Former NFL ref John Parry reportedly leaving ESPN for Bills as 'officiating liaison'

“Officials look at the game so differently than players, coaches and fans,” Parry told Football Zebras, who reported the former ref had one year remaining on his ESPN contract. “So to have somebody up [in the booth]: Hey, this is the mechanic, this is why that person made that call. And no matter what happens to this replay, if they flip it, here’s where the ball will be spotted. Here’s the down and distance. The clock’s gonna start in the ready for play, or it’s a 10-second runoff, so you could take a timeout. So you better start thinking about that, will you take one? Will you not?

“There’s so much on the shoulders of coaches as it pertains specifically to replay because it’s grown so much and it is complicated. It’s hard to keep all of that data straight. And I think there’s value to having — I mean, obviously if you’re working for a team, you want to win — but your job is to ensure that they have all the data that they can make the appropriate decision or the decision they want.”

“Most teams have a guy that specializes in replay game management, clock management, but the officiating lens is totally different than a coach’s perspective,” Parry said. “And I think the Bills specifically recognize that replay is here to stay, it’s only gonna grow. We potentially should have somebody that’s done it, looked under that hood.”