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2023 USFL season

Officiating crews for the 2023 USFL season

The USFL returns for Season 2 with 48 officials from the FBS conferences on 6 crews.

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The USFL is the first major spring league in four decades to complete a season and return for a second. Last season, all regular season games were played in the city of Birmingham, Ala., but this season games will also be played in Canton, Detroit, and Memphis. Therefore, half of the teams will have a home venue this year, although there is a bit of a stretch on the Pittsburgh/Canton connection.

The same 8 teams have returned for a 10-game regular season schedule. The USFL uses the NFL’s 7-person mechanics and has 48 officials mostly from the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences on six crews.

Mike Pereira is the officiating supervisor and will head up replay operations from the Fox Sports headquarters in Los Angeles. Steve Strimling, a referee from the Pac-12, returns as the coordinator of officiating, a position he also had in the 2020 XFL and 2019 Alliance of American Football. Former NFL official Ronnie Baynes is also a game supervisor.

Many of the officials have been scouted by the NFL under its Mackie Development Program, but the league had no formal role in the USFL staffing process. The USFL officiating staff includes six women.

Officials are listed by their position and number with their current college conference. Assignments for last season’s bowl games, all-star games, and conference championships are listed. The number of seasons in the Mackie Development Program, and in a spring pro league are indicated, which includes the 2019 AAF, the 2020 and 2023 XFL seasons, the 2022-23 USFL seasons and any NFL seasons. (The 21 officials returning for their second USFL season are marked with ★.) There are 6 officials working both spring leagues this year, which count as 2 seasons in their totals.

For flexibility in scheduling, some crews have more than one official in the same position.

      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 67 Derek Anderson 3 2 Big 12 SUN SHRINE
U 28 Robert Richeson 5 1 Big 12 ROSE NFLPA
DJ 22 Josiah Ford 1 1 ACC ACC CHAMP SHRINE
LJ 17 Brett Bergman 1 4 ★ Big Ten ORANGE SENIOR
FJ 5 LaShell Nelson 7 4 ★ Big Ten MUSIC CITY XFL
FJ 3 Nicole Randolph 3 1 MAC LENDING TREE MAC CHAMP HULA
SJ 73 Justin Larrew 6 4 ★ SEC SEC CHAMP
BJ 45 Jacob Kemp 5 1 Big Ten FENWAY BIG TEN CHAMP
      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 72 Bryan Banks 3 2 ★ Big Ten  
U 42 Scott Campbell 2 3 Big 12 PINSTRIPE NFLPA
DJ 26 Stephen Ray 3 1 SEC CHEEZIT
LJ 71 Brian Perry 4 1 ACC NATIONAL CHAMP
FJ 33 Michael Griffith 5 1 ACC LAS VEGAS
SJ 98 Frank Steratore 7 4 ★ Big Ten GATOR NFLPA
BJ 13 Martin Hankins 5 2 ★ SEC FIESTA SENIOR
      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 10 James Carter 6 4 ★ SEC CHEEZIT SENIOR
U 9 Tuta Salaam 3 2 ★ Big 12 BIRMINGHAM MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMP
DJ 6 Ryan Hagan*   2 ★ SEC SEC CHAMP
DJ 61 Jeremiah Harris   1 Conference USA C-USA CHAMP LEGACY
LJ 18 Cat Conti 2 2 Big 12 GASPARILLA HULA XFL
LJ 21 Monique Washington   2 MAC CELEBRATION SWAC CHAMP HULA XFL
FJ 29 Jimmy DeBell   11 ★  
SJ 7 Phillip Hicks 1 1 Big Ten ORANGE MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMP
BJ 11 Tyree Walton 2 4 ★ Big 12 CITRUS MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMP SHRINE
  • Hagan is listed as injured.
  • DeBell is retired from the NFL and the number of seasons includes 7 in the NFL.
      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 39 Stuart Mullins   1 ACC TEXAS
U 51 Ron Turner   3 SEC  
DJ 54 Chad Green 3 1 SEC GUARANTEED RATE
LJ 49 Kristopher Loving   1 Big Ten BIG TEN CHAMP
FJ 56 Jason Ledet 4 2 ★ Big 12 CITRUS BIG 12 CHAMP SHRINE
SJ 31 Karina Tovar 2 2 Pac-12 HULA XFL
SJ 75 Josh Aragon   1 WAC SHRINE
BJ 81 Jacques Hooper 5 2 ★ ACC TEXAS
      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 27 Adam Savoie 5 4 ★ ACC RELIAQUEST
U 12 Krystle Apellaniz 1 2 Mountain West HULA XFL
U 4 Amanda Sauer 2 5 ★ Big Ten FENWAY HULA XFL
DJ 34 Sergio DeHoyos   1 Big Ten HOLIDAY
LJ 58 Walter Flowers 1 2 SEC SEC CHAMP
FJ 80 Daniel Gautreaux 4 4 ★ SEC FIESTA
SJ 88 Raymond Daniel 5 2 ★ Big Ten FENWAY
BJ 23 Donnie Aultman   1 Big 12 ROSE BIG 12 CHAMP
      MDP Yrs Pro League Yrs Conference 2022 Bowls
R 19 Larry Smith 4 4 ★ Big Ten SUGAR
U 20 Scott Walker   1 SEC  
DJ 16 Brian Sakowski 3 1 ACC NATIONAL CHAMP
LJ 2 Quentin Givens 6 4 ★ Big 12 CITRUS LEGACY
FJ 8 Glen Fucik 5 4 ★ SEC LA SENIOR
SJ 48 Michael Kennedy   1 American Athletic  
SJ 24 John Morton   1 Pac-12 PAC-12 CHAMP
BJ 37 Joe Johnston 6 3 ★ Pac-12 PEACH

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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