The NFL's vice president of officiating is resigning to take a job in television, according to several reports. Dean Blandino, who has been in the job since February 2013, had worked for the league since 1994 and was previously the director of the NFL's instant replay program.
"Dean has done an outstanding job leading our officiating staff," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement provided to all 32 NFL teams Friday, according to NFL.com. "He has been a trusted colleague and friend to so many of us around the league. Dean's knowledge of the playing rules, his tireless commitment to improving the quality of NFL officiating and his unquestioned dedication to his job has earned him the respect of the entire football community."
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent added: "Dean has done an outstanding job leading our Officiating Department. He has been a trusted colleague and a friend to so many of us around the league. Dean's knowledge of the playing rules, his tireless commitment to improving the quality of NFL officiating and his unquestioned dedication to his job has earned him the respect of the entire football community. We wish Dean the very best."
Late last month, Goodell announced that Blandino would have final say on all replay challenges during the 2017 season as part of a larger effort to finding ways to speed up a game bogged down by too many commercials and unnecessarily long breaks.
"We are going to centralize the replay back here in New York," Goodell told ESPN's "Mike & Mike" on March 23. "Dean Blandino will have the final decision. We think that will move it much quicker."
That plan won't change, with the exception of a replacement for Blandino as head of officials. It's arguably one of the most important jobs in the league. NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala reports that two current referees could be interested in the gig though not as it's "currently configured."
Meanwhile, Vincent told Kinkhabwala that he has already had several people reach out to him.
