The Omaha Nighthawks' head coach doesn't mind if there are some questioning the legitimacy of a league that lacks on-the-field star power.
Jeff Jagodzinski had similar concerns before taking the job.
But he cautions the skeptics to wait a few months before writing off the United Football League as another failed NFL feeder program that lacked player talent, long-term vision and general interest.
Jagodzinski insists that when the five-team league kicks off its second season next fall, there won't be a bunch of no-name NFL rejects making woeful attempts to play the sport at a minor-league level. By all accounts, that was far from the case last year.
Omaha, the UFL's newest franchise, may not have a roster full of household names, but by no means does Jagodzinski believe the quality of play will be a turnoff to fans.
Those who appreciate the sport won't be disappointed, Jagodzinski said.
“There's going to be a good product on the field,” he said. “Those guys who are marquee players now got there somehow, by playing well. They're already established, but there are guys out there that you've never heard of who are going to be the next guy.”
Pardon the head coach if he sounds a bit like a salesman.
It's kind of unavoidable for Jagodzinski, as he tries to promote a team without a roster full of proven players who have the name recognition that rotates turnstiles on its own.
He already has about 40 players and that roster total will likely balloon past 70 once training camp begins late this summer. The plan is still to add a few ex-Huskers, though no deals have been announced.
Really, more than anything else, it seems as if Jagodzinski and the UFL are reaching out to this football-crazed state, hoping that its passion for pigskin creates a buzz.
“That's a reason why I think the city was chosen,” he said. “When they get a chance to go out there and see it, I think people are going to be attracted to it.”
But Omaha — and the rest of the UFL, for that matter — may not be without high-profile stars for long.
Daunte Culpepper, an aging 11-year NFL veteran who shined early on as the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, is close to signing a contract with the Sacramento Mountain Lions, according to multiple reports. The deal hasn't yet been confirmed.
There is speculation, however, that other well-known NFL free agents would follow Culpepper's lead and join the UFL, which could help increase the long-term viability of the league.
So far, movement has mostly occurred in the opposite direction.
After the inaugural year concluded, approximately 30 players from the four UFL teams voided their contracts and signed with the NFL for the final quarter of its season, according to UFL spokesman Michael Preston. The UFL's championship-winning quarterback, J.P. Losman, signed a free-agent deal with Seattle last week after playing one season for Las Vegas.
But the UFL hasn't been drained of talent, according to one of its top performers.
Former Husker Cory Ross, a running back for the Sacramento franchise last year, said it wouldn't be difficult for him to point out several UFL players who are NFL-caliber. Ross led the UFL in rushing during the 2009 season, but he never once thought the competition was inadequate.
“I stepped on the field and it felt like NFL football,” said Ross, who spent two years in Baltimore after his NU career ended in 2005. “I'm wondering, ‘How come he didn't stay longer in Pittsburgh? Or how come he was only in the league for two years?'
“Because of politics, because some guys got injured, because of certain situations, (players) were in the league, things like that happen. Now they're getting another shot to play.”
Contact the writer:
402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com
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