USA Today, August 3, 1988
With the USFL’s Summer Owners’ Meeting only a few days away, it has already been an eventful few weeks since Houston won their first championship. Free Agency has begun, and already there are some surprises as players are either retained or allowed to play the market, and we have had several retirement notices which will also impact teams. Two USFL franchises have new coaches in place and two teams have revealed new uniform packages with Russell Athletic, so a lot to discuss as we head towards the Owner’s Meetings. Let’s get to it.
FREE AGENCY
As expected, the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreements led to a lot of signings and resignings within their own ranks, creating a depressed free agency pool this summer and far fewer USFL signings. On the USFL end, teams invested in retaining their own players, so once again a depressed free agent market. There have been a few surprises among the players who chose to test the free agency waters, but, unlike past years, the inter-league swapping has so far been minimal. Here is what we have seen so far:
USFL Movement
Arizona HB and Kick Returner Vai Sikahema has signed with Philadelphia.
Baltimore HB Calvin Murphy has signed with Birmingham
Denver QB Craig Penrose has signed with Portland as a backup to Kerwin Bell.
Houston HB Todd Fowler has signed with Orlando
LA QB Mike Rae has signed with Tampa Bay.
Michigan HB Bobby Morse has signed with New Jersey
New Jersey HB Jamie Covington has signed with Jacksonville
New Jersey CB Terry Daniels has signed with New Orleans
Pittsburgh QB Glen Carano has signed with Texas
Pittsburgh RB Stanford Jennings has signed with Portland
Tampa Bay TE Sam Bowers has signed with Oakland
Texas WR Richard Johnson has signed with Washington
USFL to the NFL
Arizona CB Nolan Cromwell has signed with the NFL's Phoenix Cardinals.
Birmingham WR Jim Smith has signed a 1 year deal with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons
Denver WR J.T. Smith has signed with the NFL's Cleveland Browns
LA WR Mike Renfro has signed a 1 year contract back with the NFL Cowboys.
Pittsburgh DT Alphonso Carreker has signed with the NFL's Denver Broncos
Washington WR Mike Holmes has signed with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals
Washington LB Cliff Odom has signed with the NFL's Houston Oilers
NFL to the USFL
San Diego Charger QB Mark Hermann has signed with Michigan
Detroit Lion FB James Jones has signed with Orlando
Pittsburgh Steeler WR Weegie Thompson has signed with Jacksonville
San Diego Charger RT Jim Lachey has signed with Washington
Kansas City Chiefs C Tom Baugh has signed with Chicago
LA Raiders G Charley Hannah has signed with Portland
San Diego Charger DE/DT Blaise Winter has signed with LA
Chicago Bears LB Todd Bell has signed with New Jersey
Miami Dolphin SS Glenn Blackwood has signed with Philadelphia
Atlanta Falcon K Mick Luckhurst has signed with Arizona
RETIREMENTS
The USFL has also seen a significant wave of retirments announced this summer, including one legend sure to be honored should the USFL ever develop a Hall of Fame. A lot of leadership will be missed as the league replaces these savvy vets with younger players, but such is the nature of the game. Let’s look at the list of retirees first and then pay special tribute to one of the greats to help start the USFL on the path to success.
ARZ: K Frank Corral
DEN: LB Kyle Whittingham
HOU: TE Victor Hicks & DE Francis Murphy
NJ: QB Vince Ferrragamo
NOR: DT Larry McCain
OAK: CB Derrick Martin
ORL: QB Todd Blackledge
PHI: LB Sam Mills, SS Scott Woerner, FS Elmo Gardiner
POR: LB Putt Choate, QB Fred Besana, and WR Frank Lockett
TBY: QB John Reaves, LB Paul Plurowski, and DT Fred Nordgren
While players like Putt Choate, Kyle Whittingham, Sam Mills and Fred Nordgren made their names in the USFL, and will certainly be missed in their respective locker rooms, and while Philadelphia must now look to replace three stalwarts on their top-rated defense, the retirement that has most rattled the league and caused a franchise to reassess their future is that of 5-time All-USFL quarterback John Reaves. Reaves, who spent almost the entire 1988 season on injured reserve, announced his retirement this past week, sending Tampa Bay and their fans into a deep funk as it became clear in this season that backup Oliver Luck is not ready to take up the mantle.
Reaves was one of the league’s earliest stars, leading Tampa Bay to the first USFL Championship in 1983. He retires holding league records for career passing yards (21,667) and passing touchdowns (192). His 44 touchdown passes in 1985 remains the league record. He led the Bandits to the playoffs in every season in which he was the starter, and his decision making and accuracy on deep balls grew into legend within Steve Spurrier’s vertical attack. He was named League MVP in his 1983 championship season, and was an ALL-USFL selection every season until this year’s injury. In other words, he is a USFL legend and one of the brightest stars of the young league. He retires at the age of 38, leaving behind an appreciative fanbase and a now-troubling hole in the Bandits roster.
