USFL League Meetings Overshadowed by Schottenheimer Controversy

Sporting News, August 14, 1988

This week the USFL’s 20 franchise ownership groups met in New York to discuss rule changes, league finances, and long term strategies. And while there were some adjustments made, some plans laid, and some issues debated, the biggest news did not come from the meetings of committees or the planned press events, it came from several hundreds of miles away in Cleveland, where Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer, flanked by representatives of the Baltimore Blitz franchise, announced he was leaving the Cleveland Browns and would take a position with the USFL’s Baltimore franchise.

Negotiations between Schottenheimer and the Browns had been rough all offseason, but this late in the summer, with camps already in place across the NFL, it was always assumed that the rumors of Schottenheimer leaving the Browns were just a tactical ploy. Something went horribly wrong in Cleveland to cause a departure this late in the offseason. While it was all smiles on the podium, with Baltimore having snagged one of the most respected coaches in the NFL, there are clearly hurt feelings, real anger and frustration, and this is almost certainly going to spill over into NFL-USFL relations in General.

The signing of players and coaches has always been a tricky process between the two leagues. On the one hand the offseason for the USFL begins just as NFL teams enter training camps, leading to free agent signings, often of NFL players holding out or expected to appear in camp with a new contract. Additionally the timing of the USFL’s college draft in late December angers both NFL teams and many NCAA head coaches as it means that seniors, and often juniors, have split attention going into bowl season. Of course this works both ways as the NFL free agency period and coach hiring season also corresponds with the latter portions of the USFL season, leading to players signing deals to leave USFL teams even as they play out the spring season with their soon-to-be former teams. It has always been awkward, and always had the potential for real conflict between the two leagues, but this is the first time when a high profile figure, a coach expected to be leading his team in drills during training camp, has jumped ship just before the NFL season was to start.

The Browns, who contended for a Super Bowl berth last season before a shocking loss to the eventual league Champion Houston Oilers in the AFC Championship, quickly scrambled to fill the vacancy, promoting offensive coordinator and former Pittsburgh Maulers head coach Joe Pendry to the Head Coach position. Art Modell, owner of the Browns has been vocal in his disgust with how the process has been carried out, incensed that his efforts at coming to an agreement for a contract extension with Coach Schottenheimer were undermined by a competing offer from the USFL’s Blitz.

“We believe we were close to a deal before those vultures flew in and swept Marty off” said the irate Mr. Modell.

Fans in Cleveland are also furious, as they were one game away from the Super Bowl last year, losing on a miracle drive at in the final seconds by QB Warren Moon and the Oilers. Now, even with a very talented roster, they are looking at an interim coach and a lot of upheaval as camps are underway.

“It’s tough. We undestand that Coach Schottenheimer had to look at all the offers, just as any of us would if we were not under contract, but we hate to see him go” said the team’s starting All-Pro QB Bernie Kosar.

“We will bounce back, but this is a tough time to have to change leaders”, Kosar added.

For their part the Blitz have said that the NFL’s Browns had nearly a year to sign Schottenheimer to an extension, and that when they approached the celebrated coach, he was more than open to discussions because the Browns had not come anywhere close to a contract that would be acceptable. Details of Coach Schottenheimer’s deal with the Blitz have not been confirmed, but it was well known that he was asking for over $3 million per year from the Browns during initial negotiations. It would not be surprising if the Blitz, eager to build some enthusiasm for a team that has missed the playoffs each of the last two years, to pay above market value for Schottenheimer and the boost he will bring to the franchise’s image and on-field performance.

Others around the USFL, including several owners, have been welcoming of the signing in public, but off the record have expressed concern that the “cold war” truce between the two leagues may heat up after this signing. There are concerns that the NFL may more aggressively target top USFL talent, on the field and in the coaching ranks, as a result of a perceived “no holds barred” attitude by the USFL in the wake of this signing. While to date the NFL has not signed any USFL coaches to future deals while they were still under contract, and while several USFL players such as HB Arthur Whittington and QB Bobby Hebert have signed with NFL teams in lieu of resigning with their USFL teams, we have not seen the use of future contracts, offered mid-season, as a common NFL practice. Owners fear that this may change now, and that the USFL may find itself with star players viewing a USFL season or post-season as “playing out the string” until they move over to the senior league. It appears that the Blitz and the USFL have won this battle, but may have started a war.

LEAGUE UPDATES

As owners’ meetings go, this year’s USFL gathering was a relatively routine one. The biggest news was the announcement by Commissioner Simmons that the 1989 season would be his last in the role. Commissioner Simmons touted his accomplishments in navigating the often turbulent first 6 years of starting up a new league, balancing expansion and growth with solid financial policies, leading the USFL to a victory in their anti-trust lawsuit with the NFL, and reaching a point where well over half the USFL franchises are now seeing profits over the past 2-3 years (By latest count it is expected that 14 of the 20 USFL franchises made at least modest profits in the 1988 season.) The league has formed a subcommittee to find a replacement for Simmons, committed to the independence of the Commissioner, it has already been agreed that no principle team owner will be a candidate. Many expect the league to look either to its internal structures for a candidate, though there is also talk of bringing in a potential commissioner from the world of politics, television, or corporate law to manage the complex relationships between the USFL owners, and between the league and its growing pool of sponsors, television partners, and local authorities.

