Month: December 2022

Building a 2023 NFL Expansion Team Part 1

I am staying home from school today, so in boredom, I’ve decided to start a brief series and a thought exercise. What would an expansion draft look like if it took place following the 2022 season? We’ll get into the rules and selection process, but this first part will look at where the team will call home, the team name and the head coach.

City

London, England

The Jacksonville Jaguars have played a “home” game here since 2013, and the NFL has scheduled a game each year since 2007. The NFL has discussed relocation and expansion in London for a while now, and there certainly seems to be an eager audience across the pond. The difficulty would be travel for road games.

St. Louis, Missouri

The Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles in 2016 following twenty seasons and one Super Bowl win in 1999. The city still has the Cardinals (MLB) and the Blues (NHL), but a desire for a football team remains, and the new XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks isn’t going to cut it.

Toronto, Canada

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Buffalo Bills experimented by playing an annual home game at the Rogers Centre, the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays stadium. Of course, the NFL has significant competition in Canada, as the CFL and NHL already exist. You could even throw in the Raptors of the NBA as a competitor for eyeballs because they’re the country’s only basketball team, and the seasons overlap. However, there is a good chance that football could get some viewers in North America’s fourth-largest city.

Portland, Oregon

A smaller market than most NFL cities and already home to the Trail Blazers of the NBA, this may be a difficult place for a team to put roots down. On the other hand, there is known interest in football around the area, as there is a fierce rivalry between the University of Oregon and Oregon State. Along with the fact that the only NFL team in the Northwest portion of the United States is the Seattle Seahawks, and their closest opponent is 800 miles away, it would make sense to place a team in a professional football desert. However, funds for a new stadium would be hard to come by in Portland.

Mexico City, Mexico

The NFL has played a regular season game in North America’s most populated city four times in the past seven seasons. Each game has featured a team that plays in a state that borders Mexico. Playing at the Estadio Azteca, which is more than a mile above sea level, makes it a trek for teams. The NBA and MLB have played games here for a couple of years, but there haven’t been any reports that the NFL is considering moving a team, such as the Houston Texans or Los Angeles Chargers, south of the border.

Choice: London, England

London’s distance from every other NFL team remains an issue, but the fanbase there is massive and should be able to hold a professional football team well. Other minor issues can be ironed out, and a league like the NFL is good at overcoming problems.

Team Name

Knights

Playing into the royalty aspect of the country is an obvious decision. It’s a basic name, but pro sports teams aren’t exactly known for their creativity (ex. Oakland Athletics).

Monarchs

Another royalty-related name, and there aren’t any of the current four major sports plus the English Premier League teams with the name.

Muffins

This team would have cool uniforms, and imagining a promotion during a broadcast saying, “Next week, we will have the Raiders and Muffins at 10:00” is fun.

Choice: Monarchs

London Monarchs sounds and flows the best for me. I would have gone with Muffins if the team’s first name was England, but the Americans have to be in charge for once, so that’s my choice.

Head Coach

DeMeco Ryans

The current San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator has had his name circulated for potential head coaching jobs next season. The 49ers’ defense has been outstanding this year, ranking first in almost every statistical category. A former player himself, Ryans would be a great hire, but there are other teams with head coaching vacancies that may offer him a better deal.

Jim Caldwell

A head coach from 2009 to 2011 in Indianapolis and Detroit from 2014 to 2017, Caldwell brings leadership to a new situation. He hasn’t even been given a role since those days in Detroit where he led them to their most successful seasons in a long time, but the Monarchs would be glad to have him lead a new squad.

Sean Payton

Briefly a quarterback in England for the Leicester Panthers of the now defunct UK Budweiser National League in 1988, Payton brings a championship-winning pedigree to the sideline. Last coaching in 2021 with the New Orleans Saints, he has taken this season off as a FOX NFL Sunday panelist. His postseason experience would be good for a squad that doesn’t have a direction yet.

Jim Tomsula

Currently the head coach of the Rhein Fire in the European League of Football, Tomsula doesn’t bring much NFL coaching success. His only head coaching experience, aside from his current role, comes in 2015 with the San Francisco 49ers, who had an abysmal offensive season scoring only 288 points on their way to a 5-11 record. However, his experimental mindset matches the team, and a second chance might be worth a shot.

Choice: Jim Caldwell

Being a Detroit Lions fan, I’m familiar with Caldwell’s coaching style and believe it would benefit a new team looking for some footing.

I’m going to go take a shower and then Part 2 of the 2023 London Monarchs’ NFL expansion series will be written.