Philly Stars Blog

  Stetson Bennett and Doug Flutie's collegiate careers could not be more different. Flutie was a Heisman Trophy Winner after all and was a four-year starter at Boston College. Flutie also engineered one of the greatest victories in college football history with a Hail Mary in 1984 to take down then college football power, Miami. Bennett had one FBS offer from Middle Tennessee State and was a walk-on who did not start a full college football season until this past year. However, despite what could be viewed as obvious setbacks, he was able to take Georgia to its first national title in 41 years and in doing so led UGA through the SEC during a time where the talent level was unlike any Flutie would have faced during his time at Boston College.  Given all of the differences of the two quarterbacks collegiate careers their respective professional careers could be much more similar. Bennett will be labeled too small and simply “not good enough” for the NFL, as was Doug Flutie....

  The Philadelphia Stars have their first head coach. Bart Andrus is a well-traveled football coach who has coached all over the world and across all different varieties of professional football. Andrus head coaching experience spans from the NFL Europe to the CFL. Andrus also had a brief stint as a position coach in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, serving as an Offensive Assistant and QBs Coach. Andrus most recent head coaching experience was with the Spring League Generals organization, where he would preside over the best offense in the spring league. The year before that, Andrus served as the Head Coach of Team 9, the XFL`s development team.   Andrus has received high praise from former players he coached in the spring league saying that he is a great offensive mind who has a great attention to detail. Former players also stated that Andrus led well run practices and was very organized. Andurs was able to put together the best offense in the Spring League in a rela...

  In our second player interview, we talk with another player familiar to the City of Philadelphia, Jarey Elder, a two-time All-American defensive back out of division II powerhouse West Chester. Elder, hails from Allentown, PA, the same hometown of Philadelphia Stars legend Mike Lush. Elder was an All- Area player at wide receiver for powerhouse eastern PA high school, Parkland. Elder would then transition to defense at the collegiate level and go to have a truly generational career at West Chester including All-American, All-ECAC and PSAC Defensive of the Year Selections.  Elder played this past spring in The Spring League for the Blues organization.  So, just a basic question to start, what will you bring to the Philadelphia Stars? I will bring my ball hawking ability, leadership, and my ability to play both the free and strong safety as well the nickel position. Awesome. So, what NFL player would you compare yourself too? Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker. They both ar...

  In speaking with a source directly after the USFL announced its player selection meeting on February 22-23, it was indicated that this announcement could and most likely means the league has finalized all but one major detail before spring play. The last major detail being player selection. So essentially all the league needs are players and coaches, as the funding has been secured through Fox and the operating plans have been finalized.  Now, what about coaches? It has been the prevailing thought among sources that head coaching searches are underway now to what depth and how far along those searches are remains speculation. Sources also said USFL fans should expect coaching staffs to be mostly, if not all filled out before the USFL draft, due to the importance of assistant coaches to the evaluation and draft process. Now as for who will be coaching the teams, sources also stated that due to the similarity of the two the leagues and the player and coach relationships forme...

Philadelphia sports fans love their athletes, especially when they are from in and around the Greater- Philadelphia Area. Shane Simpson grew up in Easton, PA, just about an hour from Philadelphia and a short drive from where the Philadelphia Eagles held training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Simpson first burst onto the scene as an electric running back at Easton High School, earning himself not only an opportunity to participate in the illustrious Big 33 Classic, but a scholarship opportunity at the division 1 FCS powerhouse Towson of the CAA. Two first team all-American and three All- CAA seasons later, Simpson took a leap of faith and transferred to Virginia of the ACC, jumping from FCS D-1AA to one of the power five conferences of college football, a rare move in the transfer happy world of modern college football. Simpson finished off a productive career at Virginia, however an injury and the COVID-19 pandemic derailed Simpson`s NFL opportunities. Shane Simpson is ju...

  Although all positions along the offensive line are of the utmost importance, it could be argued that the offensive tackle is the most important. The Offensive tackle, more often than not, is taking on the opponent's best pass rusher. One the tackles is also responsible for the quarterback`s blind side, depending on the dominant throwing arm of the quarterback. The Philadelphia Stars must target tackles that are long and athletic and that can get depth in pass sets as the edge rushers rush vertically. They also need to be quick and aggressive to set and seal the edge in the run game.  Matt Waletzko out of North Dakota, no not North Dakota State, University of North Dakota, is long, tall and strong athlete with the size to play professionally. Waletzko has played well against the better competition this past year and has carved out a nice career for himself, which included a second team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference campaign in `20. Waletzko could see himself undra...

  One could argue the most crucial unit of the Philadelphia Stars will be the Offensive Line. A great offensive line must be able to protect the quarterback in critical passing situations against the best pass rush attacks, as well as assert physicality in the run game. The Philadelphia Stars offensive line must be fundamentally sound and reliable, as well as very tough and physical. This starts on from the inside out, with a great pair of guards and a tremendous center.    Outside of the quarterback, the center position is the most important position on the offensive side of the football. The center and the quarterback must be on the same page and be able to communicate quickly and seamlessly to set protections so that the offense can run efficiently. Also, the center must have quickness and athleticism to take on both defensive linemen and linebackers. Dylan Parham out of Memphis, who is coming off an All-AAC campaign in his first year at center could be a perfect fit...

  The USFL draft has been set for mid–February, a specific day and time is not known at this time, this is according to sources familiar with the formation of the USFL. The draft will be structured differently than the NFL draft whereby teams will draft by position, quarterback being first, this is also according to those same sources. This is different from the NFL draft model of having seven rounds and teams select based whatever the order is for that particular round. There are 50 players in the current USFL draft pool, sources state. These players come from all over professional football, CFL, XFL, NFL and AAF.  Coordinating the player personnel efforts will be longtime front office executive John Peterson. Peterson most recently served as the Director of Football Operations for the XFL`s New York Guardians and has been a member of the front office for many different organizations across the AAF, XFL, CFL and NFL. The league hopes Peterson can draw on his 28 years of exper...