Alumnus Recalls Officiating College Football Playoff Semifinal

From the frenzy of the fans to the unpredictable weather to busted brackets, playoff football can be exhilarating.

Many in Kansas City now know the feeling well as fans. But as a member of the officiating crew for the recent College Football Playoff semifinal game between the University of Georgia and the University of Michigan on New Years Eve, Chris Tallent, ’01, can speak to the playoff atmosphere from a very different perspective.

“It was an incredible experience,” he said.

Tallent, a business solutions sales and strategy director at Central Bank of the Midwest, said he began officiating youth and high school football and basketball in 1998 while still a student at Rockhurst to help with tuition. When he started, he relied on what he knew from watching professional and college sports.

“As you work more games, you get to know some of the more experienced officials and they help coach and guide you, especially if you ask them for advice — which I did a lot of,” he said. “I loved what I was doing and wanted to be the best I could be for the game, players, coaches and myself.”

He was recruited and hired to become a collegiate referee in 2003, after completing his accounting degree. He now not only studies the rules and takes part in camps and clinics, but, just like players and coaches, he watches tape to prepare, too. After working as part of a crew for the Heart of America Conference and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, he was hired by the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and, by 2014, he was working for the Big 12 Conference, part of a crew that would call games together throughout the season. He’s since been asked to officiate some high-profile games, including the Holiday Bowl and the Peach Bowl. But he hadn’t had the opportunity to be part of the College Football Playoffs until late last year.

“I received a call from the referee assigned to the Orange Bowl congratulating me for an outstanding season and welcoming me to the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal crew,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling to receive that phone call.”

Amazing as it was, Tallent said, like with any game, he went in with butterflies — this was, after all, the largest stage on which he had ever been, officiating is often under a microscope, and the energy in the stadium was “off the charts,” he said.

In that moment, under the lights and the scrutiny of an electric crowd in the often unpredictable environment of a football game, Tallent said he soaked it in and relied on his experience and training.

“Our objective and mission, regardless of which game we’re working, is to manage the game and deliver a fair and equitable performance,” he said. “In order to do that, we have to put a lot of work into training and practicing so we’re ready for anything the game throws our way.”