United Football League

The UFL's Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the league will be moving the third home game for the Las Vegas Locomotives to Las Vegas. It was originally scheduled to be played in Los Angeles.

This is an excellent and clear headed move by the commissioner and the owners. Over the first three games of the UFL season the league has averaged an announced attendance of 12,524.

Two of those games were in Vegas and were to be the only games for Vegas this season, leaving the Vegas franchise with a really, really bad looking season attendance number of 13,185 and facing very dim prospects of that city having a UFL team next season.

When you add in the published impression that the numbers in Las Vegas were inflated, it was the kind of situation that would look horrible to potential fans this year and to potential owners in the offseason.

The early attendance numbers could have translated into a lower than expected turnout in Los Angeles. (One suspects the league may have already seen sluggish Los Angeles ticket sales and that might have been part of this decision making process.)

Having Las Vegas showing an unwillingness to support a UFL team and then drawing poorly in LA, say 18,000 or less, could have turned off potential owners in both markets.

(Remember the LA game was supposed to be Las Vegas vs. what looks to be the worst team in the league in the NY Sentinels. That late season game would draw a lot better in Vegas with LV chasing a playoff spot than in LA where fans would not have a stake in either team.)

By playing a game in LA off a weak start the league was looking at potentially burning LA as a market too. That would have been devastating. Far better to hold off on LA until next season.

Now the league really needs to sell that last Vegas regular season game. If they can draw 30K for that game the Vegas average will be a respectable 18K—about equal to what the worst teams in the USFL averaged in their initial year.

In that kind of scenario, even the fact that Las Vegas only averaged 18k is more acceptable because you can attribute it in meetings with potential owners to a slow developing market.

This reads to the public like the league working with the city and fans of Vegas. That will help with the draw on the final Vegas regular season game.

The Championship Game Factor

Las Vegas is also the site of the league championship game. With the murder of a CFL franchise on the city's resume, the Vegas choice was a very debatable pick for the league's first championship game. San Francisco would have been much safer. This change dramatically decreases the chance of a championship game black eye for the UFL.

Putting on my handicappers hat, IMO, there is now about a 40 percent chance Las Vegas will be in the championship game, and that would really help the league draw a decent crowd. If Las Vegas draws 30K to their last game and makes the championship game, the odds of a face-saving sellout would be dramatically higher.

I am critical of many of the decisions of the UFL leadership, but this was a good move by Huyghue and the league owners and it is an excellent first step in pulling the league's premiere season out of the toilet.

The UFL silently opened play last week in Las Vegas at 45,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in front of an annouced crowd of 14,209, although reports suggested the actual number of fans in attendance was much lower.

(The local paper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, suggested real attendance was about a third of that, putting attendance in the range of 5,000, but doesn't really say where they attained that number. 10,000 would be my estimate looking at the number of fans in the stadium. You can stream UFL games live from their website to reach your own conclusions.)

The league played its second game of the year at Orlando's 65,000-seat Citrus Bowl in front of an announced crowd of 11,203, but Shannon Owens, a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, reported some of those in attendance were using giveaway tickets.

These are, to put it bluntly, horrible numbers.  They are the kind of numbers a very bad team in the first year of a pro startup league might see at the end of a lengthy season.  To see them in the first to games is shocking to say the least.

To give some perspective on the perception those teams might have locally, UNLV drew almost 30,000 to see the Rebels beat Hawaii's Warriors a couple weeks ago. UCF drew 40,000 to their stadium in Orlando to see a matchup vs. the Memphis Tigers recently. Those aren't even BCS schools, which makes these attendance figures look really bad to the public in these cities.

Both of those college teams were not playing at home those nights, so it isn't like the UFL teams were competing against the FBS teams for fans last week.

TV

Compounding matters, the UFL's lack of promotion about the launch of the season has skunked their TV numbers. The Internet is full of people like myself who loudly bemoaned the fact they didn't realize the UFL season started and as such missed the opening broadcasts.

I have never watched Versus in my life, but I apparently have it as a channel on my cable. If I had seen some kind of promotional reminder, I'd have watched the game on Versus.

