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New football league, the AAF, debuts next year


navysaintsfan

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The Ebersol kid was on the radio this morning talking about it, he sounded passionate. Has some different ideas. TV timeouts/kickoffs

I think it could be great. 

Some details I haven't heard yet:

What cities? Salaries? 

Process to enter the league, draft, eligibility requirement?

EDIT: Draft is territorial

My only issue is the league starts in April, the NFL draft is in May UDFAs could get signed right before camp

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/steve-spurrier-announced-as-first-coach-and-orlando-first-host-city-for-alliance-of-american-football/

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The Alliance of American Football, a new professional spring league set to debut next February, revealed on "CBS This Morning: Saturday" that the first host city will be Orlando, with college football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier set to coach.

The Alliance's co-founder Charlie Ebersol, former NFL wide receiver Hines Ward, who is serving as an executive of player relations, and Spurrier himself joined "CBS This Morning: Saturday" to discuss the new league, which will kick off just one week after next year's Super Bowl.

The games will be available to stream on a free app, on CBS and CBS Sports Network. Teams in eight different cities will play a 10-game season.

CBS will air the league's debut game on Feb. 9, 2019, one week after Super Bowl LIII on CBS. The network will also carry the Alliance of American Football's championship game on the final weekend of April 2019. One regular-season Alliance game will air exclusively on CBS Sports Network each week as well.

"We brought in the best players and the best coaches to be at the top of the organization. We wanted to give fans not just an opportunity to see great football but to see what would happen if you brought the players and the league together," Ebersol said. 

The younger Ebersol, who directed ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary on the XFL, brought in former NFL general manager Bill Polian to help oversee the league. Former Steelers safety Troy Polamalu will oversee the player side and former USC standout and executive J.K. McKay will oversee the team side. Advisors include Ward and Justin Tuck, and **** Ebersol.

The league will have eight teams in eight cities. Rosters will have 50 players each and will be built primarily through a regionally-based draft that will be held this fall. To differentiate the Alliance of American Football from its competitors, there will be no TV timeouts and 60 percent fewer commercials. Other differences will include no kickoffs and instead of onside kicks, the trailing team will receive the ball on their own 35-yard line facing fourth down and 10. There will also be a 30-second play clock and mandatory two-point conversion attempts after touchdowns. 

Spurrier, who left both Florida and South Carolina as those programs' winningest head coach, said he was intrigued by the new rules of the game, which include two-and-half hour games and 30 seconds in between plays, and the opportunity to include great players who don't make it into the NFL.

"It's a fine line between who makes a team and who doesn't in the NFL. We don't have a minor league of professional football," Spurrier said. "Those players get a chance to continue playing even if they don't play at the highest level and then maybe someday they play well enough to go to the highest level."

For Ward, it's all about the well-being of the players. "Player safety, that's top priority. I mean, that's something we want to bring to our league.

Spurrier's team will play its home games at the University of Central Florida's Spectrum Stadium, which sits roughly 13 miles outside of Orlando. Tickets to see Spurrier's team in action will go on sale later this month. Starting on April 17, fans will be able to put down season-ticket deposits on the league's website, AAF.com

 

Orlando announced as the first team at Spectrum Stadium (UCF) with Steve Spurrier as coach.

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RUMOR

https://www.seccountry.com/sec/sec-cbs-analyst-rick-neuheisel-alliance-american-football-league

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It appears as though Rick Neuheisel could be moving back into the world of coaching one more time.

The former UCLA, Washington and Colorado coach, who serves as a desk analyst for the SEC on CBS football telecasts, is set to become a head coach in the Alliance of American Football according to a report from Alex Marvez of The Sporting News.

Neuheisel will reportedly lead a team based in Southern California. An announcement from the AAF is expected to come soon.

He joins former Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier as the second “big name” college football coach to join up with the spring football league that is set to launch in February 2019. Spurrier’s announcement as the coach of the AAF’s Orlando franchise made major headlines over the weekend, kicking off  what appears to be a parade of coaching hires and franchise location revelations.

The AAF is headed by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, along with the influence of well-known former NFL stars Troy Polamalu (head of player relations), Hines Ward (player relations executive), Jared Allen (player relations executive) and Justin Tuck (player engagement board of advisors) on the executive staff for the league.

Neuheisel did not return a request for comment from Sporting News, but Marvez reports that each of the league’s new coaches have signed a nondisclosure agreement to protect the announcements of their hiring.

There is no word yet on how this coaching role could impact Neuheisel’s status as one of the starring analysts on CBS’s SEC game of the week in the fall. Neuheisel, who owns a 87-59 career mark as a FBS head coach, has served alongside host Adam Zucker and analyst Brian Jones on the SEC on CBS desk since the 2015 season. He is 57 and has not coached since parting ways with UCLA after the 2011 football season.

Southern California rumored with Rick Neuheisel.

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On 3/20/2018 at 5:32 PM, OleXmad said:

Anything to get more football I guess, though I still prefer the NFL working out a deal with the CFL and using them as a training league more or less.

Why would we canadians ever do that.

We aren't the NFL's training league it's a football league for our own country. Just so happens american football players get a second chance here.

We got our own rich history get your dirty monetizing hands outta it.

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3 hours ago, canadaluvsdallas said:

Why would we canadians ever do that.

We aren't the NFL's training league it's a football league for our own country. Just so happens american football players get a second chance here.

We got our own rich history get your dirty monetizing hands outta it.

I'm American and I love the CFL. Glad it's not an NFL developmental league or at least it doesn't try to be.

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The way I see it, with proper coaching and business sense, there's no reason the product would be bad.

By nature, it's gotta be at least comparable to college football or an NFL preseason being taken seriously with more focused coaching and preparation given to the bottom 37 players, no? 

I don't see any negatives really, since they're totally cool not trying to compete. 

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On 3/22/2018 at 9:35 AM, nlesthought said:

The Ebersol kid was on the radio this morning talking about it, he sounded passionate. Has some different ideas. TV timeouts/kickoffs

I think it could be great. 

Some details I haven't heard yet:

What cities? Salaries? 

Process to enter the league, draft, eligibility requirement?

EDIT: Draft is territorial

My only issue is the league starts in April, the NFL draft is in May UDFAs could get signed right before camp

 

If I want to watch football without kickoffs, there's youth football down the street. Kickoffs are among the more exciting plays during a game, no valid reason to discard them. Tackle football cannot be played without injuries, just the way it is. 

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I think its a smart strategy to go to big markets not served by the NFL with known head coaches but I feel that any league needs a few major markets to succeed. 

 

With the rumors of Singletary coaching it could make sense to put a team in Chicago and have him coach there for instance. 

 

And I agree that not having kickoffs is fairly stupid. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not sure what the business model is. I just don't see the upside, it will always be a 3rd league behind nfl and ncaa. I just don't see it being paid by tv rights and attendance.

Only way i see something working in the US is if it is an official development league of the NFL and the nfl franchises run (=pay for) it.

Maybe, just maybe i see a shot if you go outside of the US and you are an investor for the long run. Invest 10+ years in a college football system in Europe. As in you finance the college teams for the next decade in return for ownership of the media rights. At least then you'd invest in 2 markets that have not been opened in europe ('pro' college sports and american football). You have to wonder about the potential, but at least it's not saturated as in the US. You'd also be nicely positioned when the NFL starts its London franchise. Would still be a long shot to make money on this investment though.

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