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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

July 28, 2011

Bill Carollo

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Bill Carollo.
BILL CAROLLO: Like the coaches, the 12 coaches you just heard from, we're really excited about this season for a number of reasons. There's lots of changes all around the Big Ten. If you take a look at the logo, the divisions, the five new coaches, some of the changes we're making on our officiating staff, we continue to try to get better. Our job is to be the best that we can be.
We have some core values that we adhere to in the officiating ranks. We had our clinic last week in Chicago, 200 officials came in and trained.
Our training doesn't start at the kickoff. Our training doesn't start with the Media Days. It started one week after the BCS championship. In our business in officiating, you're only as good as your last call. Our last call was the BCS championship game. I thought our guys did an outstanding job. But that was last year. So the bar is set a little bit higher, ratcheted up a little bit more for us, the pressure is on. How do you handle the big stage. Lots of changes around the conference, but also in rules.
We had 17 different rule changes this year. We change the rules every other year. So from that standpoint, that's a lot to grasp by our officials, by the coaches, by the players.
I think when we start with our success or our keys to success, when we took over the program a couple years ago, coaches will always tell you, We want consistency. That's one thing we'll continue to work on, is consistency.
But at our core values, the key elements that we look for, we want capability. Will the guys on the field at the right time make the right calls? They have to be capable for Division I, as I said, on the big stage.
Then will they continue to get better? You heard from the coaches earlier, the coaches continue to push their athletes. They're faster, stronger, better. Certainly our officials, if they're as good as they were last year in the BCS championship game, then we've fallen behind, because the game has gotten tougher for us.
The last element and maybe the most important is character. We heard from the coaches, character is really important when you're recruiting 18-, 19-year-old athletes to come into their program. It's the same thing for us. Character is critical to our success. We feel we've done an excellent job of getting the right people into the program in training and being able in a good position to handle the challenges ahead.
I think the last thing that has changed for our officiating, we've invested a lot in technology. We invested not only in technology but in people to run our video department. Those guys in the video department have made us better officials. We're able to evaluate, review plays, review the game, get more IQ in football than we ever had before.
A lot of that investment that you don't see is happening behind the scenes. I'd like to thank the commissioner, the presidents, the ADs to give us the budget and the support to make us better.
With that, let me pause there and open it up for some questions.

Q. The question I have circles around the new celebration or taunting penalties. I think there's a school of thought that these teams and kids work year-round for these moments, you just hope that a game isn't stolen away from a team by a celebration penalty. What are you saying to your people? What will the line in the sand be on that call?
BILL CAROLLO: That's a really good question as far as unsportsmanlike conduct. I mentioned there's 17 new rules. One of the major focuses of emphasis besides our number one priority is player health and safety.
As far as the non-contact fouls, the taunting. Technically celebration is not a foul. We allow them to have a spontaneous celebration. If it's delayed, if it's prolonged, if it's excessive, if it's choreographed, and if it's toward their opponent or to draw attention toward themselves, you are getting into a gray area.
I tell the coaches, I said, if they want to do those things, do it on the sidelines off our field. Their sideline is okay. But I tell our guys I'm looking for artists, I'm not looking for scientists. You don't need to repeat the rule. We can't put everything in the rule book as far as unsportsmanlike acts.
Here is the major change for this year. We've changed unsportsmanlike acts from a dead ball, so no matter when it happens in the past, it's a live-ball foul. If I'm running into the end zone and I get to the two yard line and I turn to my opponent and do something that is taunting or do something that's drawing attention to myself, it's a foul as before, but we always enforced it on the extra point or on the kick off. This year, live ball. So it's just like a clip at the two-yard line. We throw the flag. We will take away a score and go from the two-yard line, back them up 15 yards out to the 17.
Is there common sense in this? Is it quick? Is it spontaneous? Is it a quick celebration? That's okay. So we're imploring the men to use some common sense. Let's not get too technical. Let's not overofficiate it. At the same time if it met the words, the definition that I started with, where it's excessive, it's drawing attention to themselves. I said, Coach, don't put the game in our hands. It's a gray area. We can't put everything in the book, list everything in there. But if we feel it's drawing attention to themselves, we want that out of the game.
It's a major change because we are this year going to take away scores if it happens during the live ball.