The fact that the games are on the UFL's site is a good idea—it allowed me to see the first two games—but still doesn't make up for a lack of sufficient promotion. 

How many potential fans are going to think to look on the UFL site for games? How many are going to want a to watch a three-hour game on their computer? How many are going to watch a game that has already been played?

The lack of promotion just hurts their broadcast partners and hurts the measurables that will be used to judge the viability of future seasons.

The Premiere Season Plan

The whole concept of the Premiere Season was to play a limited schedule (as there were only a couple of owners) and show that the league can be viable in the league's preferred markets. The teams would theoretically draw well as the games would be rare curiosities and each cities home schedule would conclude before fans grew jaded or lost interest.

The TV carriers had extremely modest goals, so anything that happened on that regard could be spun to be positive.

The point was to create a strong arguement to entice other rich prospective owners into buying in.

These attendance numbers instead loudly send the message that the league's core concept is not viable and threaten to turn the Premiere Season concept into a wrecking ball hammering away at any shred of perceived viability the league possesses.

Consider the fact that the UFL plays their second and final game in Vegas this week. There is no time for a marketing staff to launch and implement a program to correct the first week's troubles.  There is no way that game exceeds 12k in real attendance, and after that the UFL season in Vegas is done.

Vegas will have averaged 10-12,000 in the UFL's first year. 

That can be taken as the thoughts of football fans on the UFL applied to the Vegas market. No owner is going to want to play a six-game home schedule in front of a crowd that history suggests will be that size or smaller next season. IMO, the UFL has just burned Vegas as a market.

(It should be noted that the initial plan was for the league to open in San Franscico, but a baseball playoff run by the Giants made the stadium's availability questionable forcing the league to move the opening game to Las Vegas.  San Franscisco would have been a much better draw.  Still, drawing 12,000 at any of their cities, especially opening week,  is just inexcusable.) 

Minor League

It is clear that it is not valid to compare this league to leagues like the XFL or USFL. 

Those were pro leagues.

As startup pro leagues, they drew startup pro attendance numbers. The Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL averaged 22,619 in 2001 when Las Vegas was a much less populous city and Sam Boyd Stadium was considered a bit of a trip. The city suburbs have expanded outwards since then. 

The USFL's Orlando Renegades were a relocation of that league's worst franchise, but they still averaged 24,136 to the Citrus Bowl over 20 years ago.  Orlando has grown a lot in the last 20 years.

The league has spent a lot of time trying to brand itself as the NFL's new minor league—the new WLAF.

Well, Commissioner Huyghue...Mission accomplished.

The UFL owners are seeing the result of selling their league as a minor league.

A comparison to the CFL's Las Vegas disaster might be reasonable—their average attendance at Sam Boyd was just under 9,000, and they drew 12,213 to their home opener. But even the CFL, with their team's modest attendance numbers, quickly admitted the Posse was a disaster.

The UFL for it's part announced the league was hoping for 15,000 on opening night --- presumably to dampen expectations.

That the UFL could not meet their low expected attendance numbers or even pull half of USFL or XFL numbers in either of those NFL-free cities, in spite of those cities growing dramatically since those previous competitive leagues failed, is a huge red flag to any prospective owner.

It says very bluntly that either the concept underlying the league is a bad one or the people in charge have proven incapable of delivering. Either take on these measurables will smother whatever appeal the UFL may have to new owners.

This league may turn out to have Arena Football League-level support and perhaps Arena Football League-level revenue streams as well.  That league folded with each team having fewer than half the players to pay that each UFL team employs.

Is there any hope for the UFL?

Well, there is always hope.

The UFL owners are quite wealthy.  Maybe they are rich enough that this is all funny money to them.  Maybe they are willing to eat huge losses for quite a while and pay out of pocket to start additional teams in the future if no new owners buy in.

Looking at other assets of the league, a lot of very talented and hightly regarded people work for the UFL. For example, the league's marketing arm has produced a very impressive printable 100+ page guide to the UFL with player, owner, and coach profiles as well as details on the league's development (available at the league's website).

