NFL refereeing: what the coaches think

ESPN.com recently polled the 32 NFL head coaches to get their opinion of the best and worst referees. The co-winners, with 8 votes each, were Mike Carey and Ed Hochuli. Interestingly, Carey and Hochuli also respectively drew 3 and 4 votes for worst referee. So Carey wins the title on plus-minus advantage.

The coaches' overall list:
1. Mike Carey +5
2. Ed Hochuli +4
3. Tony Corrente +3
4. Bill Carollo +3
5. Walt Coleman +2
6. Bill Leavy +1
7. John Parry +1

Almost all of the next group of referees failed to receive either a best or a worst vote. Larry Nemmers, however, received two of each.

8. Larry Nemmers 0
8. Walt Anderson 0
8. Jerome Boger 0
8. Scott Green 0
8. Terry McAulay 0
8. Peter Morelli 0
8. Gene Steratore 0
8. Ron Winter 0

I have to say I generally agree with the coaches' assessments, especially when we get to the worst two refs in a minute. Carey's abilities finally caught up to his reputation this year, and he was superb in his postseason work, which included the Super Bowl. I wouldn't have Corrente quite as high as #3, but this crew seems to me to be improving, and his call of the Rams-Ravens game was one of the best-called Rams games last year. I'd pick Coleman for the best-called Rams game, the home loss to Seattle. Flawless work.

Most of the middle group belongs where they are. I've always found Nemmers mediocre at best. The Anderson and Winter crews are clueless on pass interference. I won't get on Morelli too much because the Rams always seem to do well in games he calls. He, Green and Hochuli called the Rams' three wins last year. McAulay and Parry did not call a Rams game last year.

Winter's only at the bottom here alphabetically, but he belongs there. And it's certainly no surprise to learn the bottom two.

15. Jeff Triplette -3

Triplette in my eyes has been the worst or second-worst referee in the league for a long time. I'd be hard-pressed to name a Rams game the crew's ever called well, and after Triplette stared right at a brutal cheap shot by Derek Smith on Marc Bulger during week 2's home loss to the Whiners and kept his flag buried deep in his back pocket, I declared he wasn't fit to referee prison football games.

And the last ranking warms my heart.

16. Gerry Austin -6

The terrible refereeing of this crew of buffoons single-handedly turned what should have been a Rams 35-23 win over the Big Dead last October into a 34-31 loss. There were terrible penalty calls, terrible missed penalties, terrible spots, and in particular, a terrible call on an end zone "fumble recovery TD" for Arizona that wasn't a fumble, an (Arizona) recovery, or a TD, that Austin couldn't even get right after replay.

Austin and Nemmers retired after the 2008 season, so I'm hopeful the quality of NFL refereeing will take a jump upward.

We fans aren't supposed to know anything, especially the ins and outs of what's supposed to make a refereeing crew good or bad, but I have to say I don't really find any significant flaws in how the NFL's coaches rate the referees.

The shocker's coming in the next post, in which I determine who the league thinks its best referees are. I'll just say Mike Pereira and company see things a -lot- differently than me or the coaches.