NFL Referee Clay Martin Doubles as High School Athletic Director

“After crew discussion, the runner was out of bounds before he fumbled the basketball. The ball will be placed at the 39-yard line. It is a first down.”

That was NFL referee Clay Martin’s announcement during an October 6, 2024, game between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans. Given that nearly all NFL game officials have another career beyond the NFL, in Martin’s case, perhaps, it was the high school basketball coach in him that came out that day.

Martin had coached basketball at Jenks High School in Oklahoma for 17 seasons – leading the Trojans to a 299-136 record with nine Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) state tournament appearances. However, Martin moved from his coaching role to being the school’s athletic director in June 2024 after holding various roles in the district since his arrival in 2003.

He moved from Florida when he was a one-year-old and attended Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was an all-state football and basketball student-athlete.

“The district has been so supportive of this opportunity for me,” Martin said. “Being familiar with Jenks is one thing, but then also familiarizing yourself with OSSAA institutional knowledge and even NFHS-type policy. As a coach, you kind of know, but as an athletic director, you better know.”

Martin said he owes it to an incredible athletic department team to help him balance both roles – leading the Jenks athletic program and serving as an officiating crew chief in the NFL. He said the toughest time to balance his schedule comes in the preseason for both the Jenks fall athletic programs and NFL training camps.

Even before NFL preseason games get underway, NFL game officials visit various training camps to get their own “reps” in just as the teams practice ahead of their seasons.

Martin was hired into the NFL in 2015 as an umpire before moving to the referee role in 2018 – following the retirements of Terry McAulay and Gene Steratore. He’s enjoyed many successes in his NFL career so far – landing his first conference championship game last month when he worked the Los Angeles Rams-Seattle Seahawks thriller, in which the Seahawks captured their fourth Super Bowl berth by winning 31-27.

The game was Martin’s seventh postseason assignment, according to Football Zebras. Martin had previously officiated four Wild Card playoff games and two Divisional playoff games.

Working from week-to-week, Martin tries to have completed at least a once-through, if not twice, game film review of the NFL game he just officiated prior to landing in Tulsa. That process, he said, helps identify areas the crew did well and can improve upon. Martin is also responsible for completing a game report for each game and works throughout the week with his crew, the game’s evaluator and the league office to facilitate grading and evaluation. Monday and Tuesday, he said, are dedicated to wrapping up the previous Sunday’s game whereas Wednesday begins a shift toward his crew’s next meeting on Saturday.

Martin looks to create clips from each game to highlight in the pregame meeting with his crew including growth opportunities, good officiating pieces and video of interest from other games.

“We have extensive film opportunities in the NFL to look at film and prepare and you also have to throw in your continued rule study,” Martin said.

Martin joked that longtime NFL referee Ed Hochuli taught him that proper preparation can help make the actual game the “easiest three hours of your week.” Martin said that much of Sunday morning can feel like a blur between a crew devotion and breakfast before heading to the stadium about three hours prior. Once onsite, Martin has multiple meetings before taking the field at about 50 minutes prior to kickoff.

Coaching in the NFL can present many stresses and pressures and turnover can happen fast. According to ESPN, the Las Vegas Raiders have had 12 head coaches since 2002 and nearly half the league has turned over at least seven head coaches in that same timeframe. Martin said he understands the intensity of managing a team at that level.

“I think officiating helped me be a better coach and I also think coaching has helped me, just with my approach and communication style with the coaches I get to work for and serve,” Martin said. “I just feel it does give me a little bit of empathy, perhaps just because of the pressures, no matter what level it is, and the things that coaches are dealing with.

“But the reality is, we want to be there and be a good set of ears, provide what we can, be good listeners, and when we need to walk away, we need to be able to walk away and get the game going again. But there’s no doubt that I think both roles have helped me with the other.”

Prior to the NFL, Martin started high school officiating in 2005 to make a little extra income and by 2007, made his way onto the collegiate officiating radar.

“A lot of things had to happen,” Martin said. “I was working at a University of Tulsa spring scrimmage in 2007 when a gentleman by the name of Gerald Austin introduced himself to me after the scrimmage, who was a then-NFL white hat and supervisor of officials for Conference USA. He asked me why I hadn’t applied.

“I said ‘Sir, I’ve just been doing this two years.’ (Austin) said ‘I’d like for you to apply.”

That fall, Martin was hired as a line of scrimmage official in Conference USA, which Martin said Austin was “really, really instrumental in my growth.”

Martin said officiating should be considered when playing and coaching careers come to a close – if not sooner.

“I think it’s an avenue to stay connected in sports that very few people think about, and so I encourage them to just think about what that might look like,” Martin said. “Not everybody’s going to make it to the NFL, not everybody’s going to make it to college, whatever that path may take you. But what a way to keep camaraderie and that team dynamic with the crew. What a way to serve and give back to the game that’s been so good to you along the way.”

Martin enjoyed a collegiate playing career – initially attending the University of Tulsa on football and basketball scholarships before transferring to Oklahoma Baptist University to play basketball, helping his team reach the 1997 NAIA championship game.

“I think those that have played, there’s just a feel that you may have for the game. You have those instincts that I think can help you in officiating as well. Most of us in athletics truly crave and love the team dynamic. And as an officiating crew, you’re your own team.”

Martin said that he’ll never forget his high school football officiating experiences.

“But I tell people often, some of my best memories were still showing up to a high school game on a Friday night begging for a hamburger and the car rides to and from. The crew dynamic is so special, and for that continued camaraderie and dynamic, it’s something special.”

Luke Modrovsky is the coordinator of publications and communications for the National Federation of State High School Associations.