Say this about a Dick Butkus-coached team: His players never quit on him.
Of course he never got to the point where he had players. Long before he put on a headset, tossed a clipboard or uttered the immortal coaching phrase, “We’ll have to look at the film,” the Butkus Era as coach of the Chicago Enforcers came to an end.
Butkus, the Hall of Fame former Bears linebacker, was “promoted” Wednesday from Enforcers head coach to a position termed “Director of Football Competition” for the XFL, the new professional football league formed by the World Wrestling Federation that will begin play in February. Ron Meyer, who coached the NFL’s New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, will “succeed” him as Enforcers coach.
“I believe this is a chance to really put some effort into the league,” Butkus said. “I believe strongly in the league and now I’m involved with all eight teams.”
As Butkus described it his role involves basically everything that has to do with playing the game. He will make sure the league’s competitive balance is maintained, review the rules, monitor games and–although it may seem hard to believe for a player with his on-field reputation–mete out discipline to players or coaches as needed.
“I thought it was a great opportunity and I’m excited about it,” Butkus said, adding that it wasn’t an easy decision to make. He had already hired a coaching staff and will now spend most of his time at XFL offices in Connecticut or traveling around to league cities.
“It doesn’t mean I’m abandoning Chicago,” he said. “Leaving Chicago, my hometown, I really had to mull that over.”
After trumpeting the Butkus hiring, the fledgling league may be taking a public-relations risk by separating the highly popular Butkus from the Chicago franchise. But the XFL faced a tougher dilemma if the Enforcers performed poorly and Butkus had to be fired. Now the league can still market Butkus’ name and involvement without the risks that go along with coaching.
The well-traveled Meyer assumes those risks. Before moving to the NFL, he presided over a Southern Methodist program that had frequent run-ins with the NCAA and was hit with the “death penalty” under his successor, Bobby Collins, in 1986. Meyer leaves the safety of football commentary on CNN for the uncertainty of an upstart new league.
“Football coaches never leave the locker room or sideline,” Meyer said. “It’s in your blood. It’s certainly in mine.”
Meyer inherits a team in name only. The league will hold its draft on Oct. 28 to stock its teams.
Though the Enforcers have yet to play a game, Meyer is their second coach and is working for a second general manager. Rich Rose, the current GM, was hired on an interim basis until a permanent replacement for former Bears executive Ken Valdiserri is named.
“We are still in a formation stage,” XFL President Basil DeVito acknowledged. “Butkus has a much more visible position with the league, so overall we’re stronger. That does create challenges in Chicago. We believe that when we show our product, the fans will respond.”
The XFL is similar to Major League Soccer in that it is a single-entity enterprise. The World Wrestling Federation owns all the teams, signs all the players and hires general managers to run them. DeVito said roughly 1,300 players have signed contracts for the first season, which begins on Feb. 3, one week after the Super Bowl.
