Karl Richins was named the coordinator of football officials for the Big Sky Conference in January of 2013.
 
Richins spent the previous three seasons assisting Toole and the Big Sky Conference with game evaluation and training videos.
 
His duties as director of football officials will include training, hiring and evaluating officials. He will also oversee game evaluators, assign red hats, develop training videos, and run the annual summer officiating clinic.
 
Richins began his officiating career in 1985 at the high school level in Pocatello, Idaho. In 1998, he began officiating in the Big Sky Conference and in 2000 moved to the Mountain West Conference.
 
In 2003, he was elevated to a referee position in the Mountain West. In 2007, Richins began working as a referee in the Big 12 Conference. A back injury forced Richins to hang up his whistle in 2010.
 
During his career, Richins officiated two Cotton Bowls, a Gator Bowl, a Capital One Bowl, an Outback Bowl, as well as several high-profile Big 12, Mountain West and Big Sky Conference games.
 
Richins also spent 25 years as a United States probation officer, retiring in 2008. Richins graduated from Idaho State University in 1984 with a bachelor’s of science in political science.
 
Richins has three adult children, including a stepson Ryan Dickson who is an official in the NFL.
 
If you are interested in applying to become a football official, please click this link and complete the form.