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According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports and ESPN’s Adam Schefter, former West Virginia Mountaineer quarterback and athletic director Oliver Luck will be leaving his NCAA executive position to assume the role of CEO and Commissioner of the newly rebooted XFL.
.@YahooSports confirms report that NCAA executive Oliver Luck is leaving to become the CEO and Commissioner of XFL. Source close to Luck calls it a "special opportunity." https://t.co/nKmsMM5Eqt
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) June 5, 2018
World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon announced his plans to relaunch the failed football league from the early 2000s earlier this year, with the league returning to action in January 2020. McMahon reportedly has put up $100 million of his own money to give the XFL another chance, citing the need for an alternative to the NFL.
Luck was named the president of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo in 2005, and was instrumental in opening BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Luck joined the WVU board of governors in 2008, and served as West Virginia’s athletic director from 2010 until 2014, when he left to take the position as the NCAA executive vice president for regulatory affairs.
We’re not reading into this by any means, but maybe our campaign to bring the XFL to West Virginia has some legs.