Greg Burks has Four New Referees and Pandemic Protocols He Hopes to Deal With
STILLWATER -- Boone Pickens Stadium has a lot of reputations. You can credit the Paddle People and the Cowboy crowd for the reputation that Oklahoma State's football home has for being one of the noisiest in the nation. You can thank the forefathers that first laid out Lewis Field and then in the early 70's made the decision to take out the track, lower the playing surface, and add artificial turf and make it one of the tightest playing fields in all of football.
"The sidelines at Boone Pickens is probably the tightest that we have in the conference, but I don't remember that being an issue except being knocked into the band once when I was a side judge," said current Big 12 Coordinator of Football Officials Greg Burks. "I remember a game and at the end of the half a running back hit me, knocked me (into the band). I think I took out three trumpets and I don't know how many trombones."
Greg Burks finished his officiating career working the CFP Championship game between Ohio State and Oregon.
USA Today Sports Images - James Miron
Another great story of Cowboy lore and the home of Cowboy football in Boone Pickens Stadium, but how many stories are going to be told about the 2020 football season? Burks has a thankless job in any season. The officials are a team, but not one that football fans eagerly give a lot of compliments and credit out to. This season the officials are going to be even more important than ever as football tries to coincide and exist in the midst of the COVID-19.
Boone Pickens Stadium is one of the tightest on the sidelines in all of college football.
Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
"There are so many situations that we are facing this year that my hope is that we get to face them," Burks stated in an interview with me on Triple Play Sports Radio. "In the scope of college football and making the sidelines work so we can play football, I hope we get to do that."
Burks had a lot to deal with this season even without trying to figure out how to keep his crews safe and efficient and do the same for the players and coaches during a pandemic. Burks is dealing with a lot of new officials. He lost three to the NFL as umpire Tab Slaughter, field judge Joe Blubaugh, and down judge (head linesman) Frank LeBlanc. He also lost four of his referees as the top-rated referee in the Big 12 in Mike Defee, Cooper Castleberry with 19-years as a Big 12 referee, and Eddy Shelton all retired. Reggie Smith, who lives in Pittsburgh Pa., changed conferences and will be a referee in the Big Ten.
Replacing those four referees will be Big 12 side judge Tuta Salaam, and former Big 12 official and recent Pac-12 referee Kevin Mar, along with two Mountain West Conference referees in Kevin Hassell and Michael Vandervelde.
Lots of moving parts and this summer the conference, who just conducted their annual summer clinic in zoom meeting mode, is looking to get their officials plenty of work in fall camp. Remember, the officials didn't really have much work in the spring as neither did the teams.
Officials are dealing with a lot of changes.
"The key word for us this year as officials is flexible," Burks said. "We are going to be facing different scenarios in every game that we go to."
Burks talked about disinfecting footballs and bring those in and out of games more often. His own officiating crews that are like teams will likely not work in the same crews all season. Their Friday night meetings, usually a time for improvement and bonding will be done over zoom and not in person. Protocols are there to keep officials from contracting COVID-19 as well as not spreading the virus. There is even an electronic whistle this season that is push button instead of blowing human air into it and thus out.
"I know we're going to have some whistles when we shouldn't and some late whistles. That's just the way it is going to be," added Burks of that new addition.
Just be patient with the guys in the zebra stripes. They want the games to happen just as much as the players, coaches, and fans.
Mike Gundy has generally had a good relationship with officials, but every once in awhile he can be explosive.
Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
Back to the sidelines, that will be a part of it. The officials will be in masks and will have to be away from others if they need to take it down and draw a clean unencumbered breath.
"The idea of expanding the team box in order for the players to social distance a little bit and there is more space, I know we are going to suggest to the coaches that they stay out of the box and stay in the restricted area, but I know what happens when we kick the football off and we start playing football," Burks lamented. "We'll all go back to doing what we have our whole careers and we'll just have to communicate a little more."
That won't be easy and Burks has already thought that through some.
"I jokingly said this weekend that when you go out like to the store and you are masked up that you generally don't talk to people," he said. "We'll have to find a way for officials to communicate with coaches to a degree that we can make this work."
Now, there are some coaches, make that most coaches, that will definitely find a way to be heard and to communicate when they aren't happy about a call. Let's hope sign language doesn't come into play.
There are scenarios that I'm pretty sure noneof us have even thought through. We do know the coin toss will be referee and one player from each team only. All will be masked up. We know cheerleaders, poms, and mascots will not be on the sidelines and there will be a much smaller number of media in the way of photographers, video cameras, and sideline reporters. That will definitely help at Boone Pickens Stadium. Not sure if the band will perform on the field before games or halftime. There will continue to be questions as we, hopefully, get to sort through a season like no other.
"We're going to have to be flexible and make adjustments to all of those things as we go," finished Burks.
