Arlington Seguin head coach Joe Gordon talks with an official to clarify a safety call during the first half of a UIL football game between The Colony and Arlington Seguin at Galspie Field in Arlington on Sept. 25, 2025.
Bob Booth
Special to the Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Football Officials President Brian Simpson said more Fort Worth area Friday night high school football games could move to Thursday if FWFO membership doesn’t improve.
Texas has dealt with an officials shortage to varying degrees in recent years, and it’s starting to affect the Fort Worth area. The Star-Telegram met with Simpson for a Q&A to discuss potential consequences, key problems for officials and more.
The following interview is edited for clarity and length.
How bad is the football officiating shortage right now?
Texas Association of sports officials and the football chapters across the state, we’ve been talking about a shortage for several years now. It’s mainly been in the rural areas. We haven’t had so much of a problem in the Metroplex. We started noticing the shortage last year and definitely this year.
What are some of the potential consequences you might see due to having less manpower available?
Because the game today, even at the high school level, and especially at the 5A and 6A level — it’s so fast. We’ve moved to seven officials. To contrast that, in college they have nine. What one of the consequences might be is, instead of having seven officials on the field, we might have to back down to five, like we had as I was coming up the ranks. Another consequence is, we talk about Texas Friday night football, and Friday night lights. More and more games are probably going to have to be moved to Thursdays or Saturdays.
Do you think people are hesitant to officiate because they may sometimes see a lack of respect, especially from fans?
I think so, especially with this newer generation. The younger guys tend to look at things as far as a return on investment, and quite frankly, they’ll tell me officiating is just not worth my time. High school football officials, whether you’re doing a varsity game or a junior high game — you don’t get paid a lot of money, you’re not going to get rich officiating football.
How satisfying is the work, though? To work with a group that wants to give back to the sport?
It’s very satisfying. I’m about to start my 29th season, and the longer I’ve done it, the more I’ve appreciated just what it means to give back to the game. Being an official, being on the field, giving back, being a good example — an adult role model for these boys out on the football field is very satisfying.
What’s the most challenging aspect of getting through a week and making sure everything is taken care of?
Well, it’s just the numbers and the availability. Our chapter, the Fort Worth Chapter of Football Officials, we’ve got a little over 500 officials. Pretty much the same number as last year. I had truly expected our numbers to grow. That’s typical when the economy is down to slightly down as it is now, you’ll see more people coming out to maybe pick up a little extra income, but that didn’t really happen this year.
It’s just making sure that we have qualified officials, not just first and second year guys, but guys with some experience that can handle the level of game that we’re trying to assign them to. Making sure they’re available, because this is just a part-time gig. Oftentimes, a person’s real job or family obligations will get in the way.
And then making sure that they can get to the location, because the FWFO, we go as far north as the Red River up near Lindsay and Muenster. We go as far west as Aledo and Brock. And with the Dallas chapter, we kind of meet up in the middle. There’s kind of an invisible jagged line that runs between Dallas and Fort Worth that we hit upon when we head east. So, we’ve got a big swath of territory to cover, and sometimes it’s difficult to get people to all these locations.
If someone was on the fence about becoming an official. What would your message be to them to convince them it’s worth it?
That’s a good question. I would tell them that if you look at the grand scheme of things, and if you’re a football fan, if you love football like I do, you’ll be good for it. We need officials, and quite frankly, the game can’t go on without us. Just know that by participating as a football official, you’re helping the game continue. You’re helping to make sure that kids have the opportunity to play just like you did when you were coming up in school.
The resistance I’ll get is people saying, ‘I don’t want to receive that level of criticism and scrutiny.’ And I explained to them that it’s a mindset. When you put on the uniform, the striped shirt, you’ve automatically put yourself into a category where you’re going to be criticized. And as I explained to younger officials, they’re not yelling at you, they’re yelling at your clothes. It’s just part of the territory.
And it’s not just giving back, but just the fraternity of guys that you meet. I’ve been doing this almost 30 years. And so I’ve got lifelong friends that I’ve had through football officiating, that I’ve had now for decades, and we’ve shared weddings, births, graduations, you name it. It’s a special fraternity that we’re part of.
Is there anything else that we haven’t talked about yet that you think the public should know about?
Some people think that officials are looking at games through a certain lens, or they’re biased, and quite frankly, there couldn’t be anything further from the truth. We go out there and nobody is a harsher critic on officials than themselves. If we make a mistake — we’re human, and we do make mistakes — it hurts us more than it hurts anyone. When we do make those mistakes, we’re always anxious to get back on the field, and get back on the horse, and learn from it.
There’s probably no bigger football fans than us football officials. Most of us got involved in football officiating because we were such fanatics for the game, and we can’t get enough of it. I wish that the public knew that. When you see those guys in striped shirts, you’re looking at a fellow football fan. It’s just someone that decided they cared about the game so much, they had to get involved. They needed to be on the field.
Those interested in becoming a football official can email FWFO’s recruit team (cast@fwfo.org).
.jpg)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Charles Baggarly is a high school sports editor and reporter for the Fort Worth Star Telegram. He graduated from TCU in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and served as TCU 360’s sports editor. Connect with Charles on Twitter or via email.