Shaw named National Coordinator of Football Officials



Photo: SEC

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Steve Shaw, who has served as the Coordinator of Football Officials for the Southeastern Conference for nearly a decade, has been named college football's next national coordinator of officials, it was announced Friday.

Shaw, who has held his position as Coordinator of Football Officials with the SEC since 2011 and the Sun Belt Conference since 2014, has also served as the NCAA Secretary-Rules Editor for Football since 2017. Shaw will succeed Rogers Redding who announced his retirement in October after nine years as national coordinator.

"I am delighted and humbled to be named the National Coordinator of Officials and to have the opportunity to serve the sport of college football in an expanded role," said Shaw. "I look forward to building on the foundation established by Rogers Redding in this position and to the challenges ahead in continuing to enhance officiating performance while we work to develop trust in the overall program. I am grateful for my experience in the Southeastern Conference, both on the field as an active official and as coordinator of officials, and thankful for the relationships I developed in the SEC and Sun Belt."

Shaw also serves as the secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, a position critical to the development of competition rules and policies.

"The SEC has benefitted from Steve's outstanding work as a football official and, for the last nine years, as the Conference's Coordinator of Football Officiating," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "His leadership, integrity, dedication and passion have made us better and make him the ideal person to serve as the National Coordinator of Football Officials. Through Steve's work the process for officiating football has been modernized through cutting-edge communication technology, implementation of instant replay and use of video for analysis and instruction. We are grateful for Steve's lengthy service to the SEC and are confident he will provide outstanding leadership to college football in the years ahead."

Shaw was considered one of the top referees in the sport before he was named coordinator of football officials in the SEC. He worked 21 years on the field as an NCAA football referee, including 15 in the SEC and six at the Division II level.

"Steve stands out as a leader in college football officiating. His care for the sport and how it is played will be critical moving forward," said Jon Steinbrecher, chair of the College Football Officiating board of managers and commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. "I'm confident that Steve will move the national officiating program forward and continue to improve our game."

Shaw worked the BCS championship game in 2000, when Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University played Florida State University, and also in 2005 when the University of Southern California played the University of Oklahoma.

Shaw worked six other BCS bowl games as well, including three Rose Bowls (2003, 2009, 2011), two Fiesta Bowls (2006, 2008) and the 2010 Orange Bowl. He also officiated four SEC Championship Games in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2006.

Shaw also has contributed to college football off the field. He has been the chair of the Collegiate Commissioners Association National Mechanics Committee since 2011. In that role, he led a committee that modernized and completely rewrote the CCA manual; introduced the first set of mechanics for an eight-man officiating crew; and repurposed the manual for all officials to receive eight-, seven- and six-man mechanics in one manual.

Shaw also has advocated for advancing the technology used in officiating. He has helped lead enhancements in the use of video to evaluate and develop officials and has pioneered a wireless crew communications system now used by most Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and the NFL and he most recently directed development of a centralized collaborative instant replay system for the SEC.

The SEC will immediately begin a national search for a Coordinator of Football Officials.