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Officiating crews for the 2016 season

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Football Zebras has obtained the officiating crew rosters for the 2016 NFL season. This season, three new officials have been hired and only one retired. There are five veteran officials designated as swing officials, up from three last season, who will move between crews through the season. Those swing officials include two umpires, a line judge, and two deep wings.

After four officials were promoted to the referee position in the last two years to fill vacancies, there are no new “white hats” this season.

The league disbanded the replay assistant staff and opted to cover the position with regional assistants. Most, if not all, of the previous staff were not retained.

Crew members are listed with their years of NFL experience, including the upcoming season, the crews they were on last season, the college attended, and occupations. Nine veteran officials have changed positions, which are indicated at the bottom of each crew list.

*indicates an official who is on the same crew as last season.

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 122 Brad Allen 3    Pembroke State non-profit CEO
U 11 Fred Bryan 8 * Northern Iowa superintendent, juvenile correctional facility
HL 48 Jim Mello 13 * Northeastern facilities manager
LJ 100 Tom Symonette 13 * Florida certified public accountant
FJ 97 Tom Hill 18 * Carson Newman teacher
SJ 118 David Meslow 6 Boger Augsburg College marketing manager
BJ 83 Shawn Hochuli 3 * Claremont financial advisor
  • Replay official:  Jim Lapetina
  • Position changes: T. Hill (SJ→FJ), Meslow (FJ→SJ)

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 66 Walt Anderson 21    Texas college officiating coordinator, retired dentist
U 40 Butch Hannah 18 * Middle Tennessee State retired federal probation officer
HL 6 Jerod Phillips 1 NA Northeastern State elementary school teacher
LJ 18 Byron Boston 22 * Austin tax consultant
FJ 117 John Jenkins 3 Vinovich St. Mary’s sales executive
SJ 125 Laird Hayes 22 * Princeton owner of football camps for high school and youth
BJ 119 Greg Wilson 9 Corrente USC law enforcement
  • Replay official:  Billy Smith

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 34 Clete Blakeman 9    Nebraska attorney
U 128 Ramon George 1 NA Lenoir-Rhyne vice-president, operations
HL 94 Hugo Cruz 2 * Texas-Pan American investment manager
LJ 36 Tony Veteri† 25 Triplette Manhattan College physical education teacher
FJ 29 Adrian Hill 7 Hochuli Buffalo software engineer
SJ 73 Joe Larrew 15 * St Louis attorney
BJ 17 Steve Patrick 3 * Jacksonville State owner, supply company
  • Replay official:  Rich Reels
  • Position change:  Veteri (HL→LJ)
  • †Substitution: Veteri out (undisclosed) weeks 9-17, replaced with an official on a bye week

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 23 Jerome Boger 13    Morehouse College retired commercial insurance underwriter
U 49 Rich Hall 13 * Arizona custom cabinetry
HL 134 Ed Camp 16 Morelli William Paterson physical education teacher
LJ 8 Dana McKenzie 9 (swing) Toledo claims adjuster
FJ 103 Eugene Hall 3 Anderson North Texas federal agent
SJ 87 Walt Coleman IV 2 * Southern Methodist financial advisor
BJ 112 Tony Steratore 17 * California (Pa.) co-owner, supply company
  • Replay official:  Carl Madsen
  • Position change: McKenzie (HL→LJ)

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 51 Carl Cheffers 17    California-Irvine sales manager
U 71 Ruben Fowler 11 Morelli Huston-Tillotson retired firefighter
HL 79 Kent Payne 13 * Nebraska Wesleyan teacher
LJ 47 Tim Podraza 9 * Nebraska corporate real estate
FJ 88 Brad Freeman 3 * Mississippi State sports park director
SJ 1 Scott Novak 3 * Phoenix sales manager
BJ 63 Jim Quirk 7 Vinovich Middlebury financial advisor
  • Replay official: Charles Stewart

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 65 Walt Coleman 28    Arkansas manager dairy processor
U 44 Jeff Rice 22 Blakeman Northwestern attorney
HL 74 Derick Bowers 14 McAulay East Central sales representative
LJ 16 Kevin Codey 2 * Western New England middle school physical education teacher
FJ 43 Terry Brown 11 Blakeman Tennessee probation supervisor
SJ 76 Alan Eck 1 NA Bloomsburg State tax manager
BJ 111 Terrence Miles 9 Cheffers Arizona State quality control manager
  • Replay official: Lou Nazzaro

