The XFL referees and their officiating crews will be hoping to be less of a talking point than we often see for their contemporaries in the NFL. There are six officiating crews for the XFL this year, with four working each week. Let’s take a look at the 42 officials we’ll see on the field this season, as well as the situation with replay officials and ball spotters.
XFL Referees Entering Week 1
Six referees are working across the XFL in the 2023 season. All six are drawn from Power Five college football conferences and will head up six officiating crews. Those officials and the conference they come from are:
- Jason Autrey | SEC
- Chris Coyte | Pac-12
- Jeff Heaser | ACC
- Reggie Smith | Big Ten
- Michael VanderVelde | Big 12
- Francisco Villar | Pac-12
The crews for each referee are as follows:
Jason Autrey
- Umpire: William Thomas
- Down Judge: Andy Warner
- Line Judge: Cat Conti
- Field Judge: Eric Hartman
- Side Judge: Sean Petty
- Back Judge: Justin Staehr
Chris Coyte
- Umpire: Jim Wharrie
- Down Judge: Nicholas Theriot
- Line Judge: Monique Washington
- Field Judge: Jose Martinez
- Side Judge: Wes Booker
- Back Judge: Justin Nelson
Jeff Heaser
- Umpire: Amanda Sauer-Cook
- Down Judge: Cravonne Barrett
- Line Judge: Steven Matarante
- Field Judge: Kendall Smith
- Side Judge: Gabriel DeLeon
- Back Judge: Peter Buchanan
Reggie Smith
- Umpire: Dan Scanlan
- Down Judge: Marcus Allen
- Line Judge: Jay Bilbo
- Field Judge: LaShell Nelson
- Side Judge: Ryan Flynn
- Back Judge: Brett Toney
Michael VanderVelde
- Umpire: Krystle Apellaniz
- Down Judge: Rod Ammari
- Line Judge: Darren Deckard
- Field Judge: Connor Clougherty
- Side Judge: Raymond Tate
- Back Judge: David Ross
Francisco Villar
- Umpire: Chris Snead
- Down Judge: Dale Keller
- Line Judge: Kole Knueppel
- Field Judge: Karina Tovar
- Side Judge: Milton Britton
- Back Judge: Fred Dimpfel
Working with the officials will be eight replay officials and ball spotters. Each of those two positions will have a person based in the eight cities and will work five games each in the XFL regular-season schedule. Here is the full list of those replay officials and ball spotters.
- Arlington
- Replay Official: Chad Wakefield
- Ball Spotter: Crystal Cooksey
- Houston
- Replay Official: Yvette Matchette
- Ball Spotter: Jason Laborde
- Orlando
- Replay Official: Andrew McGrath
- Ball Spotter: Joey Calcagino
- Las Vegas
- Replay Official: Brian Brown
- Ball Spotter: Eddie Garcia
- San Antonio
- Replay Official: Brian Jones
- Ball Spotter: Austin Wright
- Seattle
- Replay Official: Steve Kovac
- Ball Spotter: Charles Giles
- St. Louis
- Replay Official: Eric Oliver
- Ball Spotter: Austin Hills
- Washinton, D.C.
- Replay Official: Russell Giglio
- Ball Spotter: Michael Kennedy
If you are looking for more information on the XFL referees and where they have come from to be a part of the league, then Football Zebras has a full breakdown of the 2023 XFL officiating crews.