In other league news coming from the owners’ meetings, the league approved continuation of its innovative instant replay policy by a 16-4 vote, allowing coaches to challenge 2 plays per game and expanding the allowance to include “judgement calls” such as defensive and offensive pass interference. The league also instituted an ejection policy for any player who commits either 2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a game or engages in what is described as “malicious conduct” which essentially boils down to throwing a punch during a melee or in any way physically engaging with a coach, referee or other field-level non-player.

Finally, the league announced that beginning with the 1990 season, the USFL Championship would be renamed, though no name is as of yet decided upon. Until now the league has simply referred to the game as the “USFL Championship Game” and has used the same red, white and blue logo with the year and location changed each year. The league hopes to find a name for the annual July championship which conveys the energy and gravity of the event. It is anticipated as well that the USFL Championship Trophy, a gold-plated helmet atop a swooping silver base, will also be given an official name in time for the 1990 championship. That championship has not yet been given a location, as the league usually announces the championship location in 2 year cycles, with the 1989 game scheduled for the Pontiac Silver Dome in Michigan. It is rumored that Washington D.C., Orlando, and Memphis are all vying for the 1990 game as it is due to return to an Eastern Conference locale for 1990.

TEAM NEWS

Another story which gained traction during the USFL owners’ meeting was the plight of the Tampa Bay Bandits after the retirement of their All-USFL quarterback John Reaves. Rumors that the Bandits were pursuing NFL superstar Dan Marino were quickly squashed when Marino reupped with the Miami Dolphins on a new 5-year contract just as the owners’ meetings began this past Monday. Tampa is now rumored to be in discussions with several USFL teams, though it is not known if they are seeking to sign a young reserve QB such as Don Majkowski of Washington, Sean Salisbury of Houston, or Kelly Stouffer of Arizona, or if they are working to get a possible path towards drafting one of this year’s top QB prospects. All five of the top QB prospects coming out of college are within the territorial rights of other USFL squads, UCLA’s Troy Aikman with LA, Miami’s Steve Walsh with Orlando, Washington State’s Timm Rosenbach with Portland, Texas Tech’s Billy Joe Tolliver with Houston, and Wake Forest’s Mike Elkins with the Washington Federals. So if Tampa has their eyes set on one of these young stars, they will need to work out a trade to acquire the rights to that team’s first round terrritorial draft pick to ensure that the player is available to them.

With Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Neil Lomax all looking like solid starters, the Bandits may find it possible to make headway with the Express, Gamblers and Feds, but there is value as well in signing a known commodity and a player with a couple of years of USFL experience already in place. It is a tough call for Coach Spurrier, and in the wings we have Oliver Luck, who played most of the 1988 season and who cannot be happy that his name is simply not part of the conversation being had among both fans and football pundits. Luck threw for 2734 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first major USFL action, but his arm strength and vision were both questioned and his talents do not seem a strong fit for the type of vertical game that Spurrier has preferred in his tenure with Tampa Bay.

NEW LOOK FEDERALS

As expected, the Washington Federals revealed their new look this week and it is a departure from their founding designs. Working with Russell Athletic and the USFL league office, the Federals have redesigned their eagle logo, increasing the connection between the eagle and the team’s “national” identity by creating a new eagle logo where the patriotic bird’s body morphs into a waving striped flag. The new logo also incorporates 3 stars, paralleling the three red stars found on the flag of the District of Columbia, but also, according to Federals staff, relating to the three pillars of Federals football: intensity, integrity, and ingenuity. That sounds like a marketing campaign to us, particularly for a team that does not exactly have a history of excellence to fall back on.

The new logo makes use of an interesting artistic design feature in that, unlike most logos, the main colors, Washington’s traditional kelly green and black, are not separated as blocks of color but shift from one to the other, with the defining outlines along the head of the eagle in green, morphing to black by the end of the flag-like body. The same happens with the three stars, with the righ-most star in green, the left star in black, and the middle star in a half-way state. It is an interesting look, one which will be prominantly featured on the team’s new silver helmets. According to sources within the Federals’ marketing team, the team had considered upping their minimal use of silver for several years, and considered shifting to a silver helmet as early as 1984, but hesitated to do so due to the strong presence of silver in league helmets already (Tampa, Jacksonville, Memphis, Baltimore and Los Angeles already sport silver or metallic grey helmets). This year they were apparently ready to make the leap and join the large number of silver-clad teams, despite the potential confusion. It should be noted that with green jerseys the silver helmet and pants will still likely not cause an identity of confusion as no other USFL franchise sports green jerseys.

Beyond the logo and the new silver pants and helmet, the uniform will look much the same as in past years, with kelly green jerseys and socks, trimmed in black. One can only hope that with the new look the Federals will find a new attitude and finally emerge from what has been a pretty dim history. As Coach Rutigliano stated “We have a new eagle, now it is time for us to soar.”