Terry McAulay calls out SEC for decision to suspend official Ken Williamson

On Thursday, ESPN confirmed a report from the Yellowhammer News regarding the status of SEC official Ken Williamson. He is suspended for the rest of the 2025 season and might end up retiring. Doing so was his plan heading into the year per ESPN.

Williamson has become a controversial figure in recent weeks because of the Auburn–Georgia game on Oct. 11. Multiple calls went against the Tigers, upsetting everyone involved with the program. So, people on the Plains might be happy Williamson is doing as an official but Terry McAulay is not.

McAulay previously spoke against the backlash Williamson received via Twitter. Now, he provided comments and called out the SEC when talking to ESPN.

“I think this does set a very dangerous precedent,” McAulay, who is currently NBC’s rule analyst, said. “I mean, it’s basically succumbing to the masses who want every official’s head on a post after a difficult loss where there were maybe some controversial calls. I know the world doesn’t think they’re accountable, but they certainly are.

“They work the whole season for postseason [assignments] and when they have situations like this, they don’t get postseason assignments. They sometimes are not renewed. If they felt this rose to the level of a required punishment, there are certainly lesser punishments that may have been more appropriate than to basically end somebody’s career.”

As mentioned, the game in question caused quite a storm at Auburn, believing the officiating played a massive role in the decision. A play that quarterback Jackson Arnold thought he initially scored on at the goal line eventually got ruled a fumble in favor of Georgia. And then in the second half, Kirby Smart got granted a timeout after using a universal signal running down the sideline. However, he argued he was clapping his hands to simulate what an Auburn defender was doing to throw off Georgia’s offense. No flag got thrown on the Tigers for delay or game, nor were the Bulldogs charged a timeout.

Heavy criticism has since come from multiple people at Auburn. Head coach Hugh Freeze called out officiating during his postgame press conference, maybe still having frustrations for another scenario in Norman a few weeks prior against Oklahoma. Athletic director John Cohen actually confronted Williamson during the Georgia game at halftime. Even the university administration voiced frustrations over the matter, still being a topic of conversation two weeks later.