Football is a common bond between father and son in the Schwarzel family.
Skylar, a freshman wide receiver at Ohio, and Kevin, his father and a Big Ten referee, have shared a love of the game for their entire lives. Both also played football for Athens High School, as did Kevin’s father, Max.
Kevin, an Ohio University alumnus, coached his son’s football teams at the elementary and junior high school level, reinforcing a strong relationship with the game that they both love.
But that father-son dynamic was sometimes a little tenuous.
“Skylar is the only kid in all my years of coaching junior high football that we had a mutual understanding one day that he just left practice,” Kevin said. “He and I didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.”
“When he decided to leave practice one day, I think it had a little to do with his dad wanting to do things the right way and him thinking he could get along doing it another way.”
As involved as Kevin was in Skylar’s football career, it became hard for him to attend his son’s high school games because his officiating job kept him away from Athens on Friday nights. Most referees have to be in the location of their game the night before, he said.
While in meetings to prepare for his weekend work, Kevin would have friends text him play-by-play updates, just to make sure he never missed a moment of his son’s career.
When it came to choosing a school for Skylar, a former first-team all-Division III receiver who has yet to see any game action for Ohio, staying close to home was critical to his decision.
“I wanted to stay here,” Skylar said. “I wanted to be close. Growing up as a kid, I always watched Ohio play, so I thought it would be cool to play here, too.”
Kevin’s dream was to also play collegiate sports, but he figured officiating was the next best thing.
He worked his way up the ladder in the profession — officiating high school football games, progressing to the Ohio Athletic Conference and later the Mid-American Conference, where he spent eight years before moving on to the Big Ten.
“I get to be out on the field, participating in that game with the best seat in the house,” Kevin said. “And you mean someone’s going to pay me for that? I mean, gee, how could it get any better than that?”
The relationship players and coaches have with officials is unique. Kevin said he understands the emotions of the game and can fathom why players sometimes become upset. But provided they are respectful of him, he doesn’t mind a bit.
Ohio redshirt senior cornerback Travis Carrie said that he has developed a decent rapport with many MAC referees.
“Those guys can make the difference in a game,” Carrie said. “So I try to butter them up pregame and things like that. Just enjoying some conversation, pick their heads and minds, feel for where they’re coming from.”
“So I’m always giving them little hints and complaining to kind of get them on my side, so when that close call comes, they won’t call it against us.”
In the end, Kevin just wants the players he officiates to know that although they’re doing the best they can, officials, just like the players, will occasionally make mistakes.
“The perfect game has never been played, and the perfect game has never been called,” Kevin said. “And it won’t ever be. It’s part of the game.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
