With a new football season, comes a new batch of rules and rule changes that are trying to improve the product on the field and make the game safer for its participants. To me there were two major issues with officiating last season: 1. Inconsistency with how officials called targeting and 2. the length of time and the use of replay reviews.

So, last weekend, I decided to take a field trip to Chicago for the annual Football Officiating Clinic for officials working in the Big Ten, MAC, and Missouri Valley conferences. I want to thank the Big Ten and Bill Corollo for letting us join in on the experience. It really opened my eyes to just how difficult it is to be an official in college football.