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Yet another attempt at a spring league is upon us, and this time they are reviving the old USFL.

8 teams have been announced, and they just finalized the hiring of the head coaches:

North Division
Michigan Panthers - Jeff Fisher
New Jersey Generals - Mike Riley
Philadelphia Stars - Bart Andrus
Pittsburgh Maulers - Kirby Wilson

South Division
Birmingham Stallions - Skip Holtz
Houston Gamblers - Kevin Sumlin
New Orleans Breakers - Larry Fedora
Tampa Bay Bandits - Todd Haley

A player selection meeting will be held on February 22 and 23 to build the rosters, and training camp will begin March 21. The first game will be played April 16th and they will play through June. 10-game season, then a semifinal and championship game.

The inaugural season will take place in Birmingham, Alabama in a sort of bubble season. I think next season they will begin playing in their own stadiums.

Teams will have 35 active players and 7 practice squad players for a total of 45 players.


So, is anyone going to watch? I liked the AAF and XFL and I'll watch XFL 3.0, too. It's something new at least.

Yep, I'll watch it. I loved the old USFL! Let's hope some former Broncos get more chances.

Curious why they hired so few HCs with NFL backgrounds.

Most of those guys (except Fisher, Haley, and Riley) are career college coaches.

(01-28-2022 07:21 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  Curious why they hired so few HCs with NFL backgrounds.

Most of those guys (except Fisher, Haley, and Riley) are career college coaches.

Yeah, it's a weird mix of coaches. You've got guys like Jeff Fisher who took the Titans to a Super Bowl and then you've got Bart Andrus who was a position coach in the CFL. Then the college coaches.

You have to think they just got whoever was available, considering they are also competing with the XFL for coaches and players now.

Panthers going to play at Rynearson? Seems like only option, with Ford Field apparently unavailable to them.

(01-28-2022 09:17 PM)tayles mullet Wrote:  Panthers going to play at Rynearson? Seems like only option, with Ford Field apparently unavailable to them.

Most likely, if I remember correctly one of the first spring leagues the World Football league paid for renovation and installed lighting at Rynearson as that was their home stadium. I would think it wouldn’t be a conflict date wise to play at Ford Field for theSpring season. It’s probably a matter of negotiating a lease fee the new team owners can afford.

The NFL is just a bad product in general, would like to see a decent pro league.

(01-30-2022 12:32 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  The NFL is just a bad product in general, would like to see a decent pro league.

The original Michigan Panthers with Bobby Hebert as QB were exciting to watch they drew some nice crowds at the Silverdome.

(01-28-2022 09:17 PM)tayles mullet Wrote:  Panthers going to play at Rynearson? Seems like only option, with Ford Field apparently unavailable to them.

They’re playing all games at one location.

Quote:The United States Football League announced Tuesday all of its games during its first season will be played in Birmingham, Alabama, at Protective Stadium and Legion Field.

(01-30-2022 12:32 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  The NFL is just a bad product in general, would like to see a decent pro league.

What can you possibly be basing this opinion on? Last week was some of the best football I've seen in my lifetime. College football is the bad product, nearly every playoff game is a blow out. There is no parity. I enjoy the MAC and G5 in general and really hope someday we have our own playoff.

All the games are being played in Birmingham, AL this year. The "names" of teams are just to distinguish them from each other. They are all playing games, and practicing in one location. If the league survives this year (which is questionable...how can there be enough ticket sales out of one (relatively small market) area to make this fly? Then they might actually play locally. I have my doubts.

(01-31-2022 09:52 AM)Doo Wrote:  All the games are being played in Birmingham, AL this year. The "names" of teams are just to distinguish them from each other. They are all playing games, and practicing in one location. If the league survives this year (which is questionable...how can there be enough ticket sales out of one (relatively small market) area to make this fly? Then they might actually play locally. I have my doubts.

The benefit they have here is that the entire league is owned by Fox. I'm thinking they're targeting this as a "made for TV" league, which will be great if they tailor the rules and production towards it.