Clearly the League has employed some talented people. (One wonders if those people had much of a role in establishing the league's promotional plan for opening weekend.)

Will we see major improvements in attendance in later games? Certainly San Franscisco will out draw Las Vegas, but you probably won't see a major improvement. San Francisco and New York tend to be very strong football attendance regions and should be strong cities, but the problem is it appears this league's identity has been established with the football viewing public.

The majority of the league's potential fans have deemed this league an afterthought not long for this world.

Could some star power turn this around? Probably not. J.P. Losman is the only guy in the league who shows any star talent, but he needs a ton of work on his mechanics, discipline, and consistency to tap it.

The only star power I see in the league is color commentator Doug Flutie, who as many other have pointed out is a star in the making with good unique insights communicated clearly, but obviously no fan will ever attend a football game for a TV color commentator.

Best hope for the league owners to save this league

I used to handle marketing for an Inc 500 company. Not the same animal, I know, but I know enough to at least look at this thing from the right perspective.

It is a lot easier to market to consumers when they haven't already made up their minds about a product.

Unfortunately, that ship has sailed.

The fans think this is a minor league that probably won't be able to draw the numbers to survive. The public has deemed it not worthy of notice.

The potential UFL fans aren't going to want to throw their entertainment dollars down the money pit on a non-viable, boring, one-and-done minor league.

Now the owners are going to have to spend more than twice as much in marketing to change that view of this league.

The awful numbers in Vegas and Orlando will depress attendance in good attendance markets San Francisco and New York and may totally skunk a bad one like Los Angeles if corrective action is not taken. 

Will the owners spend the money now and try to save the league, or would that type of effort be seen as throwing good money after bad (a cardinal sin in the minds of successful business owners)?

(Keep in mind the XFL's TV guys knew after the first half of their initial game that their league had failed. The UFL probably had some numbers in mind --- Did they come anywhere near those numbers?)

A new aggressive plan needs to be implemented immediately to save the Premiere Season and the League's future viability. Will the people the owners have hired make the right choices to make this a possibility? The past policies implimented by those employees do not suggest Michael Huygue and the current leadership will deliver for the owners.

Huygue was hired to build a solid competitive league.  His resume suggested that was in his skillset could deliver. Huygue and staff have built what their skillset suggested they would --- a minor league that employs a bunch of credible NFL caliber backups.

Can they convince fans it is worth watching a pair of Jr. Level Kansas City Cheifs each week instead of MLB, the NFL, college football, or even high school football?  The UFL needs a P.T. Barnum.  Is there anything in the resume of Huygue that suggests he posesses those instincts and skills?

The UFL has problems to work through.

Really after the first few games, heads should be rolling...but that is an article for another day.

So, out of a morbid curiosity combined with being a sucker for doomed football leagues, I tuned into the debut of the United Football League on Saturday night, when the New York Sentinels and Florida Tuskers (?) faced off for gridiron glory.

And much like the late, yet unlamented XFL, the football wasn’t half bad—given the league is made up of NFL washouts, on-the-bubble NFL talent, and former NFL coaches, this is to be expected—and you can imagine that by the end of the league’s brief season, it will be better.

The question is, who will be around to see it?

When the XFL launched in 2001, it had the massive marketing power of both the WWF and NBC behind it, and the opening weekend drew huge crowds and massive TV ratings. While neither lasted, it at least made an initial splash.

On the other hand, the UFL’s debut went virtually unnoticed, as the embarrassingly small crowds at both games would indicate. In addition, the league is on the cable hinterlands of Versus and HDNet—not exactly top-of-mind locations for the average sports fan.

Which brings me to my main point: the UFL’s business model is entirely broken, and there’s no way the league will be anything more than a punch line being played at empty stadiums if they don’t change it.

You simply can’t go up against the NFL in the fall. There’s no way.

But even if the UFL is saying it isn’t competing with the NFL by playing on Thursdays and Saturdays, the model is still wrong. Here’s what the Sentinels-Tuskers game was going up against Saturday night: the MLB playoffs, college football (including the Florida-LSU showdown), the opening week of the NHL season, and in the next couple of weeks, the NBA.

