NFL tweaks rules to allow coach's designee to initiate replay challenges
· Yahoo Sports
The NFL will allow its 32 head coaches to designate a member of their staff to initiate replay challenges this season, Kevin Seifert of ESPN reports.
The head coach had been the only member of a team who could throw the red flag to challenge a play.
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Beginning this season, a member of the staff can take on that assignment from the head coach. But teams will be required to inform officials of that before the start of a game.
The NFL did not announce the change at its annual meeting, but the tweak to the challenge system did not require votes from ownership.
Rule 15, Section 1, Article 1(a) now reads: "The head coach or head coach's pregame challenge designee can initiate a challenge by throwing a red flag onto the field of play before the next legal snap or kick."
Coaches challenged 151 plays in 2025, the highest total since 2019.