TigerFan93 wrote:

I decided this time around I didn't want to use my real name on the scouting report, so I created a scout named Allen Cohn. He'll be the NAAF scout primarily working in the Midwestern US. I'm looking forward to seeing where the players I created end up.

Edit: I realize now I used the wrong forum name on the scouting report form. Hopefully that doesn't mess things up too badly.

All good, I figured that out from you mentioning of your scout name. The usernames don't really do anything other than remind me who created them and hopefully will be mentioned again when they retire. 

GoRedSox96 wrote:

The Tigers could maybe go to Hamilton

It is a possibility, however the Ontario Football Union has their stronghold in Toronto and Hamilton which will make it hard for a team, especially the Tigers, to move into either market.

Captain Mort 3D wrote:

Really excited to see what will happen this offseason. This will certainly be one of the most monumental offseason in the league’s history. .

Gotta agree with you! I've been having trouble trying to figure out what order I want to get everything out in. Lots of stuff is to come, hopefully its not too much information, I'm trying to simplify it where I can. Still I am super pumped about this offseason and the upcoming season with these new squads taking the field.

Retirements 

GM/HC - Otis Ward - Toronto, ON
Teams: Ottawa Royals GM/HC (1949-1953), GM (1954-1956)
NAAF HC Record: 27-16-3
McCallister Cups: 3 (1954-1956)
Otis Ward is the mastermind behind the Ottawa Royals’ Dynasty. He was the team’s GM and Head Coach for 5 seasons in the NAAF before stepping back and allowing Joseph Curry to take over as the Head Coach. The move ultimately paid off with the Royals dominating in the past 3 years. Ward has built a fantastic team and it is time for him to step away from football. 

WR Allen Atkins - Kingston, ON
Teams: Ottawa Royals (1949-1956)
McCallister Cups: 3 (1954-1956)
Awards: MVP (1954), Playoff MVP (1954), McCallister Cup MVP (1954)
All-Stars: 7 (1949-1955)
The greatest receiver in NAAF history has called it a career after 8 seasons. Atkins led the league in Receiving Touchdowns and Receiving Yards in every season except 1956. He earned an MVP award in 1954 along with two other playoff awards en route to his first McCallister Cup. Atkins is 35, but injuries have hit him over the past couple of seasons and it feels like time for the WR to call it a career. He will go out on a high note having won the last three championships. 

QB Bruce Woodard - Providence, RI
Teams: Providence Gold Stars (1949-1954), Ottawa Royals (1955), Montreal Rouge (1956)
McCallister Cups: 1 (1955)
Awards: MVP (1953)All-Stars: 1 (1953)
The long-time Gold Stars’ starter had a solid career. While often overshadowed by either Larry Larson or Jean Matieau, Woodard had one stellar season earning himself an MVP. He had led the Gold Stars to 2 McCallister Cup appearances after joining the NAAF but was never able to win one for his hometown. He did however get to celebrate backing up Matieau in Ottawa during the 1955 season before he finished out his career in Montreal.  

WR Ethan Walters - Boston, MA
Teams: Boston Independents (1949-1955), Worcester Athletics (1956)
McCallister Cups: 2 (1949,1950)
Walters will often go overlooked in this time as he never earned an award or an All-Star nod, but he was a leader and an excellent WR. He was never flashy, often being a WR to get you the first down when you needed it. Walters was Larry Larson’s top target for much of his career and that led to many championships. Walters did spend his final season in Worcester trying for one more Cup, but unfortunately suffered a major injury that would end his career. He was able to dress for the McCallister Cup but saw limited action still favouring the injury throughout.  

DL Jonathan Brown - Buffalo, NY
Teams: Buffalo Blue Wings (1949-1956)
McCallister Cups: 1 (1952)
All-Stars: 6 (1949-1953,1955)
Jonathan Brown was a strong leader in Buffalo over his time. He would be a consistent All-Star over his career only missing out on the nod twice in his career. He was a major part of the Blue Wings’ lone title and will be missed by the team and the city. 

S Michael O’Brien - Boston, MA
Teams: Boston Independents (1949-1956)
McCallister Cups: 2 (1949,1950)
All-Stars: 4 (1949-1952)
Michael O’Brien was the league’s best safety over the first four years being a great backstop in the Independents defence. O'Brien, like Walters, was a leader on the team that dominated the early years of the NAAF.

OL Melvin Marshall - Hartford, CT
Teams: Hartford Hawks (1949-1950), Buffalo Blue Wings (1951-1956)
McCallister Cups: 1 (1952)
All-Stars: 2 (1949,1952)
Marshall was a big piece on the Hawks OL to start his career. He was an All-Star in the league’s first season. However, he would soon find himself being traded to Buffalo where his career would change. He would help the Blue Wings to a Cup in 1952 while earning his second All-Star nod and has been a great leader for the team since then. A great career for Marshall. 

