THE NFL has hired six new officials to join the league for the 2025 season.
Officials were pulled from four different college football conferences to get the opportunity to ref in the NFL.
The NFL has hired six new officials for the 2025 season[/caption]
The NFL hired new officials to replace ones that retired or weren’t retained[/caption]
Umpires Marcus Woods and Brandon Ellison came from the ACC.
Down judge Andy Werner and line judge Quentin Givens were brought in from the Big 12.
Umpire Larry Smith got called up from the Big Ten and back judge Courtney Brown was called in from the Mountain West.
Alex Moore, a four-year officiating veteran was promoted to referee to replace Tra Blake.
Blake was re-assigned to umpire after last season and will serve on the crew of Shawn Smith.
Two veteran officials, umpire Paul King and back judge Greg Meyer, are serving as swing officials in 2025.
The shuffling of umpires comes after three officials were fired by the NFL this offseason.
Second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson were not retained by the league.
According to footballzbras.com, NFL vice president of officiating Ramon George has increased the league’s efforts in holding referees accountable.
“The culture is is changing, it’s changing rapidly,” an anonymous official told FootballZebras.com.
“It’s changing into a competitive environment where everybody’s equal.
“There are no favorites. There’s no favoritism. There’s none of that; it’s all about performance.”
The three fired officials were part of controversial Kansas City Chiefs wins last season.
NFL officials don’t usually get 100 percent released from the program.
NFL important dates 2025 season
March 12 – Free Agency begins
April 24-26 – NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin
September 4 – 2025 season opener (TBC vs Eagles)
November 27 – Thanksgiving Day triple header
January 4, 2026 – End of regular-season
February 8, 2026 – Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California
Instead, they get sent back down to NCAA Power 5 conferences.
They will officiate college football games and can re-enter the NFL’s development program.
Like the six officials hired by the NFL this year, they can move up from college football to the NFL.
Officials are constantly cycled, so this same process will likely happen next season.