The initial draft is over, and each team currently has 35 players. There will be another supplemental draft where they will take 10 more players to fill out the rosters (38 active, 7 practice squad).

Our Michigan Panthers took some good players, highlighted by their QB room with former U-M QB Shea Patterson and former Memphis QB and 1st round NFL draft pick Paxton Lynch.
Other players of note for the Panthers:
RB Reggie Corbin - Illinois
RB Stevie Scott - Indiana
WR Quincy Adeboyejo - Ole Miss
WR Ray Bolden - Stony Brook
WR Lance Lenoir - Western Illinois
WR Jeff Badet - Oklahoma
TE Joseph Magnifico - Memphis
TE/WR La'Michael Pettway - Iowa State
DE Cavon Walker - Maryland (XFL sack leader)
LB Frank Ginda - SJSU (led NCAA in tackles in 2017 with 173!)

MACtion in the league:
LB Terry Myrick - Eastern Michigan - Michigan Panthers
DL Jonathan Newsome - Ball State - Birmingham Stallions
CB Ja'Len Embry - NIU - New Orleans Breakers
G Paul Nosworthy - Buffalo - Philadelphia Stars
C Braydon Patton - Northern Illinois - Pittsburgh Maulers
DE Eric Assoua - Western Michigan - Pittsburgh Maulers
DT Reggie Howard - Toledo - Tampa Bay Bandits


There's still the supplemental draft to go and lots of moving pieces. Rosters are still being updated.

In general, there's not a lot of household names or star power in the league right now. Players are probably hesitant to join a spring league after watching several others fail recently. Although you can't blame the XFL failing, as Covid hit right in the middle of the season. And the XFL is coming back next year, so players might be holding out for that. It's a more established product with some big names in the front office. Salaries in the USFL also aren't great right now, and I'm sure guys don't want to leave their families, move to Birmingham, and play in a bubble for the next 4 months. Maybe once the teams actually play in their home state they'll be able to attract regional talent.

(02-25-2022 10:58 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  The initial draft is over, and each team currently has 35 players. There will be another supplemental draft where they will take 10 more players to fill out the rosters (38 active, 7 practice squad).

Our Michigan Panthers took some good players, highlighted by their QB room with former U-M QB Shea Patterson and former Memphis QB and 1st round NFL draft pick Paxton Lynch.
Other players of note for the Panthers:
RB Reggie Corbin - Illinois
RB Stevie Scott - Indiana
WR Quincy Adeboyejo - Ole Miss
WR Ray Bolden - Stony Brook
WR Lance Lenoir - Western Illinois
WR Jeff Badet - Oklahoma
TE Joseph Magnifico - Memphis
TE/WR La'Michael Pettway - Iowa State
DE Cavon Walker - Maryland (XFL sack leader)
LB Frank Ginda - SJSU (led NCAA in tackles in 2017 with 173!)

MACtion in the league:
LB Terry Myrick - Eastern Michigan - Michigan Panthers
DL Jonathan Newsome - Ball State - Birmingham Stallions
CB Ja'Len Embry - NIU - New Orleans Breakers
G Paul Nosworthy - Buffalo - Philadelphia Stars
C Braydon Patton - Northern Illinois - Pittsburgh Maulers
DE Eric Assoua - Western Michigan - Pittsburgh Maulers
DT Reggie Howard - Toledo - Tampa Bay Bandits


There's still the supplemental draft to go and lots of moving pieces. Rosters are still being updated.

In general, there's not a lot of household names or star power in the league right now. Players are probably hesitant to join a spring league after watching several others fail recently. Although you can't blame the XFL failing, as Covid hit right in the middle of the season. And the XFL is coming back next year, so players might be holding out for that. It's a more established product with some big names in the front office. Salaries in the USFL also aren't great right now, and I'm sure guys don't want to leave their families, move to Birmingham, and play in a bubble for the next 4 months. Maybe once the teams actually play in their home state they'll be able to attract regional talent.

I'm surprised to see only one former WMU player drafted so far.