Category: Alternative Football

Sure it’s Super Bowl weekend, but a lot of people are already talking about that. So why don’t we talk about the Canadian Football League instead – at least for a few minutes? February 12 has been a fairly significant date for the CFL throughout its history, with league meetings often held on and around that time and rule changes proposed during the gatherings.

And that’s what brings me to today’s topic.

Remember the cussing and discussing that took place when the Canadian Football League and XFL had their brief flirtation? CFL traditionalists feared if there was a merger, the three-down game would become a four-down game, and maybe instead of 12 to a side contests would be 11 on 11.

And even though that alliance is no longer a hot topic, last December TSN’s Farhan Lalji and Dave Naylor reported that the CFL would be reviewing all aspects of the game during the offseason, including the number of downs.

Well guess what?

Back in 1975 the CFL was presented with rules options that would give the circuit a major makeover, and one of them was 11-man lineups.

On January 4, 1975, the Canadian Press reported that “sweeping changes” to the CFL were being advocated by some within the league’s power structure. Once discussed, they would be officially presented to the rules committee during league meetings on January 7.

Rule alterations up for debate were:

* Eleven man lineups instead of 12.

* One or two-point conversions following a touchdown, replacing the PAT.

* Runbacks of successful field goals that would nullify the three points scored if the ball is returned out of the end zone.

* Unlimited blocking on punts and field goals.

* Rosters increased from 32 to 33, adding another Canadian National player.

CFL Commissioner Jake Gaudaur said the rules were discussed during a meeting of the American Football Coaches Association and there were 36 revisions in all, although he wouldn’t elaborate on what they were. He added that all nine CFL clubs would be involved in the decision-making process and whatever changes were made would have to be approved at the league’s annual meeting in February.

Ottawa Rough Riders general manager Frank Clair said he was optimistic the CFL would go to 11-man lineups “soon” and Montreal Alouettes GM Bob Geary told the Canadian Press he was in favor of most of the proposals, especially the change to 11-man football.

“The way it is with the scientific defenses today, they’re so strong that the offense is stumbling in the dark,” Geary said. “The rule would make for a more wide-open game with our wide field.”

Man, I’ll bet this was quite the conversation starter when the news came out. I was too caught up in the World Football League (and didn’t have access to a lot of CFL news in Birmingham) to know about this when it happened, but a couple of the innovations would’ve really excited me.

The most creative, of course, is the field goal negation. That might be one of the most extreme rule changes I’ve ever heard of in tackle football and I absolutely love it.

At the time, CFL end zones were still 25 yards deep, and with the goal posts on the goal line that gave a returner plenty of running room. Now I’m sad I never got see a team kick a game-winning field goal as time expired only to see it wiped out by the lone deep man.

I’m sure I’m in the minority for liking this so much, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

The second change was eliminating the extra point in favor of a run or pass for one or two points.

I like to think they got this idea from the WFL’s “action point,” but even if they didn’t, tiered conversions via a run or pass are exquisite. They’ve become common in modern spring alternative football leagues.

So what happened?

There were quite a few changes – some relatively dramatic – but none as game-changing as dropping a player or wiping a field goal off the board.

The CFL executive committee approved:

* Unlimited blocking above the waist only on punts and missed field goal runbacks.

* Two point conversion option. The ball is spotted on the five yard line and the offense can kick an extra point or run or pass for two.

*A new option following successful field goals. The team scored upon can require the team having just scored the field goal to go back to their own 35 and kick as they would in a kickoff.

* New ball placement after a single. Instead of the ball coming out to the 25, it now comes to the 35.

* New timing rules for the last three minutes of each half. Whenever the ball changes hands during that time period, the clock doesn’t start until the snap of the ball.

“When I saw all the proposals, I thought it was all a bunch of corn,” Edmonton quarterback Tom Wilkinson told the Edmonton Journal. “But the rules they went for, well, they’re good. It’s going to make it more entertaining. No doubt about that.”

Defensive end Ron Forwick agreed, even though they’d make his job more difficult.

“I liked the rules the way they were before, but I think I like these better,” Forwick said. “I’ll tell you one thing, they’ll be tough on the defenses this year..”

The changes were made official on February 20, 1975.

“I really believe that some of the changes, especially the option on the converts and blocking on the punt returns, will have a definite impact on the entertainment aspect of the game,” Gaudaur said.

One of the reasons I enjoy the CFL is because of its rules, but as the league moves forward stakeholders will do what’s necessary to increase fan interest. Proposals large and small are presented every year, and whatever changes are made, I’ll give them a chance.

But If I ever have a chance to see a field goal go from good to no good all because of a runback, that’ll be one of my greatest gridiron thrills.

As the new United States Football League’s inaugural season draws closer, we’ll soon see predictions of how the 2022 campaign will play out. At the moment we’re safe from such punditry since the eight teams have head coaches but no assistants and no players, but once the draft is held and picks have been divvied up, many observers will take wild guesses at which team will reign supreme.

