ORLANDO,Fla. – The Alliance of American Football has signed its first 100 players to compete in its professional league, which includes an Orlando-based team and launches in February.
Eight players who attended college in Florida are among the signees for Orlando, including former UCF wideout Rannell Hall.
The other seven players are:
- Standish Dobard, of Miami
- Will Hill, of Florida
- Tyriq McCord, of Miami
- Leon Orr, of Florida
- Freddie Stevenson, of Florida State
- Brian Tyms, of Florida A&M
- Joe Yearby, of Miami
The Alliance recently began the process of offering contracts to potential prospects following an evaluation of the league's eight teams.
“(Monday) marks an exciting step in our journey to providing fans and players with top-flight football in the spring, as we begin to establish a competitive foundation and base of talent that will keep expanding throughout this fall and winter,” explained Bill Polian, co-founder and head of football, The Alliance. “These athletes will now have an opportunity to begin, extend or revitalize their professional football careers and continue playing the game we all love.”
Polian said general managers and coaches will continue to recruit aggressively in the coming days and months.
The standard Alliance player contract offers players a base salary of $250,000 over three years with a comprehensive bonus system that will award financial compensation based on performance, wins and fan engagement.
Players are allocated to Alliance teams based on where they competed in college. If a player’s college is outside The Alliance footprint, he will be allocated based on his most recent NFL/CFL team. If a player’s college is outside The Alliance allocation footprint and he did not play in the NFL or CFL, then he is unallocated and available to be tendered a contract by any Alliance team. If a player signs with The Alliance and is then offered a contract to play in the National Football League, the player will be granted permission to pursue that opportunity.
The eight Alliance cities and head coaches include:
- Alliance Orlando - Steve Spurrier
- Alliance Atlanta - Brad Childress
- Alliance Memphis - Mike Singletary
- Alliance Salt Lake - Dennis Erickson
- Alliance Phoenix - Rick Neuheisel
- Alliance San Diego - Mike Martz
- Alliance Birmingham - Tim Lewis
- Alliance San Antonio - Mike Riley