A fledgling football league will have an established expert running it officiating department.
A notice of a Tuesday press conference to announce the XFL’s rules identifies former NFL senior V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino as the XFL’s head of officiating.
The league’s approach, based on the email regarding the press conference, will be “less stall and more ball.”
Hiring Blandino, who has the ability to explain rules and the application thereof in a clear, credible, and accurate way, is arguably the best move the XFL has made. The XFL, which existed for one season in 2001, returns on February 8. The biggest challenge will be getting people to care about football at a time when it’s not football season.