Getty Images

With the AAF getting a one-year head start in the race to fill the post-Super Bowl football void, the XFL may have a trick or two up its sleeves.

A distinctive buzz has been building throughout league circles in recent days that former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops will be emerging from retirement to coach in the XFL.

XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck named no names during a recent visit to PFT Live, but Luck acknowledged that coaching hires will be announced soon.

The Dallas and Houston teams would be the most logical options, with Dallas likely the in-house favorite, given the potency of Dallas as an NFL city.

And that’s clearly one of the reasons why the XFL dropped so many of its franchises (seven of eight) into cities that have NFL teams. The XFL is betting that fans of the local NFL franchises will slide over to the XFL, seamlessly and naturally.

If the XFL will be hiring guys like Bob Stoops, maybe that will indeed happen.

Another name to watch when it comes to possible XFL coaching candidates is this one: Greg Schiano. Though the Tampa franchise may not be an ideal destination, dropping him in New York — near his run of relative greatness at Rutgers — would make sense.

Who knows where it goes from there? It would be interesting to see whether the XFL decides to pursue coaches like Urban Meyer, Mike Shanahan, Jeff Fisher, or Jim Mora to take over some of the teams that will be launching in a year.