Not me. As tempting as it might be to find the nearest crystal ball and take a peek at its murky contents, this is a brand new league that will go from first practice to first game in just over three weeks. Not only that, it’ll feature teams comprised of players working together for the first time.

It’s impossible to predict which club will stockpile the most talent, although Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz thinks there will be more than enough to give each team quality, 38-man rosters.

“The number of players who are coming out this year is different than it’s ever been in the history of college football,” Holtz said. “We’re all dealing with the Covid year so really two classes are coming out right now. I think there’s a really large talent pool out there and it’ll be a really solid product.”

Without any players signed and assigned to teams, all the teams start even.

Well, mostly even.

The 2022 USFL hub is in Birmingham, and since the Stallions will play all of their games at either Protective Stadium or Legion Field, they’ll have home field(s) and home fans advantage every week.

As for which coach can get the most out of his group, we won’t get a real idea about that until spring starts transitioning into summer.

The eight men in charge – Holtz; Kevin Sumlin, Houston Gamblers; Jeff Fisher, Michigan Panthers; Mike Riley, New Jersey Generals; Larry Fedora, New Orleans Breakers; Bart Andrus, Philadelphia Stars; Kirby Wilson, Pittsburgh Maulers; and Todd Haley, Tampa Bay Bandits – bring a combined 1,440 games of head coaching experience to the league. Only Wilson, who has been an assistant with eight different NFL teams and a defensive coordinator in the college ranks, has never been a head coach.

“I’m excited to have this opportunity to be a head coach for the first time,” Wilson said. “I didn’t believe it at first, but now that that moment is inching closer and closer, I’m super excited about being a head coach in the USFL. I can’t wait to get out on the field, in the grass with my players and the coaches, and start building a championship football team.”

If you’re looking for the guy with the most games as top dog, Riley gets the honor with 359. He sports a 182-177 overall record and led the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Jets to a pair of Grey Cup titles.

And if you insist on alternative football league bona fides, he was a skipper in the World League of American Football as well as the Alliance of American Football.

“I’m excited personally to coach people at this level because I find them to be very hungry,” Riley said. “Almost all of them had really successful high school careers and college careers, and they get into a league like this because they love to play, and they want to get better. That combination right there is one idea in general that just makes it really fun to coach.”

Speaking of alt-football experience, Andrus has a bunch. He won a championship with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe (formerly the WLAF), coached the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League and the CFL Toronto Argonauts, and spent three years in The Spring League, a pay-to-play circuit founded by current USFL president of football operations, Brian Woods.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back on the sidelines and coaching a team that I have a hand at creating from scratch,” Andrus said. “There are terrific people who I have a lot of respect for working to develop the USFL, and I expect the quality of football we present to be first-rate. I can’t wait to get started.”

The remaining five coaches will be using the USFL as something of a career reboot after being fired from their last head coaching jobs. Holtz (Louisiana Tech in 2021); Sumlin (Arizona in 2020); Fedora (North Carolina in 2018); Fisher (Los Angeles Rams, 2016); and Haley (Kansas City Chiefs, 2011) will start anew in an upstart league.

“A new league like the USFL provides opportunities for coaches as well as players, and I’m very excited to have this opportunity to be a head coach at the professional level,” Sumlin said. “I love coaching football players. It’s in my blood, and there are many, many athletes who are hungry to play high-quality football. I can’t wait to build my team and work with them this spring.”

After spending the last couple of seasons as an offensive coordinator at the high school level, Haley is getting a head coaching job for the first time in 11 years.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to get back into coaching at the professional level,” Haley said. “It’s been a while since I led a team on-field, and I’ve missed it. It’s also rare that a head coach, as it was once put, gets to pick all the groceries and fix the meal. This is going to be a lot of fun, and I expect the fans to enjoy the competition.”

Fedora was an analyst for Texas in 2019 and offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Baylor in 2020, and makes his professional coaching debut with the Breakers.

“I’m very passionate about the game of football,” Fedora said. “I love everything about it, and there’s nothing better than when your team goes out and executes the game plan you put together. So, getting involved on the ground floor of the USFL is a tremendous opportunity, and I hope that fans jump in, too, because it’s going to be exciting and a lot of fun.”

The flashiest hire by the league is Fisher, who brings the most NFL coaching experience to a venture that will be filled with players hoping to reach that level. Yes, he’s tied with the late Dan Reeves for most NFL regular season losses at 165, but he also has 178 victories along with an AFC title on his resume.

“I’ve been out of coaching for a few years now, but I’ve watched it at every level, and I’ve come to realize that I miss it,” Fisher said. “During my time away, I was blessed to do a lot of cool things, and I’ve caught plenty of fish, but there’s a void there. So, I’m excited about the opportunity to fill that void by coaching in the USFL and getting back to the sideline.”

The USFL Draft is scheduled for February 22-23 and training camps will open on March 21. Those who graduated high school in 2020 or earlier are eligible to sign with the league. The Stallions and Generals will lift the lid on the season April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Protective Stadium.