Other Notable Retirements
HC/OC Max Riley - Boston, MA - WOR HC (1951-1953), BUF OC (1954-1956)
K Bernard Barnett - Providence, RI - PRO (1949-1956)
LB Samuel Grimes - Warwick, RI - PRO (1949-1956)
OL James Chambers - New York City, NY - BOS (1949-1954)**, WOR (1955-1956)
LB Jaden Phelps - Brockport, NY - BUF (1949-1953)*, WOR (1954-1956)
OL Bryan Faulkner - Fort Wayne, IN - WOR (1954-1956)
OL Benjamin Harrell - Ottawa, ON - OTT (1949-1951), PRO (1951-1955), BUF (1956)

Coaching Changes
With the two new teams joining the league, everyone was curious to see which direction the teams would go with their staff. Indianapolis would start off with hiring Jacob Harrell as the GM. Harrell has worked closely with Sammy Kirkdale in the past and has been a recruiter with the Indiana Hoosiers. The head coach would be Maurice Evanson who was a top college coach at Illinois. He was looking for a new challenge, he would bring over his coordinators from Illinois in OC Paul McMahon and DC Steve Pollard. 

Louisville would take a different approach to hiring staff. Vince would hire Calvin Carpenter as the GM. Carpenter is a younger choice, but he has a great ability to see the talent and was working with Lawrence Gainsborough to help scout for the Gains Report for this season before he was hired. As for the coaching staff they wanted to go more in the direction of those with experience in hybrid football. They would hire former Providence Head Coach Perry Powell as their first HC. They would then add Theodore Ortiz as Offensive Coordinator who had the OC position in Montreal for 2 seasons. The DC was the only non-NAAF experienced coach with young U of Louisville DC Jerome Morris.  

As for the rest of the league, there were several changes. Ottawa, who lost GM Otis Ward to retirement, would hire young Torontonian Jon Neal to take over the role. Neal has a bit more energy and could make a few more moves, but he has been following the NAAF for a while and seems to have immense knowledge about the game. Despite Lewis Gallegos earning himself a Coach of the Year award nomination, the Tigers decided to go a new direction. They promoted long-time DC and former DB Clifford Jacobson to be the new HC. They then hired Matthew Carson out of Hamilton as the new DC.  Gallegos would find a new role as DC of the Boston Independents alongside former Boston and Worcester OL Malachi Knowles as the team’s new OC.  Buffalo would be the last team to make a move with hiring U of Buffalo OC Tim Bakersfield as the team’s new Offensive Coordinator. Bakersfield has worked with many WR’s who have gone on to the NAAF, Boston’s Clifford Church, Ontario’s Marqués Gardner, and Buffalo prospect Thomas Oezescki. 

1957 Expansion Draft
The first expansion draft since 1951 was full of surprise surrounding the players being left unprotected and taken. A draw was done to determine who would get the choice to pick 1st or 2nd. Louisville would win and decided to go 2nd and get the 1st pick in the entry draft.

Indiana would take DB Lester Murphy from the Worcester Athletics with the first overall selection. Murphy was a surprise non-protection, but the rumour is the player would be too expensive for the team. Louisville would follow up the opening pick with a different direction going with a younger RB Lawrence Sharp from the Athletics. Sharp was expected to be one of the players picked after showing some promise behind Devonshire this season. The 27-year-old will be a strong piece for the Thunder to start with. They would continue the youth road with 26-year-old WR Marty Jay from Montreal. A smart choice with the WR having a 3-year deal. 

Indiana would not let up on their hunt to build a team that could win now going with longtime Blue Wing WR Joseph Barry and Royals QB Duane Logan. Barry is 32 and hasn’t been as successful over the past couple of seasons, but that may be due to the Blue Wings focusing their efforts around RB Arthur Conner. Logan on the other hand was expected to be taken by one of the teams. He is a strong veteran QB who was surprisingly in a backup role last season and will be eager to start this season. With Ottawa having one player taken now, Louisville went after the 3-time champions with selecting S Lester Greer and then 1956 All-Star OL Aaron Spears.  

Unsurprisingly, Ottawa had a tough time protecting all their stars. Just 2 picks later the Victors would select LB Roland Hensley who the Royals picked up just last season. However, the Royals had chances to protect him, but opted for OL Bravon Covington and S Neari Charles instead. There have been mentions of Hensley having character issues that might have been a big problem in Ontario with that team being unable to find success with him. There was also another big pick just before Hensley with RB Laurent Brazeau reuniting with Logan in Indiana. Louisville would round out the top 10 with LB Ben McCray out of Buffalo.  

It was clear that each team had their own strategy for this season. Indiana was looking to build a winner as soon as possible. A lot of their earlier picks were exactly for this and the veteran leadership might just get them there. In the later rounds, they did grab some solid depth and were smart with grabbing guys like WR Clifford Church and DL Robert Garrison who are under contract. They also would add some insurance on the offence with RB Rahil Boone and QB Brian Meadows out of Boston.  

Louisville, on the other hand, looked to go for younger talent, most likely due to GM Calvin Carpenter and his scouting background. They would take QB Ollie Rogers for the starting role. Rogers has very limited experience, but he showed some potential with the Tigers in a game last season. LB Charlie Finster and WR Truman Harry out of Long Island were interesting acquisitions as well with both players just hitting their prime now. A late surprise was the team grabbing 5-time Special Teams Player of the Year winner K Thomas McFadden. Long Island was okay with the departure as they have kicking prospect K Henderson Schumacher ready to take over. 

It looks like Indiana could be a playoff competitor out of the gate, but it's certainly a risk with the older set of players. Louisville looks to have a good foundation but might have a few rough years till they are true contenders.