Updated XFL Team Staffs

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GregParks
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by GregParks »

We can bemoan the personnel losses to the NFL, but another way to look at this is that the XFL really lucked out with the AAF going out of business. They were able to take "the best of the rest" when it comes to coaches and front office people and not have to compete with the AAF for those folks. So while some of the best and brightest will head to the NFL before the XFL even kicks off, at least the league isn't having to hire leftovers after the NFL AND AAF gobble up the top talent.
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Firecop
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by Firecop »

It also indicates the XFL did its due diligence in finding the right people to hire in the first place; obviously qualified enough choices for the NFL to want them.
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by Tank55 »

Staff turnover is part of the game. I'm not bothered. Now, if a head coach flakes, or assistants jump after the draft, that's a bad look and a problem. But even NFL teams get burned by coach movement.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by MikeMitchell »

GregParks wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:47 pm We can bemoan the personnel losses to the NFL, but another way to look at this is that the XFL really lucked out with the AAF going out of business. They were able to take "the best of the rest" when it comes to coaches and front office people and not have to compete with the AAF for those folks. So while some of the best and brightest will head to the NFL before the XFL even kicks off, at least the league isn't having to hire leftovers after the NFL AND AAF gobble up the top talent.
Good points. Most people missed it but in an interview Oliver Luck had on CBS Sports Radio, after the AAF folded. Luck indicated that AAF players and coaches would not have been prohibited to jump ship to the XFL. That the AAF didn’t have a legal leg to stand on with the way their contracts were structured.

Not having to compete though with another pro league is a huge plus.
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by GregParks »

MikeMitchell wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:12 pm
GregParks wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:47 pm We can bemoan the personnel losses to the NFL, but another way to look at this is that the XFL really lucked out with the AAF going out of business. They were able to take "the best of the rest" when it comes to coaches and front office people and not have to compete with the AAF for those folks. So while some of the best and brightest will head to the NFL before the XFL even kicks off, at least the league isn't having to hire leftovers after the NFL AND AAF gobble up the top talent.
Good points. Most people missed it but in an interview Oliver Luck had on CBS Sports Radio, after the AAF folded. Luck indicated that AAF players and coaches would not have been prohibited to jump ship to the XFL. That the AAF didn’t have a legal leg to stand on with the way their contracts were structured.
That would've been interesting had the AAF survived. I'm not an AAF expert, but I'm thinking they were paying players, generally, more than what the XFL will (with Tier 1 exceptions, though we still have a lot of unanswered questions about the pay scale). That, and having already been through a successful launch of a new league (again, had the AAF survived and was solvent), I don't know how many would want to jump ship to another first-year league with all of the risks involved in that, versus staying with the stability of the AAF.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by MikeMitchell »

GregParks wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:54 pm
MikeMitchell wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:12 pm
GregParks wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:47 pm We can bemoan the personnel losses to the NFL, but another way to look at this is that the XFL really lucked out with the AAF going out of business. They were able to take "the best of the rest" when it comes to coaches and front office people and not have to compete with the AAF for those folks. So while some of the best and brightest will head to the NFL before the XFL even kicks off, at least the league isn't having to hire leftovers after the NFL AND AAF gobble up the top talent.
Good points. Most people missed it but in an interview Oliver Luck had on CBS Sports Radio, after the AAF folded. Luck indicated that AAF players and coaches would not have been prohibited to jump ship to the XFL. That the AAF didn’t have a legal leg to stand on with the way their contracts were structured.
That would've been interesting had the AAF survived. I'm not an AAF expert, but I'm thinking they were paying players, generally, more than what the XFL will (with Tier 1 exceptions, though we still have a lot of unanswered questions about the pay scale). That, and having already been through a successful launch of a new league (again, had the AAF survived and was solvent), I don't know how many would want to jump ship to another first-year league with all of the risks involved in that, versus staying with the stability of the AAF.
As for salaries. The AAF base salary for every player in year one was 70k.From the long snapper to the quarterback. They all got paid the same. A player who was in the second year was supposed to go up to 80,000 per season in salary. A 3rd year AAF player would have received 100,000.

While the official salary numbers have not been released yet by the XFL. The XFL average salary would have been on par or better than the AAF.

We know about the baseline 250k plus per season for the top tier.

The 2nd tier for the XFL is reported to be in that 100 to 200k per season range.

3rd tier of 70 to 90k.

The final tier would be 50 to 70k. Presumably the lowest end would be team nine players, practice squad players and specialists.

What’s missing in this is that players are going to receive bonuses for every game. Eric Galko stated in LA that every player that is active for an XFL game will receive an activation bonus. Each player would also receive a victory bonus. So you could start off at a 70k base and end up making a hell of a lot more.

Add on to the fact that the XFL players actually have real injury coverage. The league would have been more enticing overall than the Alliance. The tv deal would have also been a huge selling point
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by GregParks »

Ah, OK, I must've had the salary structures reversed in my head. Yeah, that would make a big difference then.
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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

GregParks wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:47 pm We can bemoan the personnel losses to the NFL, but another way to look at this is that the XFL really lucked out with the AAF going out of business. They were able to take "the best of the rest" when it comes to coaches and front office people and not have to compete with the AAF for those folks. So while some of the best and brightest will head to the NFL before the XFL even kicks off, at least the league isn't having to hire leftovers after the NFL AND AAF gobble up the top talent.
That goes for players, too.

Even though you can look at the players the XFL is targeting and notice that a lot of them are at least a step above what the AAF managed to land, I'm not convinced there's enough talent to populate TWO eight-team offseason football leagues at the same time.

One of the challenges with playing football in the wintertime is that because of injuries and huge NFL offseason rosters, the available talent pool is at its smallest. So while there may still be an appetite for football in February, there aren't as many players available to meet that demand.

The other thing is that once they start signing players, if the NFL picks one up as a late-season hiring (like the Redskins did with Josh Johnson this past season for example), that doesn't mean they're gone forever. The XFL is being smart in deliberately not positioning itself as a "developmental" league, which not only limits what kind of players would be willing to play there, but as anyone who's ever watched minor league baseball or G League basketball, there really is no appetite for people to watch it. If the XFL is positioning itself as legitimate, professional football with near-NFL aspirations (because let's face it, without the NFL's billions in TV contracts, no one's going to match the NFL's talent level ever again), even if a guy like Johnson gets a couple weeks of mop-up duty near the end of a season, they might be far more willing to stick to their XFL commitment for a ten-week run.

Plus, if the XFL can prove in its first season that it can keep its players from getting hurt, that will improve the league's reputation even further.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: Updated XFL Team Staffs

Post by MikeMitchell »

Good post Johnny.

The only thing in regards to your Josh Johnson like scenario is that once XFL players are drafted in October. They can’t leave for the NFL until The XFL season ends in late April. So that scenario based on the XFL player contract structure is out the window.

The AAF still existing would have made for an interesting competition on and off the field. It would have benefited players and football personnel because there would have been financial competition.

The dream of mine was an eventual 16 team spring league with both leagues merging or having a joint championship game. Unfortunately the AAF’s foundation was built on straws rather than bricks, and they couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
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