Rumors have been swirling that both Orlando and Tampa have been negotiating with the NFL’s Dan Marino, perhaps a sign that Steve Spurrier was aware of the potential for Reaves’s departure. With Stan Gelbaugh signing with Pittsburgh, Oliver Luck remains the only QB on the Bandits roster, a hole which the team will have to fill and may need to make a big splash such as a Marino signing if they hope to rebound from their first non-playoff season in franchise history.
COACH HIRINGS
In addition to the recent announcement that Rollie Dotsch was stepping down from his position in Birmingham for health reasons, there are three additional openings for head coaches within the USFL. We know that Birmingham has moved DC Carl Reese into the interim head coach position, in hopes that Rollie Dotsch will return at some point later this year. We now have two additional coaches in place, with only Baltimore’s coaching situation to be sorted out (though the big rumor about possibly going after Cleveland Browns’ head man Marty Schottenheimer continues to be active in league circles).
ARIZONA: The Wranglers have dipped into the college ranks to sign a former Pac-10 coach and QB Guru. Former USC Head Coach Ted Tollner, who as been serving as WR coach for the Buffalo Bills for the past year, has agreed to take on the challenge of building an offense around Robbie Bosco. Tollner, who led USC to a 26-20 record in 4 years, including a Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State in 1985, comes to Arizona with an offensive pedigree and a lot of enthusiasm about the combination of Bosco and Trumaine Johnson. Arizona has struggled to find wins despite having this dynamic duo in the offense, and the decision on defensive coaches and builiding up the defensive side of the ball this offeseason may be key to getting the Wranglers back in the playoff mix.
JACKSONVILLE: Fans of Florida Head Coach Galen Hall may just be joining the Jacksonville bandwagon after the Bulls announced that Coach Hall would indeed be taking over for Lindy Infante as the Bulls’ head coach. Hall, who led the Gators to a 40-18-1 record and two bowl appearances in six years has been facing concerns about recruiting violations at Florida, and with pressure to replace the winning coach in Gainesville, Hall opted out of the remaining years of his contract with the Gator program and signed on as the new Head Coach up the road in Jacksonville. Hall is known for innovative offense and particularly for his ability to develop running back talent, certainly something that Bulls lead back George Adams has to be excited about. With the Bulls his job will be to continue to develop young signal caller Chris Miller, to add speed to both sides of the ball and to build up a defense that has been one of the league’s worst in recent years.
So, we are left waiting for news from Baltimore. Will they steal away Marty Schottenheimer from the NFL or will they be looking at other options to take the helm of the Blitz? With Free Agency already in full swing, and with the draft quickly approaching, there is a lot to be done and the gap at Head Coach is not helping the Blitz get a leg up on the competition this offseason.
NEW LOOKS
While Baltimore has lagged behind in filling their coaching vacancy, the team was the first to reveal their new uniforms for 1989. In collaboration with Russell Athletic, three teams have announced that new looks are on the way. Baltimore’s and Birmingham’s were revealed this week, with Baltimore revealing the look on Monday to start off the design reveals.
The new Baltimore Blitz look does not alter the team logo, but does bring some significant changes to the uniform. On Monday the Blitz revealed a new rendition of the Blitz’s familiar Red, White, Blue, and Silver look. Hoping to cash in on greater buy in from former Colts fans the new uniform swaps the red-dominant design for a blue-dominant look. The new jersey is royal blue with white sleeves and a red shoulder stripe, while the white uniform features blue sleeves and the same red stripe. The uniforms also add silver to the numbers as a second outline. To offset the blue jerseys, the Blitz will also swap their blue facemasks for red as they rebalance the colors across the uniform set.
In Birmingham the changes to the uniform brought on by Russell Athletic are more subtle. White stripes surrounding the central red stripe on the helmet mirror the white outlining of the Stallion logo. The logo also now makes an appearance on the jersey’s as the team eliminates their 5-stripe sleeve pattern and uses the sleeve cuffs as the lone striping for the jersey. The other addition are white stripes on the gold pants (similar to the helmet) and gold stripes outlining the wide crimson stripe on the team’s white pants. The pants are designed to be paired with either the home or away jersey to provide 4 different looks for the team. Owner Marvin Warner commented that he did not want to move far from the identity that the fans in Birmingham have come to embrace, but that he likes the modest alterations that Russell Athletic has made, providing a recognizable, modern look for the Stallions.
Washington is the third team on the docket for a new look, and rumors out of the team’s staff hint that a new logo may be part of the package for the Federals. Washington has been one of the trailing teams in merchandise sales, though much of that can be blamed on there somewhat unimpressive history of last-place finishes in the Atlantic Division. Perhaps a new look will inspire some wins or at least sell some more Lomax and Craig James jerseys. The Federals’ uniform reveal is expected to coincide with the owners’ meeting, so we should be reporting on it next week.