Lito Sheppard…the coach?
Maybe I just missed this, maybe this is common knowledge but I was surprised to find out during other research that Lito Sheppard was once a professional coach with the Alliance of American Football. Not only was he a coach, but he also coached on the best team in that league, and has not coached at the professional level since.
For those NFL fans that don’t know the Alliance of American Football, better known as the AAF was launched in 2019. They were met with nearly immediate money woes when a prime investor, later caught for fraud related to cryptocurrency pulled out after week 1. They then went out and found an investor in NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes owner. Arguably a solid choice for a partner for a fledgling sports league.
Tom Dundon may have been best known as the owner of the Hurricanes, but it was Top Golf that led him to his fortune, and many believe this is part of why he chose to invest in the AAF. To obtain the rights to many technological advancements the AAF had incorporated into their league. This led the league to fold after 8 games.
Out of these 8 games, the Orlando Apollos, won 7 of them. Good enough to clinch a playoff berth in a playoff series that would never happen. This was Steve Spurrier’s last stop as a head coach in any professional league. As of right now it seems the only thing that drew Sheppard to that level was reuniting with his former college head coach at Florida. To my knowledge his name has never come up in any discussions with any other leagues….yet.
So why am I bringing up the fact that Sheppard coached in 2019, but hasn’t coached again since? We just saw another man with a similar background get hired with the XFL 3.0. That man is Anthony Becht former NFL tight end, and tight ends coach with the San Diego Fleet of the AAF in 2019. Perhaps Becht taps his roots in the AAF, and brings in Sheppard on his staff, or perhaps, another fledgling league takes a look at Sheppard in the form of the MLFB or Major League of Football.
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