Nearly four decades removed from a stint in the short-lived USFL Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey , Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Polian will preside over the opening weekend of the newest spring league, the Alliance of American Football.“It’s one more challenge at the end of a long career,” said Polian, 76, who co-founded the AAF with Charlie Ebersol, a TV and film producer whose father, Dick, defined NBC Sports’ programming for more than two decades and created “Sunday Night Football.”Polian simply wasn’t ready for retirement after an NFL career in which he helped build Buffalo, Carolina and Indianapolis into Super Bowl teams, with the Colts winning the NFL championship after the 2006 season.This alternative league seems to stand a better chance of surviving than others, such as the USFL and the World League, because of the people and philosophies involved.“I’ve been pretty vocal about channeling the thoughts of so many of my friends in the NFL, in coaching and player personnel, that since the demise of NFL Europe, it’s needed a developmental league, where players can come in and learn and develop skills,” Polian said. “When Charlie approached me about this, we discussed it at great length and finally I said http://www.packerscheapstore.com/elgton-jenkins-jersey-cheap , ‘I’m going to put my effort where my mouth is and see where we can make this work.”Polian will catch half of the opening-weekend games in the eight-team league. He’ll be in San Antonio on Saturday night to watch the Commanders play the San Diego Fleet — broadcast by CBS in prime time — and in Tempe on Sunday night to see the Arizona Hotshots host the Salt Lake Stallions. The other opening-weekend games are the Atlanta Legends at the Orlando Apollos on Saturday night and the Memphis Express at the Birmingham Iron on Sunday night.Polian said the USFL took about 22 months to get up and running, and the expansion Carolina Panthers took about 19 months.“We’ve done this in nine months because of so many great former NFL people who are excited to do it, excited to be in it,” Polian said. “We started with nothing and we’re going to open it up on Saturday with eight teams playing what I think will be pretty good football.“That’s a credit to the people involved. We could not have done it if we had not had quality former NFL people.”The AAF is indeed stuffed with executives, general managers, coaches and players who’ve had various NFL experience.Hall of Fame linebacker and Super Bowl winner Mike Singletary is Memphis’ coach.Mike Martz, who was offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” Super Bowl-winning team in the 1999 season, returns to the sidelines as coach in San Diego, which two seasons ago lost the NFL’s Chargers to Los Angeles.Mike Vick is the offensive coordinator in Atlanta.Dennis Erickson is head coach in Salt Lake and will face off against Arizona’s Rick Neuheisel.The AAF even has the Head Ball Coach himself, Steve Spurrier, who is coaching the Apollos.Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is an executive in the league office, where former Pittsburgh Steelers stars Hines Ward (head of football operations) and Troy Polamalu (head of player relations) also work.Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino are officiating consultants. Pereira helped develop the unique rules that include no kickoffs, no extra-point tries, overtime rules that call for each team to get one possession and a ninth official, the SkyJudge, who from his perch in the press box can instantly correct “obvious and egregious” officiating errors, like the one that marred the NFC championship game.San Diego hired so well that it lost quarterback Josh Johnson to the Washington Redskins in December and offensive coordinator Jon Kitna to the Dallas Cowboys as their quarterbacks coach.Ebersol said the AAF players can leave for the NFL between April 29 and Dec. 29. He said the AAF released 71 players to the NFL and 35 came back and are playing. The AAF says that of its more than 600 players signed to date, 98 percent have been in the NFL at some point over the past 18 to 24 months.Polian and Ebersol said every NFL team had scouts in San Antonio when all the teams recently held training camp and then each played an exhibition game.“We’re not competitive Jace Sternberger Jersey , we’re complementary,” Ebersol said. “We look at the NFL as, we’re going to support your existence, let them play in your league, put content on your network. They’re a partner. The goal is to improve and support the ecosystem of football.”Games will be carried on CBS, NFL Network and Turner.Ebersol is backed by some heavyweight investors from Silicon Valley and also MGM, and has told them he has a five-to-seven-year business model.The Alliance has built a proprietary tech platform that will allow for a real-time, rewards-based system of integrated gaming and in-game wagering for fans in states where sports gambling is legalized.In a nice touch, Kurt Warner is the pregame and halftime analyst for Saturday night’s games on CBS. After being cut by Green Bay, Warner was working in an Iowa grocery store before playing in the Arena Football League and ultimately landing with the Rams, leading them to a Super Bowl victory and being voted NFL MVP in 1999.