Rumors swirl, and Oliver Luck may not be back with the XFL

Since the XFL was purchased (tentatively) by Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and RedBird Capital, rumors have swirled that many former employees may be asked to return. However, similar rumors have also said that Oliver Luck, former league Commissioner and CEO would not be coming back.

The absence of Oliver Luck would be a blow to the league.

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Oliver Luck has been close to sports his entire life, and his love for football has always been evident.

Luck grew up in Cleveland and was quarterback for the Saint Ignatius High School football team, and was a standout on his high school’s basketball team.

After graduating in 1978, he attended college at West Virginia University where he played quarterback for the Mountaineers. His college career saw him lead the Mountaineers to their first victory in a bowl game in six years, resulting in Oliver being inducted into the Mountaineers’ Hall of Fame. However, that wasn’t all Oliver accomplished in college. He was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and was able to graduate magna cum laude in 1982.

An outstanding college career gave Luck the boost he needed to become the 44th overall selection in the 1982 NFL Draft, when he was taken in the second round by the Houston Oilers. In his rookie year for the Oilers he served mainly as a backup for Archie Manning, and spent time on the sidelines determined to fulfill his role as a backup. Among his duties was the occasional chance to entertain Manning’s children, Cooper and Peyton, a connection that would come full circle when his future son would take over Peyton’s quarterback role with the Indianapolis Colts.

Later in his time with the Oilers, Luck continued on as a backup, serving mostly under star quarterback Warren Moon. He would stay in Houston until 1986.

After his pro-football career ended, Oliver continued on with his education to earn a highly coveted “Doctor of Jurisprudence” degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1987, and married Kathy Wilson, and started a family. Oliver and Kathy had four children: Andrew, Mary Ellen, Emily, and Addison. The three oldest went on to attend Stanford University, where Andrew played football. Eventually, Andrew would be selected number one overall by Indianapolis in the 2012 NFL Draft and go on to a stellar career with the Colts.

In 1990, Luck even tried his hand at politics when he ran for a congressional seat in West Virginia’s second district. In a losing bid for the seat, he did receive a wholly respectable 44 percent of the vote.

In 1991, Luck moved to Europe and was appointed as the general manager of the Frankfurt Galaxy of the brand-new World League of American Football. He stayed with the Galaxy for two years, until the league was suspended. However, when the league resumed in 1995, he became general manager of the Rhein Fire. A year later he became the President of the league. In this role, and in the dual role as the league’s Vice-President of Business Development, he was instrumental in leading the league’s rebranding as NFL Europe, and building bridges between the European organization and its parent.

While in Germany, Luck and his wife Kathy began to raise a family of two girls (Mary Ellen and Emily) and two boys (Andrew and Addison). All were raised with an emphasis on pursuing sports, which led Andrew to follow in his father’s footsteps as a quarterback. In fact, Andrew’s father was his first coach, and notably, his father initially placed him in the position of defensive end. Eventually Andrew Luck would find his stride as a quarterback, and like his father, he wore number 12 throughout his high school, college and pro careers.

In 2001, Luck returned to the USA and took on a position as the Chief Executive Officer of the Houston Sports Authority. Luck managed the operations of the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, a governmental organization that oversaw financing, construction and management of the three major sports and entertainment venues in Houston, namely Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros), Reliant Stadium (Houston Texans) and the newly built Toyota Center (Houston Rockets).

In 2005, Luck was named president of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo, a team that had been lured south from San Jose with the promise of a new stadium. Luck worked with the city and county to develop a plan to build the downtown soccer stadium using primarily public funds. BBVA Compass Stadium, finally went into operation in 2012. The other major achievement while Luck was with the Dynamo was two consecutive MLS Cup championships in 2006 and 2007.

In June 2008, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin appointed Luck to the West Virginia University Board of Governors. Shortly after, Luck was hired as the athletic director of West Virginia University, his Alma Mater. In 2012, as his son Andrew had just ended his tenure as a star quarterback for the Stanford Cardinals, Luck was touted as a potential candidate to become the athletic director at Stanford University. Luck dissuaded the thought, when he announced he would stay at WVU under a contract that was extended through 2017.

He wouldn’t stay that long, as the NCAA came calling and offered him a newly minted position as executive vice president for regulatory affairs in December 2014. In this role, Luck was in charge of all national office regulatory functions, including academics, membership, eligibility, and enforcement. It was a good fit for Luck, plus NCAA offices were located in Indianapolis, where his son Andrew was currently playing with the Colts.

Oliver Luck seemed to be in the best place he could be. Geographically he was living and working in the exact location he desired, close to family, and he was doing a job he was meant to do, for an organization in which he was wholly invested.

However, the XFL would soon come calling, and the thought of creating a brand new innovative football league from scratch was something he could not pass up.

When Vince McMahon landed Oliver Luck as the CEO of his league, he had hired one of the most respected and qualified candidates in the sports world. Not to mention that Luck had done it all before, notably as president of NFL Europe, he had first-hand experience navigating the challenges of establishing a professional sports league and developing a sustainable business model.

When Luck was hired, McMahon weighed in on the Luck hiring in a positive way, mainly expressing a shared vision and focusing on the road to success.

“Oliver and I share the same vision and passion for re-imagining the game of football. His experience as both an athlete and executive will ensure the long-term success of the XFL,” McMahon said.

The most important point made when Luck came to the XFL was that he was not Vince. He was literally the anti-Vince. This was important for McMahon, as it was a chance to drive home the point that the new XFL would be nothing like the old. By hiring the entirely respectable Luck to lead the league, he was giving it an instant brand of respectability. The league had its detractors, but they were now put on pause.

If Oliver Luck was ready to get onboard with the XFL, maybe there was validity in this venture? If a classy guy like Luck was willing to throw in with the XFL, that should resonate with potential corporate partners and companies considering media rights.  Eventually this would pay off.

Once hired, Oliver Luck immediately began to take things in a direction much different than XFL 1.0. “We want to be family friendly and affordable,” Luck would say, alluding to the raunchy concept of the original XFL.

Luck also began to talk about the league’s emphasis on player safety, something that would come to fruition as a positive point for the league.

He also devised the plan to re-imagine the rules, shorten games, all in an attempt to add excitement and engage fans. He called upon one of his connections, Sam Schwartzstein to rewrite the rule book and make this happen.  The new rules became one of the most important innovations of the XFL, and it was all done under the auspices of Oliver Luck.

Most importantly, Luck is a statesman. He talks, and people listen. Luck represented the league for nearly two years in this capacity and it paid off well. The league’s image was cleaned up under Luck, and he had a big role in the process. Add Luck’s popularity, even among the fans, and his connections throughout the sports world, and there is nobody who is more in a position to get things done.

“One thing any football league needs to do is offer a top-notch, high-quality product,” Luck said, the day he was hired.

He took this remark seriously, and he accomplished what he said. The final product was something to be proud of, and much of the success rests on the shoulders of Oliver Luck.

How do you replace a guy like that?

One of the strongest remarks made by the new ownership group is how they love the direction the league had been heading, and were impressed by its achievements, even in the shortened inaugural season. They must know how much Luck had to do with the league’s success.

If the rumors are true, and Luck does not return, the new owners of the XFL will be hard pressed to find a Commissioner and CEO that can fill the shoes of Oliver Luck.