UFL Team Coming To Omaha: Nighthawks

[suh_fan93]

REBECCA S. GRATZ/THE WORLD-HERALD

 

Published Thursday April 15, 2010

 

UFL: G.M. Mueller says roster with local ties 'important'

 

By Lee Barfknecht

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

Former Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz said Thursday he would be "all ears'' if the United Football League's Omaha franchise wants to talk about a roster spot.

 

"My agent said something awhile back about Omaha maybe getting a franchise,'' Ganz said Thursday by phone from Lincoln. "I'd be willing to listen to them, for sure.''

 

Rick Mueller, the Omaha general manager, mentioned Ganz specifically when asked about acquiring players with Husker connections. Mueller and Ganz's agent are acquainted.

 

But it's not like Ganz, who last played at NU in 2008, is desperate for work.

 

He is a full-time employee of the Nebraska athletic department as a football coaching intern working with the quarterbacks and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson.fr

 

"As of now, I'm coaching,'' Ganz said. "But I would be willing to sit down and talk.''

 

Ganz had a tryout last season with the Florida Tuskers, the UFL franchise in Orlando. He said the Tuskers already had a quarterback in former NFL player Brooks Bollinger, who was voted the UFL's most valuable player.

 

Mueller said it's only good business for the Omaha team to try to have local connections.

 

"Getting some Nebraska guys, we want that to be important,'' he said. "But having the best players trumps everything.''

 

The Omaha franchise on Thursday announced it had plucked 20 players from the UFL's four other rosters, although it didn't release the full list to The World-Herald.

 

Former Kansas State running back Frank Murphy is on the list. Ex-Wisconsin tackle Wendell Bryant was the two-time Big Ten defensive lineman of the year. Running back Shaud Williams began his career at Texas Tech, then transferred to Alabama and had a 1,300-yard season.

 

Also on the list is 34-year-old Ryan Neufeld, a tight end and long snapper who played collegiately at UCLA and seven seasons in the NFL.

 

Of the 20 players selected, Mueller said, eight were full-time UFL starters last season.

 

The average age of UFL players is 27, similar to the NFL.

 

"There aren't a lot of rookies,'' Mueller said. "A lot of these guys have been in the NFL.''

 

UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue characterized the league as a bridge from the college to the pro game, or as another chance for a former NFL player who was injured or got caught in a numbers crunch.

 

"We're giving a large pool of talented players an opportunity to extend their careers,'' he said.

 

Head coach Jeff Jagodzinski said the hunger of UFL players is strong because many are getting a second chance — or a last chance — to reach the NFL.

 

"When you get pushed against a wall, it reveals what you'll do to feed your family,'' Jagodzinski said. "A lot of these guys were on pro rosters and got cut for whatever reason.

 

"Maybe they hurt a knee and it didn't come back right away. So there are guys out there.''

 

With that in mind, Omaha will hold an open local tryout in early May.

 

"There may be a guy in Omaha that nobody knows about, and he could come out and just shine,'' Jagodzinski said. "You never know until you give them a try.''

 

The hunger to land a UFL roster spot also is driven by a relatively attractive pay scale.

 

Last season, Huyghue said, the minimum was $5,000 a week, with some quarterbacks making as much as $12,000. That pay is higher than for players on NFL practice squads.

 

The goal is to increase the minimum to $6,000, Huyghue said. Besides a salary, the team pays for its players' housing, food and transportation.

 

The UFL allows teams to bring 70 players to training camp in August. By the first weekend of play — Sept. 17 and 18 — rosters must be cut to 52.

[REDSTEEL]

Watson would make a great headcoach.

[BigRedCornhead]

What about the:

 

cornbinders

barn burners

Reapers

oblivion

OWLS

Bombs

[redout22]

The Omaha Ligers

The Omaha Gladiators

[JackK]

Omaha Eliminators

[sd'sker]

what about the, we'll only be here for two more years. too cynical?

[GSG]

UFL schedule released

 

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The new Omaha United Football League team begins its first season with a bye week the first week and will host it's first game the second week at Rosenblatt Stadium against the Hartford Colonials on Friday Sept. 24.

 

“We are excited that our schedule is out and that we will have four home games in Omaha, where the people of Nebraska really know their football” said head coach Jeff Jagodzinski.

 

The UFL season kicks off on Friday, Sept. 17 with a rematch of the 2009 UFL Championship Game – the Florida Tuskers at the Las Vegas Locos.

 

The league's second season culminates in the United Football League Championship Game on the weekend of November 26/27 between the top two teams in the final regular season standings at a venue to be determined.

 

“With the announcement of this schedule we are thrilled to not only add a team but also to feature a rematch of our Championship Game between Florida and Las Vegas in Week One,” said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue. “Our games will be primarily focused on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

“We are growing steadily as a league with the introduction of a fifth team and are actively pursuing additional expansion teams for 2011 and beyond. A five-team line up allows players and coaches to benefit from bye weeks and gives fans four home games to cheer on their team.”

 

In 2009 all UFL games were televised on HDNet and Versus and it is expected that all games will again be broadcast on national television. Games will also be streamed live on UFL-Football.com.