“You look at the draft and then when training camp starts and you wake up thinking, ‘I’ve got to do that and I’ve got to do that and I’ve got to do that,’” Holtz said. “But that’s all part of the excitement and the energy and the fun of what we’re building. It’s here. It’s gonna be exciting to put it together from scratch.”

Before Tuesday Birmingham had been home to eight professional football teams – the Americans (1974), Vulcans (1975), Stallions (1983-85), Fire (1991-92), Barracudas (1995), Steeldogs (2000-07), Thunderbolts (2001) and Iron (2019).

Now, it’s home to eight clubs all at once.

On January 25, 2022, the Magic City officially became the hub of the fledgling United States Football League, with all of the league’s regular season games, playoffs and championship slated for either Protective Stadium in the Uptown District or Legion Field on Graymont Avenue this season.

“Welcome home to the USFL,” Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin said during a news conference at Protective Stadium. “Birmingham has a deep history as a sports town and its connection to the USFL. This is what regional cooperation really looks like. I look forward to cheering on the Stallions here and at Legion Field.”

While the new Birmingham Stallions will be the only team to actually compete in their home stadium, the Houston Gamblers, Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers and Tampa Bay Bandits will play all their games here as well.

“I honestly feel like this is real for the first time,” Eric Shanks, CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports, said. “And we just couldn’t be more excited to be here today to start a new piece of football history. At FOX Sports, our entire business is built around football. We were literally born in football back in 1994 and when this opportunity came to start the USFL, especially when we started talking to the folks here in Birmingham, we know that you share our passion to celebrate football as much as we did. You know what it means to the players that get the opportunity to play this great game. You know what it means to be able to bring more people to this community, to its businesses, and now to the entire country.

“And that’s why we’re all here today, to officially make the USFL headquarters here in Birmingham, Alabama.”

There will be 43 games in all with 12 broadcast on FOX, 10 on FS1, eight on NBC, nine on the USA Network and four on Peacock.

Following a player selection meeting Feb. 22-23, USFL training camps are scheduled to open on March 21, giving teams just over three weeks to prepare for opening day on April 16.

Team rosters will be set at 38 active players with a seven-man practice squad.

“To have eight teams in Birmingham for 10 weeks is going to be awesome,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said. “But selfishly, to me it’s about the Stallions and the history of the USFL and the team and its record, which was 36-18, and we want to add to that.”

Although the branding of the league and its teams are the same as those of the original USFL (1983-85), this organization is vastly different from its namesake.

The USFL of the 1980s signed established National Football League stars and top college talent, luring three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners to the spring circuit. Its freewheeling spending not only positioned it as a threat to the power structure of the NFL, but ultimately helped pave the way to huge salaries in professional football.

The new USFL will be a developmental league designed to help players get a shot at the NFL. Instead of Steve Youngs, rosters will be full of young Steves.

“When I first had the opportunity to sit down and talk to (director of football operations) Brian Woods, I was excited,” Holtz said. “And the more I met with him and the more I met with the FOX people the more impressed I became. I think it has the backing to be successful. I don’t think this is a two-legged chair, this is on a solid foundation.”

Aside from Holtz, other coaches are Kevin Sumlin, Gamblers; Mike Riley, Generals; Todd Haley, Bandits; Bart Andrus, Stars; Kirby Wilson, Maulers; Jeff Fisher, Panthers; and Larry Fedora, Breakers.

Combined, the men manning the sidelines have experience ranging from the NFL to the Canadian Football League to the college ranks, while two are alternative football veterans. Riley coached in the World League of American Football and the Alliance of American Football and Andrus has experience in NFL Europe, the United Football League and The Spring League.

Following the annoucement I asked Woods about potential rule innovations for the USFL.

“Ninety percent of our rules will be NFL game rules, but there’ll be a few deviations we’re incorporating into the USFL game to make it a little more exciting for the fans and increase the pace of play,” he said. “I think it’s something fans will really enjoy in terms of the minor deviations we’ll have. We’ll be announcing the new rules here in a few weeks.”

As for player compensation, Woods was tight-lipped.

“Right now we’re in a talent procurement process,” Woods said. “We’ll be out signing players over the next several weeks and as we sign players and issue contracts the information about what they’re being paid will get out in the public domain pretty quickly.

“There’s always been an abundance of really good professional football talent out there in the open market, but what makes this year a little different is more players are coming out of the ranks of the NCAA that have been given a draft rate by the NFL. That surplus number is somewhere between 750 and 1,500. So we’re hoping to sign some players from this year’s draft class.”

The Stallions and Generals will have the honor of inaugurating the new league when they meet at 6:30 p.m. on April 16 at Protective Stadium, a matchup that will be simulcast by FOX and NBC. It will mark the first appearance of a Birmingham professional football team since the Birmingham Iron topped the Atlanta Legends, 17-9, at Legion Field on March 31, 2019, in the final weekend of the ill-fated Alliance of American Football.

While the AAF ran out of money and folded after eight weeks, FOX has pledged $150 million over three years to keep the USFL up and running.

Tickets for 2022 USFL games start at $10 and children age 15 and under will be admitted at no charge.