Big XII official Kelly Deterding speaks to the Floydada Rotary and Lions clubs during their joint meeting on Nov. 16, 2021. (Alex Driggars/Floyd County Record)
FLOYDADA — “I’ve just about seen it all and heard it all in my 25 years of officiating football in the Big XII Conference,” said Kelly Deterding of Lubbock to the Floydada Rotary and Lions clubs during their joint meeting on Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall.
Deterding starting officiating high school football in 1981 and worked his way up to the Big XII in 1997. He is part of an eight-man crew that officiates from eight to 10 Big XII games and a couple of Mountain West collegiate contests each fall. During his career, he has been selected to officiate a college bowl game 22 times, including the National Semifinals last season between Ohio State and Clemson.
For his “day job,” Deterding is a Vice President of Crop Insurance for City Bank based out of Lubbock. This is where he struck up a friendship with Clar Schacht, a retired insurance agent in both Floydada and Lockney, who invited him to speak to the clubs. He is also a good friend of Taylor Sue of Goen & Goen Insurance.
Deterding is a line judge and is positioned on the sideline every play. This is where he has just about heard it all from head coaches.
“Coaches are always your friends before the game, but not while it is going on,” Deterding said. “I will allow the head coach to vent his frustration on calls that go against his team, but I will not listen to the assistant coaches at all. Head coaches are warned to keep the assistants away from me,” he added with a chuckle.
“Officials probably watch more than 10 hours of film breaking down plays Sunday through Tuesday. We receive our weekly grade reports from the Big XII office each Wednesday and receive video clips from them of unique plays that have occurred across the nation, all to be prepared for the unexpected. We then have meetings on Friday night and Saturday morning with our officiating crew — part of the ritual to be ready for a game that takes nearly 3 1/2 hours to play. Our crew usually grades out at nearly 99 percent accurate, but we are always striving for perfection,” Deterding explained.
“You also need to be in physical shape because I run and walk between five to seven miles a game,” he added as he pointed to his step monitor on his wrist. He has a weekly workout routine to keep him in shape.
Deterding rejects the notion that on officiating crew may be biased toward one team or another, noting that all of the training and rules that they are subjected to help keep a contest fair and under control.
“Very seldom do I even know the final score when it is over. We focus on each play to make sure it was right,” Deterding commented.