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 99 Tony Corrente 22    Cal State-Fullerton college officiating coordinator
U 64 Dan Ferrell 14 * Cal State-Fullerton director, parts logistics and supply chain management
HL 13 Patrick Turner 3 Hochuli Cal State-Long Beach plant manager
LJ 2 Bart Longson 2 * Brigham Young co-founder and CEO, digital finance company
FJ 82 Buddy Horton 18 * Oregon State water service worker
SJ 75 Rob Vernatchi 13 Morelli California-Riverside enforcement investigator
BJ 30 Todd Prukop 8 Anderson Cal State-Fullerton medical sales representative
  • Replay official:  Russell Yurk
  • Position change: Yurk (replay assistant→replay official)

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 85 Ed Hochuli 27    Texas-El Paso attorney
U 19 Clay Martin 2 * Tulsa high school basketball coach
HL 98 Greg Bradley 8 Parry Tennessee chemical engineer
LJ 59 Rusty Baynes 7 * Auburn-Montgomery general manager, safety services
FJ 104 Dale Shaw 4 Morelli Allegheny pharmaceutical sales
SJ 55 Alex Kemp 3 Triplette Central Michigan insurance agent
BJ 93 Scott Helverson 14 * Iowa sales, printing and promotions
  • Replay official: Tom Sifferman
  • Position change: Shaw (BJ→FJ)

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 35 John Hussey 15    Idaho State sales representative, retail logistics group
U 115 Tony Michalek 15 * Indiana USA Football officiating director
HL 106 Wayne Mackie 10 * Colgate director of operations, housing
LJ 107 Ron Marinucci 20 * Glassboro State vice president, novelty cone company
FJ 86 Jimmy Buchanan 8 * South Carolina State insurance agent
SJ 56 Allen Baynes 9 * Auburn realtor
BJ 61 Keith Ferguson 17 * San Jose State sales
  • Replay official:  Mike Wimmer

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 77 Terry McAulay† 19    Louisiana State college officiating coordinator
U 96 Undrey Wash 17 Cheffers Texas-Arlington claims controller
HL 91 Jerry Bergman† 15 Coleman Robert Morris sales executive
LJ 68 Tom Stephan 18 * Pittsburg State business broker
FJ 15 Rick Patterson 21 Morelli Wofford banker
SJ 120 Jonah Monroe 2 *      
BJ 39 Rich Martinez 3 Coleman Canisius sales manager
  • Replay official:  Earnie Frantz
  • †Substitutions:  McAulay out weeks 1-3, replaced with referee on bye week. Jerry Bergman injured preseason weeks 2-4 (torn meniscus) with various substitutes.

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 135 Pete Morelli 20    St Mary’s high school principal
U 92 Bryan Neale 3 McAulay Indiana sales consultant
HL 22 Steve Stelljes 15 Anderson Friends business planning manager
LJ 101 Carl Johnson 13 Blakeman Nicholls State full-time official
FJ 67 Doug Rosenbaum 16 Allen Illinois Wesleyan financial consultant
SJ 41 Boris Cheek 21 Coleman Morgan State director of operations and management
BJ 12 Greg Steed† 14 McAulay Howard computer systems analyst
  • Replay official: Tommy Moore
  • Position change: Cheek (FJ→SJ)
  • †Substitutions:  Steed out weeks 11-17 (undisclosed), replaced with an official on bye week.

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 132 John Parry 17    Purdue financial advisor
U 131 Mark Pellis 3 * Allegheny financial advisor
HL 5 John McGrath 15 Boger Kentucky vice president of sales
LJ 45 Jeff Seeman 15 Boger Minnesota brokerage sales
FJ 26 Jabir Walker 2 * Murray State math teacher
SJ 7 Keith Washington 9 Corrente Virginia Military Institute program financial analyst
BJ 46 Perry Paganelli 19    Hope College retired high school administrator
  • Replay official:  Bob McGrath

