Today’s interviewee is GHSA football official Jeff Tidrick, who worked his final Georgia game last week, Adairsville vs. Gilmer, after 52 years on the job. The 74-year-old is moving to North Carolina. Tidrick started in his 20s and worked seven GHSA championship games. Tidrick has not closed the chapter on his officiating career. He might start year 53 this fall in his new state.
1. How did you get into officiating at such a young age, and how did that impact your life? “I played football all the way through high school [at Southwest DeKalb] and injured a knee, and I’m not physically a big person, so the opportunities that were there kind of went away. My father was a professional basketball player, and after I graduated from college, we were talking and he had a friend that was an NFL official. There were more officials than there were games, so it took a while to get on the varsity field. In fact, it took me a little over four years. In the meantime, in order to become good, you’ve got to work. I was working youth ball games, non-varsity ball games, running clocks, holding chains during varsity games. I would average six, seven games a week. There were less opportunities for younger officials to work, particularly varsity games. The GHSA was not nearly as involved as it has become in the assigning of games and teams. It has taught me to look at things in a broader perspective and try to bring in as many facts that are pertinent to whatever the situation is and use all that information before making a decision.” [Tidrick’s father, Hal Tidrick, played in the Basketball Association of America, the NBA predecessor league where the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks and three other NBA franchises got their start in the 1940s.]
2. What are some of the challenges that you have faced as an official as you have gotten older? “I never thought I’d last this long because I was not seeing, in my early years, the older officials being able to continue for this length of time. God granted me a very good body, and I have tried to take care of it. I exercise a lot, probably at least six times a week, just trying to stay in shape. I’m still able to run up and down the field. The offenses have become much more sophisticated, and the players have become so much larger and stronger. They’re in such good physical condition that you’ve got to work to be able to stay up with them.”
3. What is the most memorable game or who is the most memorable player that you have officiated for? “It was the first weekend that the GHSA held state semifinals at the former Georgia Dome. I had never worked on AstroTurf at that time, and I’m running off the field at halftime and the proverbial turf monster reached up and tripped me, and I went head over heels. The Thomas County Central fans, they all gave me a standing ovation. But you see players on occasion that are just different than everybody else on the field. Ronnie Brown, who played at Cartersville, I worked his championship game [in 1999 against Hart County], and there was no question who the best player on that team was. You just see people more than games. Trevor Lawrence is the best high school quarterback I’ve seen. Deshaun Watson and Justin Fields [are] in the NFL. But as far as quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence definitely stands out. You don’t remember a lot of the linemen that you get to see. The Stinchcomb brothers, both of them [Jon and Matt from Parkview and later Georgia, both members of the Georgia High School Hall of Fame] were really good as far as linemen go.”
4. What was the decision like to step away from officiating with GHSA? “My plan is to move up to North Carolina. If next August I feel like I do right now, then I’m going to go officiate. I feel good. I had heart surgery in January of this year – had a valve replaced – and everything went fine. So I feel like I can still have something to offer. And they are in need of officials [in North Carolina]. There is no question that it’s the guys and ladies [that I will miss most]. The most enjoyable part is usually on the way home from the game, if you’ve got a couple of people in the car. It’s just such a wide variety, and we all have one thing in common, and that is the love of football.”
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