One of the many exciting and dynamic aspects of the XFL was the team presidents. Each picked to run one of the eight XFL franchises. Jeffrey Pollack picked a diverse, young, and excited group, ready to build a new football league from the ground up.
However, after years of build up and just 5 games, the league shut down due to COVID. Had that not happened the league would be playing today, and the team presidents would still be in place building of the leagues success.
It would only be a matter of time before this talented group would find new roles after the XFL 2.0 era ended and all the staff was let go. Over the Summer former, DC Defenders Team President Erik Moses became president of the Nashville Superspeedway.
Now former Houston Roughnecks team president Brian Michael Cooper and LA Wildcats Team President Heather Brooks Karatz have found new roles as well.
Brian Michael Cooper returned to his lawyer’s roots once again by joining Frost Brown Todd as a partner and helped that firm open an office in the Houston area.
Cooper said in an article in Bloomberg Law that he enjoyed his time with the Roughnecks and takes pride in the team’s 5-0 record.
“I would’ve loved to see that story line play out, I loved everything about my job,” said Cooper, noting that the Roughnecks drew nearly 20,000 fans in one of their last games. “We had a good product and we proved there’s a demand for it.”
Heather Brooks Karatz has joined United Talent Agency as an executive vice president for growth and operations. She too was happy with her time in the XFL.
“We were able to get a lot of high-quality talent that was looking to showcase itself on national television and then get signed by the NFL,” said Heather Brooks Karatz, who was president of the XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats.
She went on to say that Spring Football can work but it is expensive.
She said the XFL “proved that spring football worked—but it’s very expensive to run a spring football league.”
One of the great things about the XFL 2.0 era was the great team presidents to XFL had on staff. We can only hope in the new 3.0 era the XFL can come close to the front office talent they once had.