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 114 Gene Steratore 14    Kent State co-owner, supply company
U 129 Bill Schuster‡ 17 Coleman Alfred insurance broker
HL 123 Ed Walker† 3 * San Jose State real estate management
LJ 108 Gary Arthur 20 * Wright State president, commercial printing company
FJ 116 Mike Weatherford 15 * Oklahoma State energy trader
SJ 25 Bob Waggoner 20 * Juniata College retired probation officer
BJ 105 Dino Paganelli 11 * Aquinas College educator
  • Replay official:  Paul Weidner
  • †Substitutions:  E. Walker out (torn quadriceps) weeks 10-17, replaced by swing official Spanier (LJ→HL).
  • ‡Crew changes:  Ellison was originally placed on Steratore’s crew, but was out beginning preseason week 2 through regular season week 8, returning as a swing official. Schuster was moved from a swing official to Steratore’s crew.

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 62 Ron Torbert 7    Michigan State attorney
U 121 Paul King 8 Vinovich Nicholls State school teacher
HL 37 Jim Howey 18 * Erskine College director of adult education
LJ 84 Mark Steinkerchner 23 * Akron vice-president
FJ 50 Aaron Santi 2 * Southern Oregon middle school principal
SJ 80 Greg Gautreaux 15 Parry SW Louisiana athletic programs manager
BJ 38 Greg Yette 7 * Howard defense contractor
  • Replay official: Bill Spyksma

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 42 Jeff Triplette 21    Wake Forest restructuring consultant
U 14 Shawn Smith 2 * Ferris State internal auditor
HL 32 Jeff Bergman 25 * Robert Morris president and chief executive officer, medical services
LJ 53 Sarah Thomas 2 Morelli Mobile pharmaceutical sales representative
FJ 3 Scott Edwards 18 Torbert Alabama environmental engineer
SJ 109 Dyrol Prioleau 10 * Johnson C Smith manager, law firm
BJ 133 Steve Freeman 16 * Mississippi State custom home builder
  • Replay official:  Al Hynes
  • Position changes:  Jeff Bergman (LJ→HL). Edwards and Prioleau were initially swapped in their positions when the roster was first released, but they returned to their positions for preseason.

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 52 Bill Vinovich 12    San Diego accountant, former NFL officiating supervisor
U 102 Bruce Stritesky 11 (swing) Embry Riddle airline pilot
HL 110 Phil McKinnely 15 * UCLA inventory control
LJ 9 Mark Perlman 16 Parry Salem teacher
FJ 72 Michael Banks 15 McAulay Illinois State carpenter foreman
SJ 60 Gary Cavaletto 14 * Hancock general manager, agricultural operations
BJ 78 Greg Meyer 15 Hochuli Texas Christian banker
  • Replay official: Darryll Lewis
  • Position change:  Meyer (SJ→BJ)

 

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
R 4 Craig Wrolstad 14    Washington athletic director
U 31 Barry Anderson# 10 Steratore North Carolina State builder/developer
HL 28 Mark Hittner 20 * Pittsburg State investment broker
LJ 10 Julian Mapp 8 * Grambling State software QA tester
FJ 33 Steve Zimmer 20 * Hofstra attorney
SJ 21 Jeff Lamberth 15 * Texas A&M attorney
BJ 27 Lee Dyer 14 * Tennessee-Chattanooga sales manager
  • Replay official:  Larry Nemmers
  • #Number change: B. Anderson (20→31) in Week 2 in honor  of umpire Chad Brown

Swing officials

         Yrs 2015 crew College Occupation
U 124 Carl Paganelli 17 Torbert Michigan State retired federal probation officer
U 81 Roy Ellison‡ 14 Wrolstad Savannah State technical staff member
LJ 90 Mike Spanier† 18 Vinovich St Cloud State middle school principal
FJ 95 James Coleman 12 (swing) Arkansas electrical engineer
SJ 89 Jon Lucivansky 8 Coleman Minnesota college educator
  • †Substitution:  Spanier was placed on Steratore’s crew in week 10 for E. Walker (injured).
  • ‡Crew changes:  Ellison was originally placed on Steratore’s crew, but was out beginning preseason week 2 through regular season week 8, returning as a swing official. Schuster was moved from a swing official to Steratore’s crew.

Ben Austro is the editor and founder of Football Zebras and the author of So You Think You Know Football?: The Armchair Ref's Guide to the Official Rules (on sale now)

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