Walt Anderson, the NFL’s rules analyst and club communications liaison, begins his Mondays much like many professionals in corporate America: by pondering the surprises awaiting him in his inbox. His role is far from ordinary. Anderson’s goal is to shed light on the frequently polarizing moves made by game referees. These calls can be highly consequential in determining the outcome of NFL games.
With a background as a longtime referee and former senior vice president of officiating, Anderson’s expertise is vital in maintaining communication between league officials and NFL teams. Each Tuesday, he goes before the NFL’s head coaches and team executives to answer pressing questions about officiating calls and non-calls. The incoming inquiry volume can exceed 32 per week, especially after a weekend of games.
Anderson recognizes the urgency of these communications. “Most of them will want answers Monday or Tuesday, because the NFL week does not wait on anybody,” he remarks. His team works diligently to address various situations from the previous weekend’s games, producing weekly videos that are shared with the public. These videos go through the good and bad calls alike, offering transparency in officiating decisions.
And as each new week gets underway, Anderson mentally prepares for the dozens of daily mini-crises to be triggered by various team spokesmen. Each sender believes their concern warrants immediate attention, reflecting the high stakes involved in professional football. He’s gotten a lot better at predicting questions not just based on past games but on the next opponent. This two-pronged approach lets coaches be more strategic in their preparation while proactively addressing and enriching the game day officiating experience.
For Raheem Morris, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, effective communication is critical to this process. “I take it to right to the meeting room, right then and there,” he states regarding how he utilizes the insights gained from officiating discussions. He notes that beyond these initial trainings, they hone in on “teachable moments” each week.
Morris emphasizes a realistic mindset when approaching these discussions. I don’t honestly care if they acknowledge blame or plead guilty for anything they have wronged. I work on figuring out how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s why, he explains. For a former official, it’s refreshing to hear his desire to unify the industry to improve officiating standards as a whole.
Head coaches, such as Jonathan Gannon of the Arizona Cardinals, accept human error as a part of the game of football. “I feel like sometimes everyone wants it to be very consistent and the calls to be the same throughout all the different games and all the different crews,” he notes. Gannon beautifully acknowledges the fallibility of officiating as a human-heavy profession when he says, “There’s a human element to officiating. And so, if you ask any two humans anything, encountering some diversity of answers is just going to happen.”
The move is met with a fair amount of caution from coaches regarding the usefulness of reporting missed calls. Even Matt LaFleur, head coach of the Green Bay Packers, has gone on record saying there are times he doesn’t even bother to file challenges. “That’s why some days after games, I don’t even bother to turn them in,” he says. LaFleur doesn’t think it would make a difference in the game’s result to fix the missed calls.
Despite varied perspectives on officiating accountability, many coaches appreciate Anderson’s commitment to transparency. Sean McVay, head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, reflects on this aspect positively: “What I’ve always appreciated is, if there has been a missed call, there’s an accountability. And they’re not out there to sandbag anyone, either.
In his role as rules analyst, Anderson must familiarize himself with the intricacies outlined in the NFL rulebook’s 235 pages. His desire to tackle any subject under this umbrella further endears him to coaches and general managers, each of whom he’ll meet with at the combine. This multi-faceted approach helps bring a greater awareness of officiating to teams.
Anderson’s process has already been tremendously fruitful for dozens of coaches. This productive, transparent dialogue is what Jonathan Gannon attributes to fostering a more open-minded approach to officiating within coaching staff. This kind of proactive communication goes a long way to making sure teams are appropriately forewarned about potential officiating concerns before they become game day surprises.
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