Merton Hanks 'excited' by state of Pac-12 officiating

A mass exodus of Pac-12 football officials earlier this offseason saw five referees leave the conference to pursue other avenues. One retired and four resigned — three of which are now working for the Big Ten Conference.

The abrupt exits made headlines back in April, and three months later, Pac-12 Senior Associate Commissioner Merton Hanks says the conference has a handle on everything.

“We are excited. We have a wonderful group of officials. Moving forward I think this group, to address the elephant in the room, so to speak, we had a number of officials as independent contractors decide to take their opportunities elsewhere,” Hanks said during Pac-12 Media Day earlier this week in Las Vegas. “We took that opportunity, quite frankly, to reposition our great talent.”

The five officials to leave include 28-year Pac-12 official Mike Mothershed retired, while Chris Coyte, Francisco Villar and Steve Strimling are the three that joined the Big Ten. Jim Wharrie, the fifth official to resign, worked three games for the Pac-12 during 2022 rather than the other three who did it full-time. He is also joining the Big Ten Conference. Coyte, Villar and Wharrie were seen officiating Nebraska‘s spring game in late April.

This is strategic on the Big Ten’s part, as the conference has been trying to hire other conference officials through the College Officiating Consortium, according to Football Zebras, who initially reported the mass exodus. Hanks and other suits within the Pac-12 immediately began the search for replacements from both inside and outside the conference.

“We’ve had a number of quality officials that we’ve been looking for opportunities to promote and put them in positions to lead moving forward,” Hanks said. “We’ve been able to do that. We’ve been working collaboratively with our athletic director group. We have a specific committee amongst athletic directors regarding the officiating piece.

“We’ve been in lockstep on what we need to do there. We’re in great shape. Really looking forward to the season. For us, the season has begun in that respect, so we’re excited about it.”

A similar situation happened in 2018, but Hanks wasn’t around for that. Still, he’s been able to handle it swiftly and away from the spotlight. No specific names have been released on who will replace the five officials, but Hanks is obviously confident in the group he’s put together.

At the very least, he wants his officials to stay out of headlines — unlike they did throughout the 2022 season.