The Tampa Bay Bandits will begin their second go around with the USFL on April 17th against the Pittsburgh Maulers at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, AL. Tampa Bay were part of the original USFL's three seasons of play from 1983–1985. The old ball coach Steve Spurrier was the head coach of Tampa Bay at the time, in three seasons of play using what Spurrier called "Bandit Ball" Tampa Bay went 10–8, 11–7, and 14–4 in the three seasons of existence.
Todd Haley, former Kansas City Chiefs head coach will lead Tampa Bay as head coach and general manager. Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Arizona Cardinals. Another extremely notable staff member is Pepper Johnson, who will be the defensive coordinator for Tampa Bay in 2022. Johnson played 13 seasons in the NFL, seven of which for the New York Giants. In his coaching career, Pepper Johnson coached under future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick in New England winning three Super Bowls in his stent as an assistant coach.
Jordan Tu'amu will be the quarterback for Tampa Bay this season coming out of Ole Miss. Jordan has been a journeyman quarterback in the NFL playing on mostly practice squads with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, and Washington Football Team. Jordan did start five games in the XFL for the St. Louis Battlehawks, throwing for over 1000 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Interesting storylines for Tampa Bay include John Franklin III, Franklin was a redshirt quarterback at Florida State in 2014 when they won the BCS national championship against the Auburn Tigers. Franklin didn't see much playing time after the red shirt, and got into trouble with the university. Franklin transferred to EMCC and was one of the stars on the Netflix reality show Last Chance U. While at EMCC, Franklin was part of a MACJC North Title as a backup QB. Franklin has now moved over to WR for Tampa and will get yet another "last chance'.
In another much anticipated storyline, Vincent Joseph Papale, is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver and special teams player Vince Papale Sr. Vince Papale was played by Mark Wahlberg in the movie Invincible in which a bartender from South Philadelphia attends an open tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles and makes the team over the age of 30. Vinny Papale played at the University of Delaware in the same position as his father, wide receiver. Vinny was invited to local pro day in 2019 with the Philadelphia eagles however did not make the team. Papale is now a wide receiver taken in the 17th round of the USFL draft, after signing with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL, but the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tampa Bay Bandits Will be a team to watch in the 2020 to restart of the USFL, bringing in former NFL coaching staff, however relying on the untapped resources of football players around all of the leagues. It will be interesting to see how John Franklin and Vincent Papale fair as wide receivers with an unproven Jordan Tu'amu at the helm under center.
