It wasn’t too long ago that we wrote a piece about how the football landscape might be right for the reincarnation of the XFL. We still believe the landscape might be right for another professional football league, but that league might not be the XFL. On March 20th, Charlie Ebersol, son of former head of NBC Sports Dick Ebersol, and pro football hall of fame executive Bill Polian announced the creation of the Alliance of American Football. Ebersol, who was the executive producer of the documentary “This was the XFL”, and Polian announced that the Alliance of American Football would be kicking off in 2019 right after next year’s Super Bowl. With doing so, it usurps Vince McMahon and the new XFL. Ebersol and Polian haven’t looked back since conducting their opening press conference. The Alliance of American is on the fast track towards their inaugural season.
The Alliance of American Football is on the Fast Track Towards their Opening Season
To say that the Alliance of American Football is on the fast track to their inaugural season might be an understatement. It appears they are blazing towards it. Ebersol has surrounded himself with some people who are well known in NFL circles.
Polian, Ebersol’s co-founder, is enshrined in the pro football hall of fame due to his work as an executive with the Buffalo Bills and the Indianapolis Colts. Joining Polian are former standout NFL players Jared Allen, Troy Polamalu, Justin Tuck, and Hines Ward. Filling out the rest of the board are J.K. McKay and Tom Veit.
The Alliance of American Football has already established a television deal with CBS Sports and have lined up several investors to not only get their inaugural season kicked off, but to fund the project for many seasons to come. Although McMahon and the XFL beat Ebersol and Polian with their announcement, it seems that the Alliance of American Football have McMahon beat on establishing a league. They will need to have everything lined up, because they are on the fast track to starting.
Some Cities and Venues Already Announced
The Alliance of American Football will start off with eight franchises located in eight different cities. At the time of this article, they have announced five of those cities and the five locations those teams will be playing their home games.
Here are the five cities and the venues that have already been announced:
Orlando, Spectrum Stadium
The Orlando franchise will play their home games on the campus of Central Florida University at Spectrum Stadium. Spectrum Stadium seats 44,206.
Atlanta, Georgia State Stadium
The Atlanta franchise, the second team announced, will play their home games at Georgia State University. The stadium was once known as Turner Park and was home to the Atlanta Braves. So far, Georgia State Stadium has the smallest capacity of all the AAF stadiums. The seating capacity is 24,333.
Memphis, Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Memphis isn’t a stranger to alternative football, as well as the stadium that AAF games will take place. The Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium has a capacity of 58,207.
Salt Lake City, Rice Eccles Stadium
The first western franchise named was the Salt Lake City franchise. Salt Lake City will play their games on the campus of the University of Utah at Rice Eccles Stadium. The capacity of Rice Eccles is 45,807.
Phoenix, Sun Devil Stadium
The most recent city given an AAF franchise was Phoenix Arizona. Partnering with Arizona State University, the Phoenix franchise will play on their campus at Sun Devil Stadium. The capacity of that stadium is 57,078.
Well Known Coaches
The executive board isn’t the only place you will see names that are familiar to NFL fans. They have also announced the head coaches of the first five franchises and they should ring a bell to fans who follow the NFL.
Orlando, Steve Spurrier
The “Head Ball Coach” is well known to Florida football. Spurrier is the former head coach of the University of Florida, as well as the University of South Carolina. While in charge of Florida, he led the Gators to a national championship. Along with being the head coach of Florida, he was the quarterback for the Gators during his college career. While playing for Florida, he won the Heisman trophy. Along with his impressive college coaching background, Spurrier has coached at the professional level, with the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits and the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
Atlanta, Brad Childress
“Chilly” is the former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. During his time in charge of the Vikings, he led them to an NFC Championship game. He has also been an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Childress will have a very familiar name to Atlanta football fans as his offensive coordinator that being Mike Vick. Vick was once the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He also spent time with the Eagles, New York Jets, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He and Childress worked together with the Chiefs while Childress was an assistant and Vick was a coaching intern.
Memphis, Mike Singletary
The hall of fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears returns to the coaching sidelines. Singletary, who was known for his furious linebacker play as a player, is a former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He also spent time as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens, Vikings, and St. Louis Rams.
Salt Lake City, Dennis Erickson
Erickson led the University of Miami to two national championships. Along with a very extensive college head coaching background, he was the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and the 49ers.
Phoenix, Rick Neuheisel
Neuheisel is the former head coach of the University of Colorado, University of Washington, and UCLA. He also quarterbacked UCLA back in the early 1980’s and would later play professionally for the USFL San Antonio Gunslingers. Neuheisel was also on the Ravens staff from 2005-2007.
There have also been reports of former NFL personnel executives joining as well. Billy Devaney and Tim Ruskell have been linked to the Alliance of American Football and might be general managers of the Orlando and Atlanta franchises. Devaney was a longtime executive for the Rams while Ruskell is known for his work with the Seahawks.
Possible NFL Developmental League?
Many have wondered if the league might become a developmental league for the NFL. Ebersol and Polian haven’t said that it will, but it has the strong possibility of it happening down the road.
It would make sense, with the NFL currently not having a true developmental league. It might be a win-win for both the leagues. For the Alliance of American Football, it would be linked to the most powerful football league. For the NFL, it would give them a league to help develop players, coaches, referees, and executives. It will also give them a place to try out new rules. The Alliance of American Football has already announced some rules that differ from the NFL, which will allow the NFL to take a look how those rules play out.
The Alliance of American Football’s Potential
With the Alliance of American Football on the fast track to kick off, it has created some buzz around professional football. With the financial backing, the television agreement, and people who have strong backgrounds in professional football, the league is at least giving themselves the best chance to succeed.
Along with this, the recent ruling by the Supreme Court on sports betting might benefit them. With so many sports gamblers in the United States looking to bet on something after the NFL season is over, the Alliance of American Football might fit that bill. Although Ebersol and Polian might not say it, it could be something that will help elevate the league.
While McMahon and the XFL stay quiet and work behind the scenes to start up the new XFL, Ebersol and Polian are off to fast start. It helps to have executives and coaches that understand football, but they will need to make sure the play of the game is at a level that is acceptable to fans. If they fail at that, the league will go nowhere. But if they succeed, the Alliance of American Football might be the one professional spring football league that actually sticks.
Main Photo:Embed from Getty Images
