The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced today that Mike Cannon has been hired as the conference’s new Coordinator of Football Officials.
Cannon will lead all aspects of the assignment, development, and improvement of football officiating including the recruitment of new officials, retention of officials, and development of quality crews. He will succeed the MIAC’s longest-serving officials coordinator, Tom Perrault, who passed away in January following a battle with cancer. Cannon has also been hired to assign football officials for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).
“I am extremely happy to be joining the MIAC and UMAC as their football officiating coordinator,” Cannon said. “I have stayed connected to officials in this area and have enjoyed watching many advance through the officiating levels. It will be fun to work with this staff to continue their development. They are an extremely dedicated group. I would also like to thank the former coordinator, Tom Perrault, for being a long-time mentor and friend to me. I will do my best to carry on the excellent work that he did!”
A former MIAC official, Cannon brings more than four decades of college football officiating experience to his new role. In addition to working MIAC contests early in his career, Cannon spent 12 years as a side judge in NCAA Division II’s North Central Conference, being selected to work nine playoff games and officiating the D-II National Championship in 1994.
He transitioned to the field judge position in the Big Ten Conference in 2000 and went on to officiate in some of the most iconic games in college football history, including the 2006 Rose Bowl, 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and 2011 BCS National Championship. Upon becoming a full-time Big Ten referee in 2011, his crews earned selection for eleven bowl games, including three Big Ten championships, a College Football Playoff semifinal, and the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship.
“Mike’s officiating résumé is as good as it gets,” MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane said. “We’re incredibly fortunate to be able to bring someone as knowledgeable and respected as Mike is back into the conference to serve in this role. His expertise will be tremendously beneficial not just to our officiating crews, but also to our football programs and conference as a whole.”
Since retiring from the field, Cannon has served as a regional coordinator and referee clinician for the Minnesota State High School League, as well as the referee co-trainer for the Collegiate Officiating Consortium, which services the Big Ten Conference, Mid-American Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, and Pioneer League.
Cannon’s tenure with both the MIAC and UMAC will begin immediately.
(info courtesy of MIAC)