“Think about how many Kurt Warners are hiding among those kids who don’t get to the NFL,” Ebersol said. “Those are the guys we’re finding.” THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Most NFL teams with a head coaching vacancy this winter seem to be looking for the next Sean McVay.The original is still hard at work for the Los Angeles Rams, hoping to justify his enormous influence on the football world with a big postseason run.“I’m too young to have a coaching tree,” the 32-year-old McVay said with a laugh Tuesday.Maybe so, but McVay has put down impressive roots in just two seasons, and his Rams could blossom this month.Two years to the day after McVay became the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, he will attempt to earn his first playoff victory Saturday night when the Rams (13-3) host the Dallas Cowboys (11-6) for a trip to the NFC championship game.The Rams already have won 24 regular-season games and two NFC West titles under McVay http://www.packerscheapstore.com/dexter-williams-jersey-cheap , and they’re just two more victories away from their first Super Bowl trip in 17 years.McVay is invariably modest about his accomplishments with the Rams, but his success represents a blueprint that other franchises are following.With Matt LaFleur and Kliff Kingsbury landing top jobs in the past two days alone, practically every owner and general manager seem to be seeking an energetic young coach on the cutting edge of offensive thinking to transform their franchise.“It’s certainly humbling and flattering,” McVay said. “But I think, like anything else, it’s a reflection of everybody that’s been a part of this. That’s what you love so much about football. I’m put in a better position to succeed … based on the people that are around you here.”A direct personal connection to McVay himself clearly doesn’t hurt, either: Green Bay and Arizona have proved it this week by hiring coaches who fit McVay’s mold and have personal ties to him. LaFleur was on McVay’s staff with the Rams last year, while Kingsbury is a good friend and like-minded offensive innovator.Two of McVay’s current assistant coaches — Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor and passing game coordinator Shane Waldron — also landed recent interviews for head coaching jobs.“I don’t laugh, I get it,” Rams center John Sullivan said. “Look at how fast the turnaround was here. Look at the job (McVay) has done so far. I don’t blame teams. I think it is perfectly logical to try to look for a guy in his mold.”LaFleur was a longtime quarterbacks coach until McVay hired him as his offensive coordinator in 2017. He parlayed that position into the offensive coordinator job in Tennessee, where he got to call plays — and just one year later, he reportedly landed one of the NFL’s highest-profile head coaching jobs with the Packers.McVay spoke with LaFleur shortly before his interview in Green Bay.“Matt, obviously, he’s one of my closest friends,” said McVay, who worked alongside LaFleur on the Redskins’ offensive staff. “To see that for him, you couldn’t be more excited. He’s a great football coach. Got a great understanding of offensive football. … When you see those types of things, you can’t do anything but just be really happy for a close friend.”Kingsbury is coming off three consecutive losing seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech Josh Allen Jersey , but he improbably landed right next to McVay in the NFC West as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach. Although McVay and Kingsbury haven’t coached together, their similarities are obvious.“I know he’ll do a great job,” McVay said. “We’ll try to get after him twice a year, but other than that, I’m excited for Kliff. … He’s a great coach. Great communicator. Great understanding of how to apply pressure to a defense.”Kingsbury is tasked with fixing the worst offense in the NFL, which is exactly what McVay did. With a mature leadership style and cutting-edge offensive ideas, McVay transformed a franchise with 13 straight non-winning seasons and 12 consecutive non-playoff seasons into division champions at 11-5.McVay didn’t rest after an opening-round playoff loss to Atlanta, either. The Rams finished this season with the NFL’s best record at 13-3, and McVay unveiled innumerable variations and innovations on his own offensive schemes, keeping defenses largely befuddled.McVay steadfastly avoids taking sole credit for the Rams’ achievements, constantly crediting his assistants and support staff when asked about any successes. And as he has probably already told LaFleur and Kingsbury, any offensive mastermind’s ultimate success probably hinges on his defensive coordinator.McVay still leans heavily on coordinator Wade Phillips. The 71-year-old former Cowboys head coach provides his millennial boss with a veteran perspective that has greased McVay’s learning curve considerably.“If the last two years have taught me anything about being in this role, it’s (that) you’d better surround yourself with a lot of people that are better than you, so that you can learn every day,” McVay said.