1983-84 USFL Offseason News

Championship Game Host Cities
The 1984 game is scheduled for Tampa, Florida. The sites for the 1985, '86 and '87 championship games were decided on by USFL owners at a meeting in Chicago.

1985: Giants Stadium; East Rutherford, NJ
1986: Rose Bowl; Pasadena, CA
1987: Silverdome; Pontiac, MI

Ownership changes
The USFL owners unanimously approved the sale of the New Jersey Generals from J. Walter Duncan to Stephen M. Ross.

Draft seeding
The first four picks of the 1984 college draft will initially be awarded to the four expansion teams. Those teams have the right to trade those picks depending on any personnel needs that may arise in the next few months.

1) Charlotte Hornets
2) Memphis Pharaohs
3) Jacksonville Sharks
4) San Antonio Texans

Coaching Carousel
The Charlotte Hornets hire former NC State and Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel as both head coach and director of football operations. Former NC State linebacker Bill Cowher, who played five games for the Chicago Fire this past spring, will hang up his pads to become the Hornets' linebackers coach.

The Memphis Pharaohs hire Pepper Rodgers as their head coach. Back in the 70's, Rodgers served as the head football coach at Georgia Tech, leading the Yellow Jackets to one Peach Bowl appearance, which the Jackets lost to Purdue in a blowout back in '78.

The Jacksonville Sharks hire Lindy Infante as their head coach. In 1975, Infante was an assistant for the previous Charlotte Hornet football team in the WFL. More recently, Infante was the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator under Forrest Gregg.

The San Antonio Texans hire former Montreal Alouettes and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Marv Levy as their head coach.

Darrell "Mouse" Davis, formerly of the Toronto Argonauts, will interview with the each of the four expansion teams for the offensive coordinator job.

Beating the NFL to Europe?
The Philadelphia Stars and Tampa Bay Bandits will play in an exhibition game at London's Wembley Stadium on July 21, 1984.

@Enigmajones

I don't have an idea of what I want to do with the Pharaohs just yet. But for the Hornets, I have been indecisive of what color scheme I want for those guys. Here are some swatches of possible schemes.

A is definitely the "classic" look for a Hornet team. For uniqueness, I'd go with C.

Here come the Charlotte Hornets.


The last of the expansion teams, the Memphis Pharaohs, will be unveiled sometime later.

NeoPrankster wrote:

Here is the logo for the Memphis Pharaohs.

 Cool logo. Maybe have the beard in the shape of a football? Already looks like it has laces.