ARLINGTON, Texas — The XFL brands itself as the "League of Opportunity" and over the past couple months, more than 1,400 football players got an opportunity to try out at showcases across the country.
This week, the league invited 200 finalists to its first-ever combine to compete for a spot on an XFL roster.
“The entire point of this league is another opportunity for these players to showcase and to have a platform for them to be able to perform and show how well they can play the game,” Arlington Renegades Head Coach Bob Stoops said.
Bob Stoops and the Renegades won the XFL championship last year after an unlikely playoff run, but they and the rest of the league need to refill rosters. More than 100 players got tryouts or contracts in the NFL, which is currently holding training camps for players.
“We want them to have NFL opportunities, so we push for that,” Stoops said.
The XFL has some drills similar to the NFL combine like the 40-yard dash, triple jump or three-cone drill but it touts that its combine uses technology to provide a better measure of raw skill and power.
Sean Hayes oversees the league’s player performance and says athletes train for NFL combine techniques.
“You can almost, you know, ‘cheat’ those drills,” he said. “What we want to do is we want to take the technology and be like, you are what you are.”
Instead of a vertical jump reaching for a bar, players put their hands on their hips and jump from two sensor plates taking measurements like pressure, liftoff speed, time in the air, and, of course, the height of the jump.
They also look at grip strength, key for ball security or blocking, and even the bench press is slightly different, with different weights depending on the position group and measurements for how quickly the bar is lifted.
Those measurements are put into a composite to give the athletes a composite score that coaches and scouts and review.
The league already has a database for current players from doing identical drills during the season and coaches can compare their current roster to the combine prospects.
The combine makes a point of doing the measurements before drills so scouts have background info to review.
“Somebody catches my eye on breaking on a ball or a deep route or a throw, now that scout can say, ‘who was that? How did they score? Oh wow, like he scored off the charts,’” Hayes said.
Coaches are also monitoring players cut at NFL camps. There’s a draft planned for later this year but no date has been set.
It’s an opportunity both for players to pursue a dream and for teams to fill rosters. Even the league has a dream of continuing its momentum and growth if it’s going to survive.
“I thought our fanbase got stronger and better as the year went along,” Stoops said. “Hopefully we’ll start that way next year with a lot more exciting, fun teams to watch from the beginning.”