Ron Cherry takes on new role with ACC officials

David Hood by Senior Writer -

Longtime official Ron Cherry will move from the field to the league office after 25 seasons. ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced Thursday at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte that Cherry will move into an advisory position and assist Dennis Hennigan, the ACC's supervisor of football officiating.

Swofford said that Cherry will work on recruiting new officials and minority recruiting.

"We've all been lucky to have Ron on the field for that period of time, and we're fortunate in our league to have his willingness to work with us and continue to work with us in the capacity in which he will going forward," Swofford said.

Cherry has been an official with the ACC for over ten years. He achieved a bit of viral celebrity when he channeled NFL referee Ben Dreith when calling a personal foul for “giving him the business.”

"We came into the office Sunday, and somebody on my staff said, do we need to consider reprimanding Ron? I said, well, what are you going to reprimand him for? Well, he didn't follow protocol in terms of what he was supposed to say," Swofford recalled. "I said, we're not reprimanding Ron. Everybody in America knew exactly what he meant. That was the greatest description of a penalty call that I've ever heard in the history of the game."

Cherry is recovering from surgery to repair a blood clot in December. Cherry sustained the injury during the third quarter of the Notre Dame–USC game on Nov. 26. USC linebacker Michael Hutchings was running around a sack at the end of the play, swung out slightly off balance and hit Cherry in the head. He was knocked unconscious by the hit.