Referee ejected from game for punching Chad Kelly’s former coach

During a game in which East Mississippi played Itawamba Community College, things got a little out of sorts when a referee apparently threw a punch at the East Mississippi coach, Buddy Stephens.

While officials seem to have been mistreated in recent headlines, this referee seems to be from the school of thought where you punch first, ask questions later.

You might recall East Mississippi as the JUCO program that Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly played for in between his time at Clemson and Ole Miss.

That'd be Lion coach Buddy Stephens about to hug EMCC alum Chad Kelly after beating Bama. @EMCCathletics @OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/6TOXiSkCB5

— Tom Huebner (@MCCHuebner) September 20, 2015

@RobbyDonoho attempted to offer further explanation of the incident on Twitter:

It doesn’t appear that things calmed down much after the incident:

And a few plays later ICC's Quinn Tiggs and EMCC's Damion Willis are trading blows

— Brandon Shields (@bshields0244) September 26, 2015

Do you think incidents like these becoming more common in football?

Kevin Duffey

A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.