There’s no way on God’s green Earth that any self-respecting sports fan is going to watch the equivalent of Triple-A football when any of those other sports are on, which is why if the UFL knew what was good for them, they’d switch to being a spring league next season.

I’d love to see a viable alternative to the NFL—it was good seeing some familiar faces (Simeon Rice, Brooks Bollinger, etc) and some random ones (former Steelers longsnapper Jared Retkofsky, Northwestern linebacker Tim McGarigle)—but even I’m not going out of my way to watch the UFL when there are so many other options out there.

The upstart United Football League kicked off last night, with former Buffalo Bills first-round pick J. P. Losman leading the Las Vega Locomotives to a 30-17 victory over the California Redwoods.

Comprised of four teams all led by NFL coaching veterans, the UFL's rosters are primarily made up of former NFL players and camp bodies, as well as players from the arena leagues.

Among them is a handful of former Miami Dolphins, so I thought now would be a good time to take a look at some of the familiar faces trying to maintain a pro football career in the UFL.

FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo (California Redwoods) — Ayanbadejo played in all 16 games for the Dolphins in 2002, primarily playing special teams while earning two starts at fullback. He proved to be a solid receiver out of the backfield, hauling in 12 passes for 53 yards. His brother, linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, was also on the team during that time.

WR Jayson Foster (Florida Tuskers) — A fan favorite during the 2008 offseason after signing as an undrafted free agent, Foster's diminutive size prevented him from earning a spot on the Dolphins as a wide receiver and return specialist. He bounced around practice squads all of last season and failed to make the Baltimore Ravens in 2009.

DE Maurice Fountain (New York Sentinels) — A veteran of af2 and the AFL, Fountain sign with the Dolphins in early August as an outside linebacker in the team's 3-4 scheme. However, he failed to make a lasting impression and was waived during final cuts less than a month later.

TE Keith Heinrich (Florida Tuskers) — A former Carolina Panther, Heinrich signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 but failed to make the team.

WR David Kircus (Las Vegas Locomotives) — After sitting out the 2007 season, Kircus joined the Dolphins during the 2008 offseason. He was waived prior to the regular season on Aug. 22, which is a date that is more notable for being MY BIRTHDAY.

DB Norman LeJeune (California Redwoods) — LeJeune was a member of the Dolphins during part of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, appearing in seven total games and recording two tackles. He was also one of the main reasons J. P. Losman threw three touchdown passes to Lee Evans in the first quarter of a game in 2005, though the Dolphins ended up winning on the final play of the game. The Dolphins released LeJeune in the 2007 offseason.

DB David Lofton (New York Sentinels) — The son of Hall of Fame wide receiver James Lofton, the Dolphins signed David as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2007. He was waived in July 29 before the preseason began and later went on to play in the CFL.

OG Gene Mruczkowski (Florida Tuskers) — A two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, Mruczkowski played in 15 games as a reserve lineman for the Dolphins in 2007. He is coming out of retirement from the NFL to play for the Tuskers.

WR Frank Murphy (Florida Tuskers) — A veteran receiver who has seen most of his NFL playing time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Murphy signed with the Dolphins in 2006 but was waived prior to the regular season.

WR Tab Perry (Las Vegas Locomotives) — After three injury-riddled seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Perry signed with the Dolphins in 2008 as the team looked to upgrade their return game. A torn Achilles' tendon in May ended those hopes, as Perry spent his one season with the Dolphins on injured reserve.

WR Bobby Sippio (California Redwoods) — An Arena Football League star with over 5,000 receiving yards and 140 touchdowns, Sippio has bounced around various pro leagues for years but has been unable to secure a long-term spot in the NFL. He spent part of the 2004 season on the Dolphins' injured reserve list after suffering a knee injury in the preseason, and never played a game with the team.

OG Orrin Thompson (New York Sentinels) — A defensive tackle at Duke, Thompson was signed by the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2005 and converted to the offensive line. After spending parts of the next two seasons on the practice squad, Thompson was signed by the Green Bay Packers.

