Don't count on Ken Williamson to return subsequent season.
The SEC referee, suspended for the rest of the faculty soccer season this week, informed officers earlier than the opener that he was going to retire at season's finish, according to ESPN.
“The SEC doesn't touch upon personnel issues,” a league spokesperson informed the outlet.
Williamson discovered himself in the course of a firestorm as the top official throughout Georgia's 20-10 win over Auburn on Oct. 11, a sport marred by a number of notable and controversial calls from the officiating crew.
In a single, Auburn's Jackson Arnold was dominated to have fumbled on a QB sneak on a third-and-goal play late within the first half with the Bulldogs recovering.
The decision was upheld after a prolonged evaluation, resulting in Georgie marching its approach to a area aim with 13 seconds left to finish the half with a 10-3 deficit.
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and Tigers athletic director John Cohen reportedly confronted Williamson as he headed to the locker room, with Freeze telling ESPN's Molly McGrath on the half, “I've no clue how that doesn't break the aircraft, no clue. We're due a break, perhaps, considered one of these rattling instances.”
In keeping with YellowHammerNews, there have been 11 complete complaints lodged towards Williamson and his crew after the sport, with 9 of them validated by the SEC.
Williamson's high-profile suspension is a warning shot — and never simply to referees, in response to ESPN faculty soccer analyst Kirk Herbstreit.
“If a man has constantly had tough outings the place a league or convention has to name a coach or a name an athletic director and apologize for a miss … and that occurs at an everyday price, that is groundbreaking,” he said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday. “A man in the course of a season is requested to sit? I've by no means heard of something like that.
“You discuss holding gamers and coaches and everyone accountable. Referees have at all times by no means actually needed to cope with that — perhaps within the offseason, however not in-season. I believe it's an eye-opener. I'm a referee man, I'm pro-referee, I believe followers get means too emotional about it, however I'm to see what this results in. If that is kinda like that first instance and now you begin to see it increasingly more, not simply in faculty soccer, however in all sports activities.”
Whereas the transfer to droop Williamson is shocking, it's not the primary time this season the SEC has publicly acknowledged points with its officiating, having issued an announcement a few large gaffe in No. 11 Oklahoma's 24-17 win over the Tigers on Sept. 20.
