Penn Township’s Brian Sakowski ready to officiate national championship game

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, January 7, 2023 | 7:51 PM

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Sixteen years ago, as Brian Sakowski remembers, he worked his first varsity football game, a WPIAL rivalry between Trinity and Canon-McMillan.

That game almost was his last, he says now, with a laugh.

“There was a blocked punt, and I called this absolutely horrible holding call when the ball was loose,” Sakowski said. “I remember (Canon-Mac coach) Guy Montecalvo screaming at me from the other side. I thought, ‘Man, I just screwed up.’

“If it wasn’t for the other officials around me, I probably would’ve quit.”

Sakowski ultimately stuck with officiating and proved to be good at it.

In fact, the 44-year-old Penn Township resident, now an official in the ACC, will work the college football national championship Monday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. No. 1 Georgia plays No. 3 TCU. He’ll serve as line judge for the 7:30 p.m. game watched by millions.

“I’m preparing like it’s any other game, knowing it’s not any other game,” Sakowski said. “But you can ask almost any official who’s worked a big game: Once the ball is kicked off, it’s just football.”

The officials chosen for the national championship must come from a conference that doesn’t have a team in the final four. This season, that meant an ACC or Pac-12 crew would officiate the championship.

College teams received their bowl assignments on the first Sunday in December. The next day, officials received theirs. ACC officials got assignments for the Las Vegas Bowl, the Texas Bowl in Houston, the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio and ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa.

“As an official, that Monday is one of the most stressful days because we’re all sitting there trying to refresh our email,” Sakowski said. “You just hope you get one.”

In previous years, Sakowski worked the Arizona, Outback and Texas bowls. Two years ago, he officiated the Army-Navy game in place of a bowl. This time, Sakowski said he was overwhelmed by an email assigning him the national championship.

“My reaction was I almost cried,” he said. “My first thought was my wife and my parents, and all that they’ve done for me. … It choked me up. When I called my mom and told her, it was such a proud moment.”

Western Pennsylvania has a strong reputation for producing football officials.

Sakowski was one of seven former WPIAL officials to work bowl games this winter, joining Amanda Sauer at the Fenway Bowl, Mario Seneca at the Pinstripe Bowl, George Liotus at the Alamo Bowl, Frank Steratore at the Gator Bowl and Brad Hudak and Brett Bergman at the Orange Bowl.

Sakowski planned to take his wife, Jen, with him to California this weekend.

“It’s hard work and it’s sacrifice, not only for yourself but your family,” Sakowski said. “My wife is a single parent for a quarter of the year because I work during the week and on weekends I fly to games.”

Sakowski, an engineer, works for Bechtel Plant Machinery in Monroeville. He and his wife have two children, Luke, 7, and Evelyn, 5.

“I’m super lucky, because not everybody has a spouse that’s that understanding,” he said. “She knew from when we met that this was my passion, to officiate football.”

Sakowski climbed the ladder but maintains a strong connection with WPIAL football. He is responsible for assigning the officiating crews for the majority WPIAL games, as well as the City League.

A former football player at Penn-Trafford and Gannon, Sakowski said he hopes his success might encourage others to start the journey as high school officials.

“It’s not just about working the national championship game,” Sakowski said. “It’s about going and working at North Hills with the Rowdie Rooters. I remember those days just as much.”

Sakowski started officiating JV football in 2005 and jumped to varsity the next year. He added small colleges in 2009 and moved up to the Colonial, Ivy and Patriot Leagues four years later. The ACC hired him in 2015.

As line judge, Sakowski works along the sideline and marks the line of scrimmage.

“In the first half, I’m usually on the top of the screen,” he said. “In the second half, I’m on the bottom. We flip so the coaches have equal opportunity to yell at us.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.