Alan Dell: Ex Florida coach Galen Hall good choice to lead Orlando MLFB team
Pro football in the spring is known for spawning critics and supplying jokes for late night talk show hosts.
But before we snicker and remember the XFL or the USFL, let's give some kudos to MLFB.
Where else but in America can someone plop down $250 to put traction under his dream. That's what close to 500 guys who believe they are one play away from making an NFL team did, and no one is clamoring for a refund.
Galen Hall is expected to be the coach of the Orlando franchise and that is a coup in itself.
He is sure to create some excitement even if among only the University of Florida faithful who want to reminisce about how the SEC cheated the Gators out of an SEC title.
With a mind for offense, Hall was Steve Spurrier before Spurrier forced officials to install a scoreboard capable of keeping up with all the points his Gators put up.
Hall coached the Gators to an SEC title in 1984 after taking over from Charlie Pell in the fourth game of the season. Florida tied for the SEC crown the next season, but both titles were vacated by the league because of the Pell scandal.
Hall won two NFL Europe titles and was a successful coach of the Orlando Thunder of the World League of American Football and the Orlando Rage of the XFL.
Added to the Hall mystic, MLFB has come up with some rules that are different than the NFL and sure to spike your adrenaline: Field goals of more than 50 yards are worth four points and the ground can cause a fumble.
Nearly every NFL fan has to like that last one, especially those who root for defense-oriented teams. How many times have fans seen their favorite defender rip the ball away from an opponent and not get the credit because the ground cannot cause a fumble in NFL?
There is enough excitement from that rule alone
to persuade people to turn on their televisions or go to a game.
MLFB hasn't named its franchises or each team's franchise player, although the latter will named next week. But one name that has surfaced is rebel quarterback Stephen Garcia from Tampa who played under Spurrier at South Carolina before being kicked off the team. Controversy attracts attention and that is what any new league needs. So there might be a curiosity factor regarding whether Garcia has mended his ways.
MLFB has a good idea with spring football, but you wonder if it's caught in a time trap. It has social media and all the new technology at its disposal, but so does the NFL, which generates news year-round with combines, minicamps, free agency, the draft and scandals.
The NFL arrest season, which generally runs from January until preseason camps open, is a period when NFL owners might actually welcome the MLFB to serve as a distraction.
The league is focusing on social media in hopes of bringing fans closer to the players. That means guys like Marshawn Lynch need not apply, but, hey, Terrell Owens is always looking to bend someone's ear.
MLFB officials say they will succeed because they are not going against the NFL as the XFL did with a fall season. MLFB is a single-entity operation that will be publicly traded, and the league will own all of the teams and player contracts. The league plans to pay players a uniform salary per game.
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter at @ADellSports.
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Alan Dell: Ex Florida coach Galen Hall good choice to lead Orlando MLFB team ."