Dean Blandino, a member of the NFL’s Officiating Department for 15 years and the director of the league’s instant replay program, has been named NFL vice president of officiating.
Blandino will take over for Carl Johnson, who announced in December that he had accepted a new role and would become the NFL’s first full-time game official after Super Bowl XLVII.
A native of Bellmore, New York, Blandino has spent his entire professional career in football officiating. After graduating in 1993 from Hofstra University, Blandino joined the NFL for the 1994 season as an officiating intern. Following the 1994 season, he was hired full-time as an officiating video assistant and then was promoted to special projects coordinator.
Blandino was an NFL instant replay official from 1999-2003 and was selected to work as the replay official for two Super Bowls and two conference championship games. He managed the NFL instant replay program from 2003-2009, including oversight of the system’s upgrade to high definition in 2007. From 2007-2009, he was director of officiating and the number-two person in the department, supervising day-to-day operations, including managing the support staff and the game officials’ schedule, under Mike Pereira.
Blandino formed his own company in 2009 called “Under the Hood,” which provided training and evaluation for replay officials. His clients included the NFL plus the Big Ten, Mid-American, Pac 12, Big 12, and Mountain West college football conferences. He directed instant replay clinics for the NFL and NCAA and served as a liaison to the NFL Competition Committee.
In 2012, Blandino returned to the NFL as a director of officiating, focusing on all aspects of supervising the instant replay program. He continued to work with the Competition Committee and also served as a liaison to NFL clubs in answering questions about officiating, prepared weekly officiating training tapes, managed other key projects such as editing the official rulebook, provided training for on-field officials, and participated in communication initiatives, including presenting the NFL Network’s weekly “Official Review” to clarify rules and officiating calls for NFL fans.
“Dean has been in football officiating for the past 20 years and has made it his life,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “He is highly respected by our game officials and coaches for his deep and thorough knowledge of the rules. He also has extensive management leadership experience in the NFL and as a business entrepreneur. Dean is well-positioned to lead our officiating team and ensure the integrity and continued improvement of NFL officiating.”
Blandino will report to NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson.
