Oliver Luck and company headed down to Raymond James Stadium today to hold another press conference. As we had speculated before, Marc Trestman is the man of the hour and has been named Head Coach/General Manager of the yet to be named Tampa Bay XFL franchise.
Trestman had a brief stint in Chicago as Head Coach, with a 13-19 record after two seasons. Most of his success happened in the CFL, where he was the only coach in Alouettes history to win back-to-back Grey Cups.
To kick off the press conference we had a few representatives from the state of Florida talk about the city and experience with the XFL. Oliver Luck came out and thanks all the officials that assisted in helping bring the XFL to Raymond James Stadium. Luck, went on to talk about Vince’s vision for the re-emerging league. He specifically said he wanted a family friendly league, that has compelling football. Luck hit a lot of the same bullet points we’ve seen in a lot of these press conferences so far.
On Trestman, Luck mentiones his 3 decades of coaching experience, he praised his methodical planning and touched on his three Grey Cup wins up north in the CFL. At that point he welcomed Marc Trestman to the stage.
Trestman came out and thanks Oliver Luck and all the folks involved in bringing him to the XFL. He said it all started about two months ago when Oliver Luck reach out to him about joining the new league. He mentioned that the league is going to be sustainable, and they were going to be entertaining while playing real professional football. He also spoke about Luck visiting him this January after he had major hip surgery. He said, Lucks answers maid it clear to him that the new league would be an inclusive process, with experienced group of professional executed at a high level.
He said that he was happy to be back in Florida, stating that he started his coaching career in Tampa. He also spoke spending time with the Bucc’s in the 80’s. He said he’s humble and confident that he can bring quality football back to Tampa next year. Trestman aslo spoke well of Raymond James Stadium, stating they have the best field surface in the country. He also said they are not in Tampa Bay to go against the Buccaneers, rather to give more football top the fans.
He said his goal for the team is to play as fast as they can, as smart as they can, disciplined and physical football, and do it in an exciting and an entertaining football. He again thanks the crowd and Oliver Luck for welcoming him to the league. You can watch the full press conference below:
