Dany Garcia, XFL Combine, July 26-27, 2023, Arlington, TX.
At the XFL Combine, July 26-27, 2023, in Arlington, Texas, XFL Chairwoman Dany Garcia put on a gun show for media as she expounded the accolades of her football league.
Dany may be showing off her rippling biceps, which we are sure she has earned through hard work in the weight room, but her physique was overshadowed by her genuine positivity for her football league.
In case you haven’t heard, Dany Garcia is all in for the XFL. Don’t forget she suffered an injury while gleefully celebrating the fact she was part of a group that had purchased the XFL, and took the time out of her busy career to carve an XFL themed jack-o-lantern. However, even with all that in the past, Dany is still pumped for the league.
Dany will tell you that her enthusiasm for the XFL is compounded by the tenacity, grit and drive she developed as a professional athlete. In fact, it was as a rowing team athlete at the University of Miami is where she met Dwayne Johnson in the weight room. Later as a bodybuilder, Dany trained as an athlete her whole life, and she likes to think she is able to understand the sacrifice players go through when training to play football.
“The amount of work, the expansion of thought to what I need to deliver myself personally to this league, and how I relate to my athletes,” Dany said. “For example, today, these athletes, I’m considering they’re mine. Even though it’s just the combine, while they’re with us, their mine. I know physically what their bodies are going through, so when I speak to them, they can sense that. So there’s credibility.”
Being a life-long athlete, Dany understands athletes. However, she also understands how she is perceived as a female running a male-dominated sport.
“To be in this space, in a very male-dominated environment, has really been an incredible experience and has made me have to examine myself and stay focused, stay focused on the execution,” Dany explained. “People will sometimes say, ‘this is Dwayne Johnson’s League,’ and they’ll forget that its Dany Garcia. To look past that and just do the job. Do the job for the athletes and the fans.”
When asked about the showcases and combine, Dany pressed the point on how they are a key part of the league’s plan to cast a very wide net in their search for players.
“We knew we wanted to cast a very wide net, and make sure we were stacking the deck in our favor,” Dany said. “So, you know, the scouting process actually happened very quickly. We had our team members, our football ops people, a year and a half, two years before we were in market, at any major event to start looking at our athletes. So it was part of the process. It allowed our coaches to see what our initial scouting pool was going to be, and allowed us to assess them.”
Dany hoped the XFL’s player recruiting efforts have given fans the impression the XFL is serious about player recruitment.
Also important is how they are using technology as a pillar of player recruitment and development, and to be at the forefront of this type of technological innovation. Dany explained that it is key to their plan to keep players safe, but also explained the league was recording metrics that could be used in the future, and also by the players to improve through their careers.
Dany thinks this type of innovation gives the XFL a leg up on the competition.
“When you do have ownership that owns all eight teams, there will be more teams in the future, you want to utilize that position to be as mobile and versatile as possible, and innovative,” Dany explained.
When Dany hinted there would be more teams in the future, she was asked to expand on that thought.
“It’s key, very key. It’s all about expansion and growth, ” Dany confirmed. “I don’t have locations to share with you now. But yes, it’s absolutely part of our process that we continue to grow and expand our markets.”