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Chris J. Nelson is a journalism major at Georgia State University.  He operates his own Miami Dolphins web site, The Miami Dolphins Spotlight, and can be followed on Twitter here.

Did you know that the United Football League started last night? Me neither.

Who is in charge of marketing? This is possibly the worst hype for a league that I have ever seen. There is more marketing for a high school football game that is held on a local cable network in my small town of upstate New York than there is for the UFL.

I really doubt half the people that have supported the UFL in saying that this league will survive. How can a league survive if no one even knows it started?

Let’s catch everybody up.

The Las Vegas Locos defeated the California Redwoods last night by a final score of 30-17.

The Locos have a roster full of ex-NFL players, including former first round quarterback J.P. Losman under center. Other players include running backs Marcel Shipp and D.D. Dorsey, wide receivers David Kircus, Samie Parker, and Tab Perry, linebacker Brandon Moore, and backup quarterback Tim Rattay.

All of these names, and did you know the game was on?

I had been following the UFL on a somewhat regular basis as they began to introduce us to coaches, players, and teams. However, I have become a little bit busier in the past month or so and haven’t followed it quite as much.

I figured that I would have seen a commercial or two about the debut game for UFL, but did I even see that? Nope. Because of that, I totally missed it.

Nice job UFL. Your marketing plan sucks. You want to compete with the NFL or even become a minor league for the NFL, you better try harder than that; otherwise all of this work that has been put into developing this league will go unnoticed when this league folds after just another season.

This is the XFL all over again. The only difference is that the XFL was on NBC. At least I knew when their debut game was so I could watch it.

I am already writing off the UFL. There is not a chance that this league survives. I know I won’t be the first to say it, but this is a one and done.

Rest in Peace, UFL.

You may not have noticed, but another football league debuted Thursday evening.

The United Football League took the field, as the Las Vegas Locomotives defeated the California Redwoods 30-17 in the league’s first-ever game.

For those of us that watched, it was definitely a big upgrade over the last former independent league (XFL). There were also a lot of familiar NFL faces: quarterback J.P. Losman, running back Marcel Shipp, running back DeDe Dorsey and head coach Jim Fassel to name a few.

In bouncing around Web this morning and last night, I wasn’t able to find a great deal of exposure given to the league, which cannot be considered promising with it being in it’s first year and the economy being what it is.

Nonetheless, I’m hoping the four-team league succeeds.

Since NFL Europe closed up shop and the Arena League isn’t playing this year, the NFL could use an “unofficial” developmental league for players, and NFL-hopeful players should get another chance to showcase their skills.

Here are some more items/thoughts about the league’s first game:

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports UFL officials were hoping for a crowd of 15,000, but the actual attendenence wasn’t even a third of that, even though the announced attendance was 14,209 fans.

Mike Freeman, of CBSSports.com, believes someone gave the UFL a shovel and told them to start digging their own grave by pitting them against the MLB playoffs and college football on Thursday night...

Michael Lombardi of The National Football Post, recommends the UFL play their games in the spring when people are starved for football action…

The next UFL game has the Florida Tuskers playing host to the New York Sentinel this Saturday. Tune in or DVR it; there really is no such thing as too much football, but I will agree with Lombardi in the thought that maybe earlier in the year would be better timing...Give it a shot, who knows, maybe we’ll be playing UFL fantasy leagues in the future, too!

Oh, if you’re interested in more details on the league itself, check out ufl-football.com and their 2009 media guide can be found at: http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2009/10/08/ufl_2009_media_guide

The United Football League is set to kickoff tonight Thursday October 8th at 9pm eastern with a battle between Las Vegas and California. The UFL is a new developmental league that was said to be created after the fall of the Arena Football League and NFL Europe. With those two leagues gone, undrafted rookies and other stand out players, had no where to go to prove they deserved a chance.

The UFL has been one of the quietest developmental leagues in all of sports history. In fact, many people probably don't even know about it. However when you watch a UFL game you are sure to recognize some name players from the NFL. One of which was a Bills first round selection some years back J.P. Lossman. Even Jim Fassel, former head coach from the New York Giants, is head coach for the Las Vegas Locos. Lets also not forget that Fassel led his team to a super bowl as well.

