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: OFFENSIVE HOLDING

Q: What makes this call so difficult?
A: Offensive holding, in my opinion, is the most difficult foul to call. I know that we hear a lot of announcers on TV say, “Well, you know they could call holding on every play.”

While that is a little exaggerated, it is not far from the truth.

Thereis a lot of gray area with these types of fouls. One of the most difficult things about offensive holding is judging the impact on the play.

As an official, it is sometimes very difficult to judge whether or not a slight tug by a wide receiver on a defensive back gave the runner the edge. Or if a restriction by linemen in the backfield allowed the quarterback to escape the tackle box or blocking zone to complete a pass.

This foul definitely involves the most judgment and as officials, judgment is very subjective.

At our local meetings, offensive holding fouls are always the most debated and offer the most 50-50 votes.

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

A: Very similar to pass interference, the No. 1 thing officials look for is the location of the blocker’s hands.

If the blocker has “good hands,” it vastly reduces the likelihood that we view the blocker as a threat to foul. As officials, we like to see players with their hands inside and close to the body.

Officials refer to it as the “frame of body.”

For offensive linemen, if they keep their hands in on the chest plate of the defender they are blocking, they are generally OK.

Another thing that officials look for is whether or not the “feet are beat?”

This is where it could get tricky.

An offensive player could initially have “good hands,” but then he missteps and loses his feet and starts to pull on the defender, rather than control him.

This is most often illustrated when you see an offensive tackle or wide receiver pull a player they are blocking to the ground.

Like pass interference, we put offensive holding into categories:

• GRAB AND RESTRICT: The blocker controls the defender with two hands outside the defender’s frame — usually at the shoulders. The blocker controls the defender’s movement, preventing him from reaching for the runner to make a tackle or rushing the passer.

• HOOK AND RESTRICT: The blocker hooks the defender above the waist with one hand and controls or redirects a defender’s movement. This usually occurs when the blocker’s feet are beat and the defender is even with him or past him.

• TAKE DOWN: The blocker grabs the defender with two hands or hooks him with one hand above the waste and takes him to the ground.

• REVERSE TAKE DOWN: The blocker, who appears to be getting overpowered or run over, grabs the defender inside the frame of his body and pulls the defender down on top of him as he is falling backward.

• TACKLE: These are somewhat rare and this category is not used often, but it is just like it sounds. The blocker will simply tackle the defender they are blocking.

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

A: Honestly, the rule regarding offensive holding has not changed, but officiating philosophy on when and why we call it has evolved.

Officials now are much more cognizant of the “impact on the play” aspect of offensive holding, whereas we were not 10 years ago.

We have evolved from a “foul is a foul” mentality to a “a foul is not a foul on every play.”

With anything,m there is a learning curve with this for the officials, players, coaches and fans. And, really, we are still not all on the same page, but I think the understanding and philosophy is really being embraced and understood by the coaches, which helps greatly.

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

A: The point of attack is a huge aspect of when to call and not call offensive holding.

Unlike personal fouls, which we would call anywhere on the field at any time, holding is subject to more scrutiny. The action has to be around the ball-carrier and there needs to be a distinct advantage gained.

Officials process a lot during the play when considering holding:

• Did the defender have a legitimate chance to make the play?

• Did the blocker let go in time?

• Was the restriction before or after the runner was near the block?

These are also very subjective questions. So not only is offensive holding the most punitive foul by rule, it is also subject to the most judgment by an official.

Q: Describe the difference between the penalty yardage that is penalized. Describe the “spot of the foul” penalties.

A: Simply put, offensive holding is the most punitive foul in high school football because of the “all but one principle.”

That principle means that all live-ball penalties are marked off from the basic spot except when the offense fouls behind the basic spot. Fouls by the offense behind the basic spot are marked from the spot of the foul.

Essentially, in high school football, we always penalize offensive holding from the spot of the foul for 10 yards.

If a left tackle is called for offensive holding 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage — in the offensive backfield — that is where the foul is marked from, so it is really a 13-yard penalty. 

In college and the NFL, fouls behind the line of scrimmage are enforced from the previous spot (where the ball was snapped from) in most cases, so the foul is not as punitive.