Who is Oliver Luck; How Did He Get From NCAA to XFL Head

Oliver Luck A.K.A Oliver Francis Luck is the current CEO & Commissioner of the XFL. Prior to that, he was Director Of Intercollegiate Athletes at West Virginia University (WVU), his alma mater and an Executive with The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in charge of the organization’s regulatory functions.

Luck is also a retired American Football Player who spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a Quarterback for The Houston Oilers (1982–1986). He was also The First President & General Manager of The Houston Dynamo Of Major League Soccer (MLS). Under his watch, The Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2006 & 2007. Luck is married to the former Kathy Wilson, with whom he has four children: Andrew, Mary Ellen, Emily & Addison. The two oldest are both graduates of Stanford University, where Andrew played football & Mary Ellen played volleyball. When Luck’s NCAA employment was announced, Emily was attending Stanford & Addison was attending Morgantown High School.

Andrew played Quarterback at Stanford and was selected number one overall by The Indianapolis Colts in The 2012 NFL Draft, where he now also plays as The Quarterback. In addition to his professional pursuits, Luck is actively involved as a Coach For Youth Sports.

Luck was The 44th overall selection in The 1982 NFL Draft, taken in The Second Round by The Houston Oilers. He was The Third Quarterback taken, after Art Schlichter (4th to Baltimore) and Jim McMahon (5th to Chicago).

As a rookie in the strike-shortened 1982 season, Luck saw no action. In his second season, The Oilers inserted him at the starting quarterback position, from which he threw eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions, completing 124 of 217 pass attempts for 1,375 yards as The Oilers struggled to a 2–14 record. He was a teammate of fellow Quarterback Archie Manning during The 1982 and 1983 seasons.

In 1984, The Oilers signed Canadian Football League Star Warren Moon. Luck played as Moon’s back-up for the majority of the season. He completed 22 of 36 pass attempts for 256 yards, two of which were touchdown passes, with one interception. Luck also had some success running the ball, with 10 carries for 75 yards and one touchdown. In 1985 and 1986, Luck continued to play back-up to Moon.

He threw 100 passes in 1985, completing 56 of them with two touchdowns and two interceptions. In 1986, Luck’s final season in the NFL, he completed 31 of 60 passes for 341 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions. It was said that NFL Player salaries range significantly. At the lowest level, NFL Rookies make $400,000-$600,000 a year. At the top end, NFL Players can earn $50 million or more. The NFL salary cap is nearly $175 million.

After retiring from Professional Football, Luck received a J.D. from The University Of Texas School Of Law in 1987. He graduated with honors, then accepted a fellowship to study the European Union and its legal system in Germany Luck is also a long-time member of The American Council on Germany. In 1990, he was the Republican Nominee for Congress from West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, which included his alma mater, but was defeated by Incumbent Democrat Harley O. Staggers Jr.

An ethical controversy arose after his campaign used a mailing list generated by The Non-Profit Mountaineer Athletic Club to send a photo of himself as WVU’s Quarterback, along with a letter from Luck, to over 4000 of the club’s contributors. A state ethics commission report subsequently found that the list had been generated at Luck’s request and Luck apologized.

In 1991, he became General Manager of The Frankfurt Galaxy of The Fledgling World League of American Football. He held the post for two years until the league was suspended. Upon its resumption in 1995, he became general manager of The Rhein Fire and was named League President the following year. Luck held that role until 2000, during which time he oversaw the league’s rebranding as NFL Europe, intended to strengthen the connection between the league and its parent, The NFL.

In 2001, Luck was sworn in as Chief Executive Officer of the Houston Sports Authority. In this role, he oversaw the operations of The Harris County Houston Sports Authority, the governmental entity created in 1997 to provide the financing, construction and management oversight of the three large sports and entertainment venues in Houston: Minute Maid Park (home of the Houston Astros), Reliant Stadium, (home of The Houston Texans & The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) and The New Downtown Multi-Purpose Arena (home of The Houston Rockets & Comets).

Prior to joining The Sports Authority, Luck was a Top-Ranking Executive with The National Football League for more than ten years, where he served as Vice President Of Business Development & President and CEO Of NFL Europe. In 2005, he was named President Of The Houston Dynamo oO Major League Soccer.

Luck worked with The City & County to create a publicly funded downtown soccer stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, which opened to much fanfare in March 2012. On June 27, 2008, Luck was appointed by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to the West Virginia University Board Of Governors, effective July 1 of that same year. On June 9, 2010, Luck was hired as The Athletic Director Of West Virginia University. Two years later, his name surfaced as a potential candidate to fill the Open Athletic Director’s slot at Stanford University, where his son Andrew Luck played Quarterback and one of his daughters play volleyball. But Luck announced on May 17, 2012, that he was staying at WVU.

During Luck’s tenure, The WVU Athletic program has made significant changes including WVU’s move from the Big East Conference to The Big 12 Conference, the resignation of Head Football Coach Bill Stewart and subsequent promotion of Dana Holgorsen to that spot and the firing of Baseball Coach Greg Van Zant, instituted beer sales at football stadiums, restructured The WVU Compliance Office and took the school off of major probation, facilitated multi-media rights to IMG in a 12-year, $86million guaranteed deal, added men’s golf after a 32-year hiatus, hired Baseball Coach Randy Mazey who led the team to a 3rd-place finish in The Big 12 and organized state TIF funding to build a new baseball stadium eventually known as Monongalia County Ballpark.

As of October 12, 2012, WVU amended Luck’s employment agreement, extending his contract through 2017. On October 14, 2013, Luck was one of 13 members unanimously chosen by The College Football Playoff Management Committee to select the four teams to compete in the first College Football Playoff to be held in 2015. On December 17, 2014, The NCAA announced that Luck would take a newly created post as Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs.

Luck oversaw all NCAA Regulatory Functions such as Enforcement, Academic & Membership Affairs and The Eligibility Center. Luck also led a team of individuals responsible for investigating potential violations involving member schools in order to uphold the integrity and fair play among The NCAA Membership. Luck was also involved in Legislative Interpretations, Waiver Requests, and Academic & Amateurism Certification. The position was created by current NCAA President Mark Emmert as part of a major restructuring of his senior staff. Notably, The NCAA Offices are in Indianapolis, where Andrew Luck currently plays.

Due to his success and unwavering work, he was noticed by WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. When Vince McMahon made the announcement that he will be relaunching The XFL in 2020, he only had one man in mind to fill in the slot as The XFL’s Commissioner & CEO.

On June 5, 2018, The XFL announced that Luck would be the league’s Commissioner & CEO. Because of all the success that Oliver Luck has had with The NFL, WVU & NCAA, we can rest assured that he will continue to bring that same success with him when The XFL officially relaunches in 2020. XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck will reportedly receive $20 million guaranteed in a multi-year deal.

According to the SportsBusiness Journal, the deal could end up being worth more than $30 million depending upon how well Vince McMahon’s football league performs. Oliver Luck’s net worth in 2018 is estimated to be somewhere in the range of $9 million.