Even though the league has low expectations, they seem to have high hopes about what fans could expect. When asked about the competitiveness of the league Las Vegas head coach Jim Fassel said "The quality of the players we released at the end … it surpassed what I thought we'd end up with. Bill Walsh used to say that at the end of the day, there's not a big difference between the last 15 guys on an NFL roster and the last 15 guys you cut."

The UFL states that the new league will "offer credible, 11-on-11, outdoor professional football in pro-quality venues." Could Fassel's Locos compete with some teams in the NFL? "Yeah," Fassel said, sounding serious. "I believe that."

In all honesty, I'm excited for this league and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have to offer. Hell, some of the games are played in a couple of the country's most famous stadiums like the Citrus Bowl, ATT Park, Giants Stadium, and more. All I have to say is give it a chance, these players deserve it. UFL kicks off today at 9:00 EST. Click to watch live!  http://www.ufl-football.com/versus.html

When we start to understand why the XFL failed, and how the UFL learned from that, we must first remember that 50 percent of the XFL was owned by NBC, and the cable TV market was a lot different way back in 2001. Now days, the television audience has been severely fragmented and the low TV numbers that cost the XFL its spot on NBC may be perfectly acceptable for a cable channel like Versus. 

The very first XFL game, played Feb. 3, 2001 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws drew in 14 million viewers. The final XFL game the Championship game Los Angeles Xtreme and the San Francisco Demons managed just over two million viewers. That is a sharp decline that the UFL will have to avoid.

Along the way, the XFL produced the worst rated prime-time TV broadcast on a major television network in history. The real lesson here though is the league was unable to retain its viewers.

The first ever UFL game will also take place at Sam Boyd Stadium on Oct. 8, 2009. While there is almost no way that 14 million people are going to tune in to watch that game, the UFL is betting enough people tune in to make it worth Versus while.

When we consider that Versus is a network airing niche sports, then the UFL has no pressure to deliver 14 million viewers. Let us also not forget that the first XFL game was a blowout, and NBC switched its coverage to the Orlando Rage/Chicago Enforcers game, overall that show had a 9.5 rating. Versus is not expecting the UFL to deliver those kinds of numbers

Versus airs sporting events like the IRL, whose TV ratings for some of their TV broadcasts have been as low as .2, .14, and .73. Meaning Versus is fine having a few hundred thousand viewers tune in as it builds an audience for its offerings.

Instead of getting a big opening number, the UFL is hoping to persuade a few hundred thousand TV viewers to watch al of their offerings each week. This league will only play 12 regular season games, with seven of them being broadcasted on Versus. It seems that the UFL will need to bring in 200,000 to 400,000 thousand viewers in the opening week and retain a good percentage of them.

While the UFL will not have the pressure of bringing in a large TV audience because it is owned by a major network, it will still need to draw decent to make it to year two. The Speed TV network is very happy with it’s TV numbers for broadcasting the NASCAR Camping World Truck series. The TV audience there averages out to around 400,000 viewers per race broadcast. That seems to be the number the UFL needs to shoot for.

The UFL has to sell itself as a legitimate minor league football offering, and provide its TV viewers with legitimate, quality football contests. For the most part, the XFL failed to do just that.

In the end, the XFL failed because of the expectations of an NFL-sized TV audience for its game broadcasts. The UFL has a better shot since those expectations will be far lower for a new league on a niche cable channel.

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It's a fair question. And quite honestly, based on Tim Tebow's decision to return for his senior season at Florida, one that actually warrants a careful response.

We will undoubtedly have to wait until next April's NFL Draft to find out for sure, but the question remains: Would it be better for an under-hyped college football star to take the short route to pro stardom and join the UFL, or take his chances in the NFL Draft and be a back-up?

Or worse—possibly not even make an NFL roster?

While Tebow is a household name (and not just in Florida) you may be surprised to learn that some draft experts pick him as a mid-rounder, at best, and some even say he won't even get drafted as a passer.

