Here are the basics:
• A four-team league based in Southern California. Each 50-player team will be owned/employed by the league, not individuals.
• Players can participate only in their first four years out of high school. This is an alternative to college. While the NFL still requires a draft-eligible prospect to be three years removed from his final year of high school, Pac Pro will allow players to join right out of high school, or after a year or two at a major college, junior college or whatever.
• Total compensation is about $50,000 per season. There is also full worker’s comp and, among other things, a tuition reimbursement at a community college should a player choose to use it in the offseason.
• Six regular-season games and two rounds of playoffs, so teams will play seven to eight games.
• The season runs each Sunday in July and August, finishing before the start of the opening of the NFL and college campaigns.
• Each team will have eight full-time coaches with pro and college experience, plus about eight part-time assistant coaches.
• Play will be pro-style, and based on development and evaluation. For instance, there will be no spread offenses. Quarterbacks will take snaps under center, need to call plays in the huddle and identify defenses at the line of scrimmage. There will be a premium put on one-on-one plays to get viable tape. For example, perhaps rules that prohibit crossing routes for receivers.
• Every player will play. While games will be competitive, with small rosters and brief seasons there will be snaps and opportunities for everyone, particularly in practice. No one is getting buried on a depth chart or losing a season of teaching while residing in a coach’s doghouse.
