Coan makes debut as XFL quarterback

Sayville alum Jack Coan played his first game as quarterback of the San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL on Sunday, Feb. 19.

A stunning upset, with a final score of 18-15 against the St. Louis Battle Hawks, Coan held his own and managed to make do with his limited time in the pocket after two offensive linemen were injured.

With less than 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter of the game, Coan and the Brahmas lead 12-3. The Battle Hawks scored a mind-boggling 15 points in 90 seconds of play time.

The Herculean task was accomplished due to the unique rules of the XFL, namely that instead of an option between kicking for an extra point or a 2-point conversion, a team can choose to go for a 1, 2, or 3-point conversion following a touchdown with the line of scrimmage on the conversion play at the two, five, or 10-yard line, respectively.

After a touchdown, the Battle Hawks elected for the 10-yard-line 3-point conversion and were able to score 9 points in total. The additional touchdown was the result of a drive made possible by the XFL’s option of converting a 4th-and-15 play from the scoring team’s 25-yard line.

In March 2022, Coan was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Previously, Coan spent four seasons at Wisconsin before transferring to Notre Dame as a graduate transfer, where he led the Fighting Irish to an 11-2 season in 2021.

While with the Fighting Irish, the quarterback finished with the 16th most passing yards in program history and was named a Phil Steele All-Independent second team player.

At the time, Coan’s draft stock rose after performing well in the East-West Shrine Bowl (a postseason college football All-Star game held annually).

Although he was not drafted in the NFL, he was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts.

In November 2022, Coan was picked by the San Antonio Brahmas in the league’s two-day draft. The XFL selected over 440 players for its reboot season that began this past Sunday. With eight teams comprising the league, the XFL promised fans more excitement with differing rules than the NFL.

The league was founded by WWE executive Vince McMahon in 2018, as a successor to the league of the same name he founded in 2001. The league and its teams were originally owned by McMahon›s Alpha Entertainment. After only five weeks of play in its inaugural 2020 season, the league’s operations slowly came to a close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and filed for bankruptcy on April 13.[6] In August 2020, actor Dwayne Johnson, along with longtime business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, led a consortium to purchase the XFL for $15 million.