The trick with the NFL is if you don't make an impression immediately, you will likely go one of two routes. You're either a project, or you're a pre-determined failure.

See: Eric Crouch

See: Jared Zabransky

See: Any other option quarterback, or running back under 5'10".

Whether we like it or not, the NFL is famous for profiling players. Whether it's size, speed, race, or size of school, every player is held under a microscope, and even for guys with names like Tim Tebow, even the tiniest of flaws are sometimes blown into insurmountable mountains.

But before we get into the flaws that could see Tebow elect for a league like the UFL (despite Jacksonville's claims) let's look at the good.

1. Is he big/tall enough to see over defenders?

Um, yeah. Tebow is 6'3'' and 240 pounds, and at only 22 years old, already possesses the size, strength, and experience that most future NFL starters at the same position only wish they had.

Compare those (get ready, Al Davis) measurables to guys taken in the first round before him (Eli Manning, Mark Sanchez, etc.), and Tebow looks like a mammoth of a man towering over grade-schoolers.

2. Does he have the numbers to back up the hype?

Where do we start? Tebow has three Bowl Championships, including two of the last three BCS Titles. Not impressed?

In 2007, Tebow put up 3,286 yards passing and 32 touchdowns to only six interceptions, while also running 210 times for 895 yards and another 23 touchdowns.

Tebow followed up that impressive sophomore season with 2,747 yards passing, 30 touchdowns to only four interceptions, while rushing for 673 yards and 12 touchdowns off of 176 carries.

Again, in comparison with other NFL star quarterbacks (we'll go with Eli Manning), Tebow measures up quite well.

In four seasons at Ole Miss, Manning only topped 30 touchdown passes once, and while he beats Tebow in yardage, ony had a career completion percentage of 60 percent, while offering very little in the athleticism department.

Plain and simple: Tebow makes plays, can air it out, and keeps the turnovers to a minimum. Oh, and he can run the heck out of the football.

3. But is he accurate?

Considering he plays in the SEC, one of the toughest conferences in NCAA football, and averages just over 65 percent for a completion rate, it's safe to say the answer is an emphatic "yes".

4. So, then, what's the problem?

Just a few minor details, really.

The league (outside of Steve Young and Mark Brunell) has traditionally been anti-lefty quarterbacks, at least in the last 15 years.

Tebow is also looked down on due to a bit of a slow and unorthodox release.  Moreover, he plays in an offense that doesn't necessarily prepare him for the NFL.

And there is the "senior" rule. Just like with the NBA, the NFL unknowingly discriminates against senior players on the offensive side. Without much truth to it, teams generally view seniors as less athletic because they stay an extra year.

The truth is, another year in the SEC can only help Tebow, and should inevitably help his draft stock.

The problem is, it won't.

So, after four questions we see that Tebow is more than capable of being drafted and starting in the NFL, yet there still exists the possibility that NFL teams take a pass, and his pro career could remain "up in the air".

If that were to happen, or if Tebow's draft stock appears too low, could we see a future with Tebow manning the Florida Tuskers?

For all of these questions, only time will tell. But for all those Florida fans who would love to see Tebow stick around in the "Sunshine State", you can keep holding onto that dream.

As of the date this article was written, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers switched starting quarterbacks, the Miami Dolphins lost theirs, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are still interested.

As for the Tuskers' interest? Take a wild guess.

Denny Green, Jim Fassel, Jim Haslett, and Ted Cottrell.

Three former NFL head coaches and a high profile former NFL defensive coordinator.

This foursome was chosen in part to be competent coaches, but mostly to give the UFL credibility with fans, with wannabe NFL players, and with potential UFL future owners.

The Rockstar

Denny Green is everything a startup league could want.  He has led a team that was dominant in the NFL, with one of his Vikings teams going 15-1. 

He owns a 117-102 record in the NFL.  He is boisterous, honest, blunt, and forceful.

His media meltdown in Phoenix is an often quoted favorite of today's NFL fans.  But it and his Arizona teams' underwhelming performances had cast a huge shadow over his NFL job prospects.  The UFL was a godsend for Green and Green is a godsend for the UFL.

