Chip Kelly's New High-Tempo Offense in Philadelphia May Face a Major Challenge: Referees
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More at the link."We have to make sure teams understand that they don't control the tempo, our officials do," said NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino. "We're going through our normal ball mechanics, we aren't going to rush [unless] it's in the two minute drill."
Blandino said he has talked to every NFL team coaching staff during the off-season to emphasize that there's no forcing the issue—the offense will not be able to snap the ball until the referees signals they're ready.
Kelly declined to comment. An Eagles spokesman also declined to comment.
Blandino said the subject of up-tempo offenses and how they're officiated was a major point of discussion by the NFL's competition committee in recent months. Last season, after what Blandino said was an all-time record for total plays from scrimmage per game, he said the committee felt compelled to "re-emphasize" that NFL rules differ dramatically from college.