 

SCHEDULE

 

WEEK 1

Friday, Sept. 17

Florida Tuskers at Las Vegas Locos

Saturday, Sept. 18

Sacramento Mountain Lions at Hartford Colonials

Bye

Omaha

 

 

WEEK 2

Friday, Sept. 24

Hartford Colonials at Omaha

Saturday, Sept. 25

Florida Tuskers at Sacramento Mountain Lions

Bye

Las Vegas Locos

 

 

WEEK 3

Thursday, Sept. 30

Las Vegas Locos at Florida Tuskers

Saturday, Oct. 2

Sacramento Mountain Lions at Omaha

Bye

Hartford Colonials

 

 

WEEK 4

Friday, Oct. 8

Omaha at Las Vegas Locos

Saturday, Oct. 9

Florida Tuskers at Hartford Colonials

Bye

Sacramento Mountain Lions

 

 

WEEK 5

Friday, Oct. 15

Las Vegas Locos at Sacramento Mountain Lions

Saturday, Oct. 16

Omaha at Hartford Colonials

Bye

Florida Tuskers

 

 

WEEK 6

Thursday, Oct. 21

Sacramento Mountain Lions at Florida Tuskers

Saturday, Oct. 23

Hartford Colonials at Las Vegas Locos

Bye

Omaha

 

 

WEEK 7

Thursday, Oct. 28

Las Vegas Locos at Omaha

Saturday, Oct. 30

Hartford Colonials at Sacramento Mountain Lions

Bye

Florida Tuskers

 

 

WEEK 8

Friday, Nov. 5

Omaha at Florida Tuskers

Saturday, Nov. 6

Sacramento Mountain Lions at Las Vegas Locos

Bye

Hartford Colonials

 

 

WEEK 9

Thursday, Nov. 11

Hartford Colonials at Florida Tuskers

Saturday, Nov. 13

Omaha at Sacramento Mountain Lions

Bye

Las Vegas Locos

 

 

WEEK 10

Friday, Nov. 19

Florida Tuskers at Omaha

Saturday, Nov. 20

Las Vegas Locos at Hartford Colonials

Bye

Sacramento Mountain Lions

 

 

November 26/27

Championship Game – venue and date to be confirmed

 

LINK

[fro daddy]

The Omaha Akbars

[junior4949]

Omaha Oracles

[junior4949]

Omaha Oyster Chuckers

[husker B-rent]

the omaha bugeaters!!! or old gold knights!!!!

[GSG]

Just FYI guys, the naming contest is over.

[GSG]

Football: UFL franchise avoids Huskers

By Jon Nyatawa

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

The United Football League has released the schedule for its Omaha franchise, and it appears the four-game home slate will avoid conflicting with most of the area's traditional football routine next fall.

 

The professional team, playing its 2010 games in Rosenblatt Stadium, won't host any opponent on a Husker game day, and just one of its home contests is scheduled for a high school football Friday.

 

Minimize the weekend overbookings. That was the league's objective, though it wasn't exactly easy when crafting a 10-week schedule for five teams, Commissioner Michael Huyghue said.

 

“It's always a difficult challenge because each venue has a lot of different conflicts,” he said. “But I like what we've been able to do. It's a great schedule.”

 

It does mean that plans to add a sixth UFL team have been put on hold. Another expansion franchise is coming, Huyghue said, but not next fall.

 

“In terms of building the strength of the five teams we already have, we didn't want to slow that process,” he said. “But still expect us to announce the sixth franchise this season.”

 

So it's four home games, four road games and two bye weeks for five UFL teams. The championship is scheduled for Nov. 26 or 27 at an undetermined location.

 

Huyghue said that TV deals and kickoff times won't be announced for another few weeks. Last year, he said, most games occurred at night and were televised on HDNet and Versus.

 

It is possible, depending on start time, that an Omaha UFL matchup could overlap with the University of Nebraska at Omaha homecoming game Oct. 2. But that's the only Saturday home game for the city's franchise, thus the only game-day scheduling clash involving the Mavericks.

 

That Oct. 2 game, between Omaha and Sacramento, occurs five days before the Nebraska's football team opens its Big 12 season at Kansas State in an ESPN Thursday night showdown.

 

Two other UFL home games are scheduled for the same weekend as a Husker game in Lincoln.

 

But Omaha plays Hartford on Sept. 24 (Friday) and Las Vegas on Oct. 28 (Thursday).

 

The UFL regular-season finale in Omaha will occur Nov. 19 against Florida, the day before NU plays at Big 12 opponent Texas A&M.

 

Huyghue said the Husker program was considered as the United Football League developed its schedule.

 

But in the end, he said, Omaha posed few scheduling problems.

 

“Actually, we probably had fewer conflicts in Omaha than most of the other sites,” he said.

 

In Omaha, though, a concern was that the UFL might serve as a substitute for high school football games, especially if the league held games on Friday nights.

 

But only the Sept. 24 opener against Hartford will conflict with the high school regular season. Omaha's final UFL game also will take place on a Friday (Nov. 19), though the state finals will likely begin three days later.

 

There's still plenty of time before that. Season tickets, expected to cost around $60, haven't gone on sale yet. Huyghue said the Omaha team's roster has a little more than 20 players on it.

 

Still, UFL officials seem to be encouraged by the growing enthusiasm for the franchise, which was unveiled by the league two weeks ago and doesn't even have a team nickname.

 

“We are excited that our schedule is out and that we will have four home games in Omaha, where the people of Nebraska really know their football” Omaha's UFL head coach, Jeff Jagodzinski, said in a statement.

 

Contact the writer:

 

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

 

OWH Link

[knapplc]

That's great that they were able to avoid High School football Fridays for the most part.

[Rep The 402]

Man i wish it wasn't over I wanted to put the Omaha Big O's. Get it?