People want to watch Denny Green and see what will happen next.

The Mad Scientist

Jim Fassel once was thought of as an offensive genius. The inspired tinkerer.  An innovative thinker who had tutored Hall of Fame Quarterbacks Phil Simms and John Elway.  He was a golden boy. 

He was named the Giants head coach in 1997 and immediately won the league's coach of the year award.  By the next year Fassell was under fire from Giant fans.  In spite of this, in 2000 he lead an undermanned Giants team to the Super Bowl. 

Eventually strong anti-Fassel sentiment and inconsistent and unprofessional players like Tiki "Coach Killer" Barber cost Fassel his job in New York.

Fassel has since tried to catch on with other teams without much success.  He was the Offensive Coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens for a few years, but had little success.

Ultimately, his lack of success and differences in philosophy led to head Coach Brian Billick firing him in season: a career killing move in the NFL.

After getting run out of town as a head coach in New York and getting dismissed during a season in Baltimore after a pretty underwhelming run there, few NFL teams were rushing to interview Fassel.

The UFL offered the discredited Fassel a second chance that did not appear to be coming in the NFL.

He owns a 60-56-1 record in the NFL.

The Journeyman -

Like Fassel, Jim Haslett won the NFL Coach of the year ward in his first year in the NFL.  He took over the New Orleans Saints team that Mike Ditka built but couldn't coach to wins.  His 2000 Saints team won the first playoff game ever in New Orleans.

His Saints would never again reach those heights.  They floated around .500 for four years until the talent moved out of it's prime and the team collapsed to 3-13 in 2005, leading to Haslett's dismissal.

Haslett resurfaced as the defensive coordinator for the LA Rams in 2006 and was promoted to interim head coach after the very unmemorable Scott Linehan was fired.

Haslett was given a contract with a clause that stated he would become the permanent head coach if he won six of the team's remaining 12 games. 

Despite a fair amount of talent, the team went 2-10. The Rams chose to go in a different direction for the 2009 season.

Haslett has a 48-62 career NFL record.

The Bridesmaid

Ted Cottrell was a long time Defensive Coordinator who had a lot of success in stints in Buffalo and New York but was seen by fans in New York as unfairly overlooked for multiple NFL head coaching positions, and as such is a decent choice for the New York Sentinels head coaching position.

Clearly, the UFL did a solid job of meeting likely league goals with their choices.  Players do look at the UFL and see that the coaching they receive there is comparable to what they would receive in the NFL.

Fans have openly cheered the UFL for it's "proven NFL coaching." Clearly for some fans, these choices are a home run, but how alluring will these names be once the games start?

Denny Green was a great head coach for most of his time in Minnesota, but under his leadership the team was often considered undisciplined and eventually collapsed to 5-11 record in 2001 due to sloppy play. In Arizona, Green's team were seen as consistent underperfomers.

Fassel's Giants and Haslett's Saints teams were also considered underacheivers dogged with undisciplined play.

Cotrell's reputation as a genius of a Defensive Coordinator took major hits over the last few years as his teams have consistently been exposed by opponent's passing games.

I'll say it.

Can these guys really coach?

Imagine if the UFL season rolls around and NFL fans tune into the league out of curiosity only to see a bunch of unknown and never were players stinking it up in very sloppy, poorly coached games. 

New York in particular may be a problem, as Cottrell has never been a head coach at any level.

The UFL really could have done with an ace in the deck.  A Jim Mora Sr.  A Marty Schottenheimer.  A Jimmy Johnson.  A Bill Cowher. Even a Brian Billick. A coach who has a history of coaching disciplined teams that consistently wins games.

Leagues do best when there is a front-running team.  Certainly The Las Vegas Locomotives appear the most likely to assume that role with quality QBs JP Losman and Tim Rattay on the roster, but I suspect they won't dominate. Maybe without an inoperable tumor like Tiki Barber interfering, Fassel will prove to be the league's ace.

I don't know that there will be a front-running team in the UFL's Premiere Season.

And that may be the problem with these coaches.