7 new NFL officials hired for 2026

Six officials have been hired into the NFL for the 2026 season — including an official who was terminated 12 seasons ago.

The new hires

While we don’t have the positions or jersey numbers yet, here are the new hires, including their most recent college conference:

The officiating bosses at the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 Conference will have some holes to fill as vice president of officiating Ramon George hired six out of the seven new officials from those two conferences.

None of the new hires worked at the referee position in college.

There is one familial tie. Justin Larrew is the son of former NFL official Joe Larrew, who retired after the 2021 season.

Keith Parham back after a 12-year absence

A hire that caught us by surprise is Keith Parham, a side judge in the NFL from 2011-2013. He was released after three seasons in the NFL with no playoff assignments. At the end of 2013 he was part of a high-profile, playoff-deciding missed call.

Parham returned to the college ranks, working as a deep wing or back judge in the Atlantic Coast Conference and then the Southeastern Conference. He worked several bowl games, including games in the College Football Playoff and the 2024 National Championship Game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. George saw some good things in Parham’s performance. While he wasn’t Parham’s boss when he was let go after 2013, George is ready to give the official another crack at the NFL.

Five officials left the NFL in the offseason

At the end of the 2025 season, we learned that four officials retired: Rick Patterson, Terry Brown, Boris Cheek, and Tom Stephan.

According to three sources, we have now learned that side judge Lo van Pham was relegated back to college. He will work college football in the Atlantic Coast Conference for 2026. This is the second season that George has relegated officials back to college. This gives an official a soft landing spot instead of an outright termination and the official is on their own to try and continue their career at the amateur level. If the official shows improvement at the college level, George has left the door open for the relegated official to possibly return to the NFL.

While relegation stings, those officials can look to Parham and have hope that the door isn’t all the way closed.

There are seven new officials for five vacant positions. Several sources indicate that there are no other roster changes planned. That means that the NFL will have swing officials for 2026.

Swing officials occur when the NFL hires extra officials at one or more positions. The NFL does this if an official has been sick or injured and has to start the season on the injured list. Or the NFL really wants to hire an official, but there aren’t any openings at the position. So, veteran officials are not assigned a crew and are listed as swing officials. Instead of being on one set crew, swing officials rotate to different crews each week.

Veteran or injured officials are always listed as swing officials as rookies need continuity of a set crew for the whole season. If you see an official listed as a swing official for 2026, rest assured; it is not a demotion or a reflection of the swing official’s standing with the NFL. In fact, a swing official must flawlessly adapt to working on nearly every crew.

Hope we get to these these new officials in 2026

The first time all the officials, including the new hires, are supposed to all meet together is during May. The NFL and the officials union are currently at impasse and a work stoppage is looming. But, if the officials have a new contract, it will be all systems “go” come May.