Not true when it comes to player appeals, that's handled by an independent panel composed of Art Shell and a couple other people I think. I can't imagine why it would be different for coaches.

Originally Posted by: earthquake 

That is specifically for the on field hits, at least that is what I believe it to be. Off to google.

But all other player discipline is heard and ruled on by Goodell.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z 

Appeals for on-field rules violations are heard in accordance to a 2010 agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA. The appeals are heard by appeals officers Art Shell and Ted Cottrell. Once players are notified of their penalty, they have three days to appeal and a hearing is conducted within ten days of receiving the notice of appeal. Money is withheld from a player’s paycheck only after the appeals process is complete. All money withheld from a player pursuant to a fine is donated to NFL charities. Through the last four years, the average amount of fine money donated has been $3 million per year.

Imagine that Player A, a popular player in the National Football
League (―NFL‖) is allegedly involved in defrauding several charitable
organizations of which he is a board member.1 Player A is arrested and
indicted on various federal criminal charges. At first, Player A is
reluctant to provide federal authorities with personal and organizational
financial documents because he is in complete disbelief of the
allegations. Upon compliance with the requests and discussion with
authorities, it comes to light that Player A‘s fellow board member in the
charity acted alone in the criminal activity. However, because Player A
was initially reluctant to cooperate and may not have been duly diligent
in running the organization, Player A pleads to an obstruction of justice
charge. Player A serves no jail time and agrees to reimburse a major
portion of the defrauded money.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been monitoring the situation
and is disappointed that Player A was involved in the allegations,
especially during a time in which the national economy was
experiencing a recession. The public is not aware of the details
surrounding the plea agreement and Player A‘s actual level of
involvement in defrauding the charitable organizations. Consequently,
the public‘s perception of Player A and the NFL has been negative
throughout. Goodell decides to suspend Player A for the remaining six
games of the season, costing him nearly $1 million in game checks, for
detrimental conduct that violates the Personal Conduct Policy.2 Goodell
imposes a severe punishment to prevent further distraction, to show that
the NFL does not support such criminal conduct, and to send a message
to other players that they must be in complete control of any charitable
organizations with which they are involved.

Player A‘s only hope of reducing the punishment imposed under the
Policy would be to appeal back to Goodell.3 He could not use the
independent arbitration process that has been successfully used by
National Basketball Association (―NBA‖) and Major League Baseball
(―MLB‖) players because the NFL policy does not allow for a similar
procedure.4 Further, Player A would not have defined discovery
guidelines or standards of review for procedural protection. Thus, if
Player A appeals to Goodell, his chances of a reduced suspension are
minimal.

Ohh ok, my mistake then, I assumed that was for all appeals. In that case yeah, that's a pretty messed up system.

Originally Posted by: earthquake 

Are we surprised that the person handing down the suspensions also does the appeal review? I mean, it's not much different than a coach appealing a play via red flag... forcing the official to review the play again and say 'ok i was wrong, over turned' lol


CHECKS AND BALANCES!!

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 

1.  Giving the authority to determine replay reviews to the replay official in the booth, not the referee on the field.

Newton, Favre, Warner and Rodgers  confirmed as specific bounty targets

Originally Posted by: Packers_Finland