News
NFL hires 5 officials and announces Walt Anderson’s new role in officiating
4th woman hired to an on-field position
The NFL has hired five new officials for the 2024 season, including Big 12 referee Derek Anderson, the son of current senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson. The NFL Football Operations account on X made the announcement a day after Football Zebras broke the news that Walt Anderson was stepping down from his leadership role in the officiating department to allow for his son to be hired due to NFL antinepotism policies.
Derek Anderson will not be a referee in his first season in the NFL, but could elevate to that position in a future season. The exact positions have not been established for the new officials, but the possible positions are listed below.
| NFL | College | MDP Yrs | Pro League Yrs | Conference | Last bowl game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJ-LJ | R | Derek Anderson | 3 | 3 | Big 12 | Cotton Bowl |
| DJ-LJ | H | Jeff Hutcheon | 1 | 0 | Pac-12 | Reliaquest |
| DJ-LJ | H | Brian Perry | 4 | 2 | ACC | National Championship (2023) |
| DJ-LJ | U | Robert Richeson | 5 | 2 | Big 12 | Rose |
| FJ-SJ-BJ | S | Karina Tovar | 2 | 3 | Pac-12 | Pinstripe |
MDP Yrs indicate the number of seasons in the Mackie Development Program. Pro League Yrs are seasons on the roster for the AAF, USFL, XFL, and UFL.
There were three retirements in the NFL last season: down judge Jim Mello, line judge Mark Perlman, and field judge Tom Hill. These hires align with that, plus add some additional personnel to the line of scrimmage and possibly at umpire. It is likely that there is at least one more unannounced vacancy on the field, and there is also the possibility that veterans could be placed as a swing official, changing crews every week.
A statement was also issued by Walt Anderson regarding his new position in the NFL.
Our entire family is very proud of Derek’s outstanding career as a college football official. We are excited to see him have the opportunity to contribute as an official at the NFL level. With Derek’s promotion, I expect to begin the process of transitioning to a new role as an NFL rules analyst and club communications liaison, where I will focus on communicating with the clubs during the week and with our broadcast partners on gamedays. While I will no longer be making officiating decisions, together with a variety of stakeholders I will continue to look for new and better ways to promote excellence in officiating performance. I welcome this challenge and look forward to the opportunity to support the men and women who do such a tremendous job officiating our game at every level.
This move is consistent with when umpire Tab Slaughter was hired by the NFL in 2020 and his father, Gary, was a regional supervisor in the officiating department. Gary Slaughter was reassigned within the department and moved off of grading duties.
Of the new officials, four are currently in the UFL and have additional experience at the pro level in the various spring leagues. Hutcheon has not worked in any of the spring leagues. All have been in the Mackie Development Program — as have all hires after its 2013 creation have been enrolled in — which Hutcheon reportedly joined last season. (The MDP roster was not shared with Football Zebras in 2023.)
Tovar is the fourth woman hired as an on-field official, and would be the first to work at any position other than on the line of scrimmage. Tovar was supposed to make a jump from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 this year.
