Pac-12 officiating issues don’t get full airing

David Coleman, the Pac-12’s new vice president of officiating, said that the conference would stress consistency, accountability, communication and transparency from its game officials.

Communication and transparency got off to a rocky start during Friday’s Pac-12 football media day.

When Coleman was finished with his introduction speech, he said, “I’ll be glad to take questions.” Hands went up, but a conference official stepped in and said, “we’re bumping up against the time” for the next speaker.

A Pac-12 Networks infomercial was next on the schedule.

Last season, nine Pac-12 teams were among the 27 most-penalized in the nation.

Coaches and other conference officials rationalized those statistics by pointing out that most Pac-12 teams run up-tempo offenses, which means they are running more plays and were therefore susceptible to more penalties.

Still, after last season Coleman was hired. He is the first person the conference has ever had whose lone job is to oversee game officials.

The Pac-12 — and other conferences — will add an eighth on-field official this season. The conference will have a supervisor for each game official position — linesman, back judge, etc.

Coleman said he would stress training, “knowing the rules” and “being physically fit.” He will also put together an evaluation video each week.

“Without calling anyone out or anything like that, we’re going to make sure everyone understands how we did the previous week,” Coleman said.

He added: “If we do well, pat us on the back. If we don’t, we’ll stand up and take ownership of any mistakes that we make.”

Go see Cal

California was picked by the media to finish third the Pac-12 North, behind Oregon and Stanford and in front of Washington, Washington State and Oregon State.

Quarterback Jared Goff is a big reason. USC’s Cody Kessler has been the Pac-12 quarterback in the spotlight, but Goff has been gaining ground in national perception.

Goff threw for 3,973 yards and 35 touchdowns with seven interceptions last season. He already holds 19 school records. There were some predictions Goff would be the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft had he turned pro after last season.

“I let the talk go in one ear and out the other,” Goff said. “I just want to help team win games. We were 1-11 my first year and one game short [of bowl game eligibility] last season. We’ve been through the wringer here. We’re ready to put that behind us.”

Winning attitude?

UCLA center Jake Brendel does not know who the Bruins quarterback will be, but he can point to reasons why freshman Josh Rosen might beat out redshirt junior Jerry Neuheisel.

Rosen graduated high school early and enrolled at UCLA to participate in spring practice. “The first thing he did when he got on campus was to say, ‘When can I come over? When can I talk to you about the offense?’” Brendel recalled. “He was really eager to get started. I feel like he has the right head on his shoulders to be successful. He just has to catch up with Jerry right now.”

The Bruins return their entire starting offensive front. Brendel, a fourth-year starter, is its leader, though he knows where the line is drawn.

“I can only be in charge of the five guys on the line,” Brendel said. “I try not to overstep my boundaries. I am never going to make a comment to a wide receiver or a running back. It’s not my place. Whoever is back there — Jerry, Josh, whoever — it will be their job to get everyone on the right page and take us in the right direction.”

Aerial recon

Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez considers the Los Angeles area fertile ground for producing quarterbacks, and he’s reminded of it every time he takes a flight here.

“You fly over L.A and the amount of people that live here is enormous,” Rodriguez said. “So every time I fly over and look at it I say, ‘There’s got to be a quarterback somewhere amongst these many thousands of cars and houses,’ and there is.”

Rodriguez must have had a flight diverted to Nevada. His quarterback, Anu Solomon, who led the Wildcats to the Pac-12’s South Division title last season, played at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High.