Several big revelations came out of the NFL’s spring league meetings last week. Arguably the biggest was the unanimous approval of a resolution allowing NFL players to try out for Team USA’s Men’s Flag Football Team for the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles.
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The resolution specified that players would be allowed to participate in the Olympics as long as their schedule does not “unreasonably” conflict with their NFL and club responsibilities. This bombshell has inevitably led to countless predictions and suggestions as to which 10 NFL players would create the best flag football squad.
We have seen many mock lineups already, but one thing we haven’t seen or heard much about is how Team USA will pick its coaching staff. How many coaches will be required for a team of just 10 remains to be seen. But suffice it to say, there will at least be one head coach. There could also be offensive and defensive coordinators, but there’s no indication of that yet.
Redditors posed the question recently, and many users put forth their dream team coaching staff. “Sirianni, Jim Harbaugh, and Deion Sanders. I choose chaos, always,” suggested one. Another, referring to the recent flag football games at the Pro Bowl Games, put forth a brother pairing: “Peyton and Eli have the most experience.”
However, most of the responses pointed out that NFL coaches would be far from the ideal candidates to coach the Olympic team. There are different rules and considerations. And the removal of the linemen in the trenches makes it a completely different game.
“Coaching is where I would expect experienced current flag coaches to be much better than NFL coaches. Like the athletes are just going to be better than the flag ones, but people are naming great NFL OCs and especially DCs like it would be applicable at all to flag. It’s an entirely different game,” argued one Redditor.
Another joked, “The more I see posts like this, the more I see how little people actually know about flag football.” Which is a fair enough point. Most NFL fans do not pay attention to flag football until the Pro Bowl Games. And even then, it’s tough to hold the attention of most football fans.
Throwing, catching, running routes, and covering receivers are all skills that players can bring with them from tackle to flag football. However, there isn’t as much crossover when it comes to coaching skills.
Perhaps an offensive scheme guru like Ben Johnson or Sean McVay could draw up some good route concepts. But rah-rah guys like Jim Harbaugh or Dan Campbell don’t seem like they would be right for the gig.
