NFL VP of Broadcasting admits nervousness crept into making 2023 season schedule - “'We just got to stop'”

The NFL's season schedule drop is almost like an E3 press conference for the gaming public. By the start of May, fans know something is coming. However, they don't know when or the specifics of how they will be watching it. When the schedule drops in mid-May, however, the shape of the season becomes much more clear.

Speaking on Good Morning Football, NFL schedule executives Onnie Bose and Charlotte Carey explained their process and let slip that they accepted that mistakes could be made while making the schedule. Here's how Onnie Bose put it:

"There's kind of the nervous anticipation [a couple days before the schedule comes out]. 'What did we miss? What didn't we think about? What mistakes we may have made?' But to your point, the reception has been great and we feel great."

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In other words, he admitted that he wasn't anxious about whether any mistakes were made. Instead, the way he phased it implied that he was more worried about the scope of the mistakes rather than simply their existence. Peter Schrager cut in to blame the hard deadline:

"So you have to do it. That deadline is like, "'We just got to stop.'"

Charlotte Carey rephrased how the team viewed the schedule at the end, essentially saying that one can reorder stuff, but it will create the same net quality:

"It's always going to be different, right? I'm not sure it's going to be better. I think that that's that's kind of the way that we're looking at this point... I'm not sure 'better' is accurate. 'Different' [is.]"

NFL schedule assignment proves to be a yearly monumental challenge

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Setting up almost 300 NFL events is no small feat. Making a schedule that makes sense for 32 teams and also takes into account the stadium's own schedules and other previously scheduled events adds a layer of difficulty.

On top of that, locking in a fair NFL schedule that keeps things as level as possible in terms of travel is also another aspect VP of broadcasting Onnie Bose has needed to grapple with. Then, as the 2022 season proved, unforseen changes are required with the season in full swing.

Every year, the schedule is labored over for months and every year, as soon as it is posted, fans and analysts tear it apart. Fans lament difficult chunks of their team's schedule or the bye week placement. However, when making a schedule that affects the lives of millions, most reasonable minds agree that keeping everyone happy is an impossibility.

That said, how good is good enough? The schedule makers have argued that the 2023 schedule qualifies as such.