Q. As you've described it very narrowly and specifically, it makes sense. We have seen the gray area interpreted closer to let's say a white area, less concrete interpretation which has created controversy enough at junctures of many games. The idea that you would be courting this kind of imminent or inevitable controversy strikes a lot of us as being disproportionate to any concern that that particular situation on a field should beget. I realize you didn't set the rule, the NCAA did. But are you confident that we're not going to have that very kind of controversy, that unwarranted of one?
BILL CAROLLO: I think I'm confident we're going to have some controversy this season. I said we're in good position. There's never been a perfect game. Our goal is to be exigent. Will we be consistent across the board in this area? Probably not. But you know what, we made that rule change two years ago. We didn't enforce it last year. Talked to each club about it, explained to them, gave them examples.
Those players are ahead of us once in a while. They'll come up with something that we never thought about, that's not in the rule book.
If it fits the criteria, drawing attention to himself, taunting his opponent, this gets it into an area. But certainly I think there will be some controversy especially the first time we take away a scoring play. If he's in the end zone, but if he dives in from the 2 or the 1, we're in the proper position, we know it happened in the middle of the field, in the field of play, we will throw the flag and take away that. It will be controversial.
I'm confident we'll have some controversy the first couple times. It will get national attention. Either the coaches or the players learn their lesson. But we spent a lot of time in the spring, we're going to continue that crusade to all the clubs in August here at camp, making sure the players understand what is and what is not a foul.
But you're right, we don't make the rules; we try to enforce them consistently.

Q. I was wondering if you knew this rule last year was coming if you used it to track instances in which touchdowns would have been taken away, if you have a number you think this rule would have been enforced?
BILL CAROLLO: I tracked what we did in the Big Ten. We had a handful of plays that we saw within the Big Ten or the groups that we manage. There were some key games, national TV games where we had diving into the end zone, for instance, that clearly was a foul, that clearly, last year, if they start their celebration, high-stepping, taunting their opponent, clearly they would have affected a scoring play last year.
When we take a look at it, we're going to use some common sense. If we're not sure, we'll throw the flag. But if it's a live-ball foul, we'll look at the numbers. We prepared a national videotape for unsportsmanlike that all the officials say, all the conferences review to try to get to a consistent basis.
It's a really good topic, like I said. High hits, we've done a pretty nice job. We've seen some improvements on high hits, concussions, focus there. The coaches are telling the players, Lower the target zone. When in doubt, it's going to be a foul when you go high because of player safety.

Q. Could you go through some of the other specific rule changes we might find compelling.
BILL CAROLLO: I'll be happy to do that. I'll highlight the most important ones. I think at 5:00, we're going to have a media session to dive deeper into the rules.
The second area that is a real key major change is low blocking. So the rules now say low blocking for offense and defense, for everybody on the field is illegal. It used to be low blocks was legal with X-number of exceptions. So the number one rule change that the coaches are struggling with, we're struggling with, that we changed in May, has to do with low blocking for the offense and for the defense. Who can block low and when they can actually block low legally. That's a major change.
I say we're struggling with it only because we made the rule changes in spring. We went out there, put the rule changes out there with video, presentations, seminars in the spring during spring football, and then we've just recently massaged that rule, made some additional changes to it. So now we're in the process of getting clarification. What does the low back mean for the offense? What does it mean for the defense? We've got a little bit of work to do.
I'm confident we will get that message to every head coach, every staff and players before we kickoff, but there's a little bit of work to be done in there.
Maybe the last one of those 17 changes has to do with the clock. So when the game is on the line and the clock is running, we're under one minute, if the offense or defense fouls, if it's a type of foul that causes the clock to stop, they are subject to a 10-second runoff, subtraction. If there's a foul, offense or defense, we will take 10 seconds off the clock. Of course, if you're under 10 seconds, the game is over. That's something new this year that will have a big impact on the outcome of some games.
There's a lot of other areas of the rules. I mean, the coaches have monitors upstairs. Nothing has really significantly changed on the replay side. A little on intentional grounding as far as that receiver is in the area to make that catch. Certainly we aren't looking to throw lots of flags.
We're tweaking the rules, but there's a lot of them out there. I'll be happy through Scott and the Big Ten communications staff to make sure that you get the Power Point that we're giving the coaches and players, so you'll get exactly what we're giving to the officials.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Bill will be available tomorrow morning for one-on-one interviews.

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