Last week, the United States Football League (USFL) introduced its eight teams that will play in the upcoming 2022 season.
XFL News Hub’s Mark Perry reported that the USFL will play in one location, reportedly in Birmingham, Alabama, before heading to their respective cities in 2023.
With that said, the USFL is in the process of hiring head coaches. Mike Mitchell of XFL News Hub reported that longtime NFL head coach Wade Phillips is the leading candidate to be the head coach of the Houston Gamblers. The move would make total sense since his dad, Bum Phillips, was popular in Houston.
But what about Philadelphia? In the original USFL, Jim Mora Sr. was the head coach and won the two USFL championships in 1984 with Philadelphia and 1985 when they were in Baltimore.
Before becoming the Stars’ head coach, Jim Mora Sr. was a defensive lines coach for both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. During that time, the Stars were more of a successful football team than the Eagles. After the league folded, Mora became the New Orleans Saints head coach in 1986.
Who should be the first head coach for the Philadelphia Stars?
In Detroit, many Lions fans and media are calling for head coach Dan Campbell to be fired. Why am I bringing this up? In NFL history, many coaches were fired after one season. The last time a coach was fired after one season was Steve Wilkes of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. Then, the Cardinals turned around and hired Kliff Kingsbury.
For the Lions, if the owners decide to fire Campbell, his coaches would be gone too. One particular name, in general, is Duce Staley, who is the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the Detroit Lions.
Duce Staley is still a beloved figure in Philadelphia. He was the Eagles running back for seven seasons, playing in 105 games with 4,807 yards rushing and 275 catches for 2,498 yards.
After his Eagles playing career ended, he played three more seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before retiring in 2006. He went into coaching in 2010 and coached 184 games with the Philadelphia Eagles.
When Doug Pederson was fired last season, Duce Staley was a head coaching candidate. Many fans wanted to see Staley as the next head coach. However, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie passed on him for Nick Sirianni, and he left for Detroit.
If there is anyone who should have the opportunity to coach the Stars, it’s Duce Staley. Unfortunately, despite being in Detroit, it is unknown if Staley will ever have a chance to be an NFL head coach.
Having alternative leagues outside the NFL is a plus. Despite lasting three years or less, these leagues have given plenty of players and coaches opportunities that they haven’t gotten before in the NFL. These coaches and players took a gamble to leave the NFL for a lesser-known league. To bet on themselves, and in most cases, their work pays off, and later would return to the NFL. All Staley needs is a chance.
Duce Staley coaching the Philadelphia Stars would be a dream. He represents Philadelphia in every way. He would have the opportunity to show the NFL what they missed out on by not hiring him as a head coach.
