guarding” foul now, there would also have to be early contact. Also in high school football, DPI is now no longer an automatic first down. It is a 15-yard penalty.

Q: Is there a key element to what you are looking for that the casual fan may not realize?

A: Other than what I have already listed, not really.

Though, one of the biggest things I think for fans to think about is that we use “keys.” Keys are players that we are watching at the snap and for the most part stay with throughout the play until the ball is in the air or going to another area. Fans are always watching the action; the quarterback scrambling around the backfield and then throwing the ball downfield and they see the slightest thing happen and want a flag thrown.

The official has been watching those players the whole play, so something may have happened early in the route that he knows and that’s the reason he does not throw a flag.

With that being said, sometimes we are just wrong and miss plays. I don’t want it to sound like something always happens and that’s why we pass on a potential foul. We get tricked too and misjudge plays too.

Q: How does incidental contact come into play?

A: We call this “tangled feet,” and we just qualify it like any other play. If both are playing or both not playing the ball and the feet get tangled, we would deep it as incidental contact. If the defender is not playing the ball, there is a greater opportunity that he will be flagged for a foul.