It sounds like a great idea at first, kind of like getting that high-end sports car you’ve always wanted. But then you find out it doesn’t work all that well, it doesn’t improve your life as much as you thought and it just gets you into a lot of trouble.
Instant replay in college football is a little bit like that, except it’s far from an impulse buy. Conferences have experimented with it since the Big Ten started using it two years ago, but as the season kicks off tonight, instant replay will be standardized across the country.
If you’re thinking this is a fail-safe format as in the NFL, you haven’t talked to many college coaches. And you didn’t see many Mountain West Conference games last year. All 11 conferences except the Western Athletic and Sun Belt used some form of instant replay a year ago. This season, however, every conference will join the Mountain West’s lead in using a coach’s challenge.
Last year, outside the Mountain West, the only way a call could be reversed was by a replay crew in the press box. This season, the crew again will review every play but coaches can challenge one call per game.
Sound ideal? Some coaches say it isn’t. The format has received mixed reviews around the country, primarily because, unlike the NFL, assistant coaches in the press box won’t have a TV monitor to see replays and tell the head coach to challenge. If a challenge is unsuccessful, the coach loses a timeout.
“We have coaches up there, but they can’t see anything different than you or I can,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, one of the most vocal critics. “So it’s just guesswork. I try and tell people it’s an ego deal for coaches more than anything else.”
The problem, some say, is coaches on the sideline have the worst seat in the house. How are they to know what to challenge?
“The NFL has the replay right in their pocket,” Washington State’s Bill Doba said. “The guy looks at it and, ‘Hey, throw the flag!’ If a play happens on the other side of the field, are we going to challenge an out-of-bounds call? We can’t see it. Maybe (officials) can’t see it. So you don’t challenge it and (fans at home say), ‘Well, what’s wrong with that guy? He’s totally out of bounds.’
“If you’re going to have a challenge, then we should see a replay.”
If MWC coaches held a seminar, they may tell their colleagues to be careful. Last year, MWC coaches issued 35 challenges in 49 games. Only five were successful. That’s 30 lost timeouts.
This means two things: One, MWC officials are pretty darn good; two, MWC coaches aren’t getting good views of controversial plays.
“I did like the old way (in the MWC) but this way is fine, it makes it more uniform between conferences,” CSU coach Sonny Lubick said. “I didn’t like it at first last year but after I won a challenge, it was OK.”
The reason assistant coaches don’t have monitors is dollars and cents. While every NFL game is televised in stadiums with similar electronic capabilities, Louisiana-Lafayette can’t bear the same costs for upgrading technology as Ohio State. Also, not all 119 Division I-A teams televise every game.
While the college format has flaws, some coaches see it as another tool.
“The challenge that we make has to be more gut-related as compared to the NFL because of technology,” said Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, a head coach in the NFL for 11 years. “In the NFL, coaches are in the booth with TVs, have more angles, replay opportunities and more people are involved. Here, that’s not going to happen. Maybe we see it one time and then make a decision.”
And occasionally it helps. Plays that can be challenged include sideline plays, scoring plays, pass completions and fumble recoveries out of bounds and in end zones. Michigan State coach John L. Smith recalls his punt return team was called for roughing the punter against Michigan. However, a review showed a Spartan touching the ball and the play was reversed.
“I like instant replay,” Smith said. “It’s a great addition. As fast as the game is, it helps. I’m definitely not a proponent of a challenge. If we do have it, we should have one per half. If the officials do what they should, we shouldn’t need it.”
Apparently, they did. A survey of all six BCS conferences plus the Mountain West could not uncover one reversed call that had a major outcome on a game.
“Right or wrong, a lot of coaches are worried about getting criticized,” Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. “But I’ve been criticized so much, what’s a little more?”
Staff writer Natalie Meisler contributed to this report.
John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
