How the NFL grooms an official for the referee position

In the past two seasons, we have seen seven NFL officials promoted to referee due to multiple white hat retirements. While we speculate on who will be the next referee promoted, the NFL actually has a Referee Training Program in place to identify, train, and mentor potential referees well before

3 officials to audition for referee

Three NFL officials will audition this preseason for future referee openings. Deep judges Jonah Monroe, Land Clark, and Don Willard will work all or part of a game at the referee position with a regular referee and other NFL observers watching their performance.  The NFL used to send potential referees to

Candidates for white hat in 2019

The coveted white hat worn by the referee There are two referee openings for the 2019 season after Walt Coleman and Pete Morelli retired. So far, they are the only two referees we know who have retired. There are very few chances for the NFL to test officials for future referee openings.