The Pac-12 will make immediate changes to how video replay reviews are handled after Commissioner Larry Scott admitted procedural mistakes were made when a targeting foul was not called during last month’s game between Washington State and Southern California.
Scott responded Thursday to a report by Yahoo Sports citing an internal document that showed a replay official at the stadium believed he and the officials working at the league’s review command center had been overruled by a conference executive on a targeting call against a Washington State player during the Sept. 21 game at USC.
“We mixed administrative oversight and leadership with real-time replay-review calls, made by experts, on the field, in the stadium and in the command center,” Scott said at Pac-12 basketball media day in San Francisco. “Moreover, we’ve allowed for ambiguity about who’s got the final call and who makes the ultimate decisions in replay review.”
The report said both the replay official at the game and the command center agreed that, in addition to the roughing the passer foul that was called on the field, a targeting penalty should also be enforced, which would have resulted in the ejection of a Washington State player. The report said a “third party” did not agree and the targeting call was removed.
Scott acknowledged the third party was Woodie Dixon, the Pac-12’s general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs who also oversees football. Dixon and director of officials David Coleman oversee the command center; Dixon is often at games on Saturdays.
“It was not his intention and he didn’t believe he was making a decision, he believed he was trying to offer a point of view, angles on the call, trying to bring together consistency with other calls that he wanted our replay officials to consider in making the decisions,” Scott said. “Having said that, it was clearly, from the replay official in the stadiums’ perspective and other people’s perspective, they clearly interpreted it as a decision or a directive. From my perspective that’s enough. Even if it wasn’t intended and I’m confident it wasn’t intended as he’s making the decision.”
Scott said Dixon and Coleman will not be involved in any conversation about calls being made at the replay review command center.
This is the second season that the Pac-12 has used a replay review command center to assist on-field officials and in-stadium replay officials during conference games. The SEC, Big 12 and ACC also use centralized reviews.
Scott said the Yahoo report was new information to him and he has since spoken with the individuals involved and others. He said the conference will do a “thorough” review of how replay review works.
