A Rant of Mediocre Proportions by John Turner
“The course of true love never did run smooth”
-A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare
Originally, Oliver Luck mentioned in an interview on 106.7 THE FAN The Sports Junkies on February 22, 2019, that XFL team names would be announced in late March or early April. Two days before, Tom Dundon promised to swoop in and save the AAF with his infusion of cash.
The XFL knew about the financial difficulties as early as December, but it appeared Dundon was here to save the day, so the XFL could continue with their original plan.
The XFL was in the process of interviewing and hiring coaches and as the news was breaking about the AAF demise. The XFL pumped the breaks on their hiring spree to see what the fallout from this debacle would be. They had the NFL Combine and Pro Days coming up, and I am guessing that coaches that were previously on board probably had some trepidation at this point. Remember, there was a significant gap between the original hiring of Coaches Stoops, Zorn, Hamilton and Trestman in February to next hire of Coach Jones in May.
The XFL started about filling other positions of need like team marketing managers and presidents. Coaches they had hired already started filling their staffs. They were still setting up partnerships with ANCombines, Your Call Football, and The Spring League. None of this stuff is easy, folks!
Slowly but surely, they filled out their coaching hires as April’s release date became May, then June, then July. What’s happened the last two months? Yep! You got it! The Summer Showcases. Lots of logistics and moving parts there.
What’s most important is this… They wanted to make sure that they had all their coaches and key front office personnel in place with reputable people that are solid, tried, and true. Also, they are signing players to fill out their inaugural draft. Eric Galko, Doug Whaley, and the multiple team coaching staffs have been putting in a lot of time with this stuff.
Now let me ask you… would you rather them release names and logos with nobody to walk the red carpet in uniform? Or, would you rather they fill the ship with a full crew before sailing? I’d choose the latter.
They have made nothing but great hires and timely, solid decisions. Please give the league the opportunity to continue to do so before practicing contempt prior to investigation. They don’t need to tell us why things get pushed back. With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, I will venture out on a limb and surmise that they have a plan, and are sticking to it.
