For SEC referee Steve Marlowe, the 2024-25 college football season was one he’ll never forget
Steve Marlowe communicates a penalty during the SEC Championship Game. (RDMoore Photography)
The 2024-25 college football season was a historic one. Across the sport’s landscape, a dramatic shift of teams changing conference allegiances substantially altered schedules. For the Southeastern Conference (SEC), it marked the first season of two newcomers: Oklahoma and Texas.
On top of all the shifts, 2024 marked the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP), with the system expanding from four teams to 12. In a year of firsts, it was set from the start to be historic.
For SEC referee Steve Marlowe, it was also a year of firsts. After a decade of officiating games in the conference, Marlowe and his crew were able to call three firsts within a two-month span: the SEC Championship Game, a CFP game and a National Championship game.
The job of being an official is much more than just calling games on Saturdays in the fall. It’s a year-round process that starts as soon as the final whistle of the previous season is blown. On top of their duties as officials, most referees also work full-time jobs.
“We don’t just show up on Saturday and call a football game,” Marlowe said. “There’s a considerable amount of preparation for us that goes into the game, and the travel can be significant when we are going to officiate our contests. During the week, we are reviewing film from our last game, we’re evaluating ourselves, we’re taking rules tests, we’re watching training videos and we’re working on our physical fitness in some shape, form or fashion. So, there’s a lot of work that goes into what we do on Saturday that you don’t see.”
In addition to what goes on during the season, Marlowe and his fellow officials consistently work on their fitness. Mentally preparing for the game is just as important, with officials studying rules, attending clinics and officiating spring practices and spring games to keep their skills sharp in the offseason.
“It’s a year-round commitment,” Marlowe said.
After calling games throughout the regular season, Marlowe’s crew was selected to officiate the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Texas — the first time in a decade of officiating SEC games that he had been chosen to do so. After that game, Marlowe’s eyes looked ahead at the potential for his first College Football Playoff game.
Due to the SEC’s success in reaching the College Football Playoff — and the BCS National Championship Game that preceded it — the last championship game that an SEC officiating crew called was all the way back in 2005, when USC drummed Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. To avoid conflicts or potential bias, officiating crews aren’t allowed to call playoff games where teams from their own conference are represented.
Heading into the CFP this season, it appeared that SEC officials would likely miss out on the title game again. In the first year of an expanded playoff, the number of participating teams increased from four to 12. With No. 2 Georgia, No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Tennessee representing the SEC, the odds of an SEC team reaching the championship seemed probable.
Regardless, Marlowe and his crew were assigned the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal game between No. 3 Boise State and No. 6 Penn State. Despite it being Marlowe’s first playoff game, he said there was no place for nerves.
“Nervous is not necessarily the word I would use — excited may be a better way to describe it,” Marlowe said. “Anticipation — that may be the better way to phrase it than nervous, because you have to have a level of confidence when you go out to work the game, and nervousness is not something that exudes confidence.”
After Penn State downed Boise State 31-14, Marlowe and his crew sat on the sidelines watching the semifinals. Notre Dame defeated Penn State, while Ohio State took down Texas — the last SEC team remaining in the playoff — setting up the CFP National Championship in Atlanta.
“With no SEC team remaining — and that our conference had not worked the championship game in recent history — we felt like one of the two SEC officiating crews in the CFP would probably be selected to work the title game,” Marlowe said.
After 35 years officiating football games at the high school and college level, and after ten seasons in the SEC, Marlowe was finally able to referee his first CFP title game. In less than two months, Marlowe had checked off many of his dream goals as a college football official.
“I’m just so grateful that we got the chance to work in the postseason and work in the playoffs,” Marlowe said, with a chuckle. “It’s just a huge honor.”
When asked to reflect on his accomplishments, Marlowe didn’t point inwardly. Rather, he pointed externally to the people in his life who he believes should share in his success.
“I’ll say this: There are three very important groups of people that help you be successful in what we do on Saturdays,” Marlowe said. “The first is your family, because if they’re not supportive, it can make your home life very difficult. Second, having the right guys on the field who are committed, do a good job and work hard at it is really important, too.”
Marlowe’s third group of emphasis is his coworkers. Marlowe simultaneously works as an SEC referee and as a community relations manager for Alabama Power. Working out of Oak Grove and primarily serving Talladega County, Marlowe said his coworkers also contributed to his successful season.
“If your employer, if your work team, if your manager is not supportive of what you do, it’s not going to work out,” Marlowe said. “And I have been fortunate that all three groups for me have been supportive.”
“We all help each other, but my teammates really go above and beyond for me. I know they will have my back, so work has never been a distraction for me. And frankly, they should share in the success that I had this season because, without them, I wouldn’t have been able to work these games.”
