By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Matt Young, a football official on the high school and college levels for 37 years, has been named rulebook editor for NCAA football.
In his new position, the 56-year-old Newport resident will be monitoring rules designed to ensure fairness, promote player safety and improve the accuracy and consistency of officiating on the college level.
“I’m basically the custodian of the rulebook,” said Young, rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport. “And once the rules come out in the spring and have been approved, then I assist the NCAA in presenting that to the media and everyone else.”
A 1988 graduate of Conner High School, Young never played football for the Cougars even though his father, Bob, was head coach of the program while he was a student.
He knew enough about the game to become a Northern Kentucky high school official at the age of 19. In 2006, he began officiating college games and went on to become the Ohio Valley Conference’s coordinator of officials. He also serves as officials coordinator for the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Young doesn’t officially start as the rulebook editor until Sept. 1. During the upcoming season, he will handle questions involving the current NCAA rules created through a process that includes feedback from member schools, review by football committees and final approval by NCAA commissioners.
“Only thing I have to do now in terms of 2026 rules is make interpretations if something is a gray area or a decision needs to be made if people have questions,” Young said. “And there’s a lot of people around the country that have questions.”
There are more than 670 NCAA football programs divided into three divisions. Division I teams are split into the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) based on athletic budgets and full scholarships offered. Division II has a different scholarship model for its members and Division III teams offer no scholarships.
Young is now part of the base of operation provided for the sport that has nationwide popularity and provides revenue for colleges of all sizes all across the country.
“Part of my goal is to keep the same rules for all divisions together,” he said. “Whether you play at Murray State or Muskingum or Michigan, everybody wants to play the same game.”
Young said he’ll continue working as church rector and coordinator of college officials in addition to his new position. Last week, he was on the officiating crew for a Northern Kentucky high school football game, but he doubts if he’ll be doing that very much this season.
“I’m sort of glad to have this come up,” he said of the rulebook editor position. “You go in a different direction for a few years and sort of see what happens. These opportunities don’t come by too much.”