Terrell Buckley and Francois can help XFL ratings

The XFL has copied the NBA by doing in-game interviews with the head coach and the player to get their assessment. Katie George walked up to him and asked him how he would change the momentum of the team. Buckley gave an honest assessment which was not good.

“Obviously I’ve got guys out there that are not competing, that are not making plays, so we’ve gotta get people in there, young men that want to play – that want to compete and make plays.” 

I’m sure every NFL and college coach would give that same answer if their team was losing 20-6 and committing penalties. That was an awesome answer by Coach Buckley. The narrative now that the fans and viewers will want to know next week is, “Will he lose the locker room?” or “Will he have the team play great football” or “What will he say next?!” It doesn’t matter that the team committed so many penalties. The point is that fans will keep watching.

Deondre Francois took command

At the time Deondre Francois told his players to “shut the fu*k up” in the game, they were losing 27-6. His players were giving their opinion on what play should be called and were interrupting. Although it is great that the players were “bought-in” to trying to score, Francois is the quarterback in the huddle. All the other players have to do what he says. His voice should be the only one calling the plays. But the regular fan, would never be able to hear this unless they watched an NFL films documentary. Maybe.

Ken Dorsey needed a hot mic

Imagine if Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey had a hot mic during his outburst after the Dolphins game. That would’ve been awesome. In this article here from the Buffalo news, Head coach Sean McDermott said that he appreciated how much Dorsey cared but “it’s important as leaders that we keep our poise and that we model that to other players.” Ok. Great. The NFL is the professional league we always have wanted, but every professional example needs a “reality example.” The XFL can be that example. Every spring they could show fans what gritty, real-life things are said on a competitive football team.

XFL 1.0 tried to do this but catch coaches off-guard with poorly timed interviews. Jorden Hampton wrote about the drama of the Guardians in this article here on our site. Remember Jesse “The Body” Ventura trying to generate ratings by taunting XFL coach Rusty Tillman? Read the article here.  That was (a bit before its time as sports talk pundits badger coaches constantly) but no self-respecting coach would deal with that during a game.

Buckley and Francois’ reactions are real time reactions by players and coaches. Every pee-wee, high-school, college team in America can identify with their feelings.  Terrell Buckley’s passion is evident. He needs to have GM’s and teams see how upset he gets and how the next week, he could sharpen that into a game plan. Hines Ward has always been a mild-mannered speaker but we should see him get upset. Rod Woodson is another cornerback I’d like to hear more out of as well.