CALIFORNIA (April 11) - A 28-year officiating veteran, Gene Steratore Jr. will be an honorary coach for the annual Black & Red Spring Game at Adamson Stadium on April 28.
 
Steratore is entering his seventh season as a referee in the National Football League (NFL). He began his career as a field judge in 2003 before being promoted to referee at the start of the 2006 NFL season.
 
Along with football, Steratore is the only current NFL referee who also officiates NCAA Division I basketball. Entering his 16th season as a Division I college basketball official, he was worked games in the BIG EAST, Big Ten, Atlantic 10, Metro Atlantic and Colonial Athletic Association. Steratore has also officiated games in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), most recently working a second-round game in the 2012 tournament at CONSOL Energy Center.
 
He was named the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Coordinator of Football Officiating and head of the Tri-State officials associations in 2010. He became just the fourth leader of the PAC and Tri-State football officials in the 55-year history of both organizations. His father, Gene Steratore, Sr., led the PAC/Tri-State football officials from 1977-2000.
 
Steratore started officiating at age 11, working YMCA basketball games near Pittsburgh. After playing quarterback at Kent State, he began officiating high school football in 1983.
 
Steratore is a 1988 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania and majored in social science. Outside of his officiating duties, Gene and his brother Tony are co-owners of Steratore Sanitary Supplies in nearby Eighty Four, Pa. He has one grown daughter and two grown sons and currently resides in Washington, Pa.