Brahmas go with Coan vs. St. Louis
Former Notre Dame QB will start opener
When Jack Coan signed to play quarterback in the XFL, he had no idea what to expect.
In the span of about six weeks, Coan and the other San Antonio Brahmas quarterbacks needed to learn a fresh scheme and mesh with new teammates, readying for their opener against the St. Louis Battlehawks at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Alamodome.
Coan studied San Antonio’s formations off a pile of flash cards in his room at the team hotel, and he tried to strike up conversations with as many of the Brahmas as he could to learn about their backgrounds or family lives.
As San Antonio opened its final week of preparation for the rebooted XFL season, offensive coordinator Jaime Elizondo called the quarterbacks into a meeting and informed them Coan would be taking the first snap behind center.
“Just to earn the trust of my teammates and coaching staff really means everything to me,” Coan said. “I work so hard at this game, trying to be the best player and teammate I can be, and to be recognized as a guy they trust means a ton.”
Coan’s stiffest competition for the No. 1 quarterback role was Reid Sinnett, who spent time on NFL practice squads with Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Miami the past three years after finishing his tenure at San Diego in 2019.
Coan started his college career at Wisconsin in 2017 and rose to become the starter for the 2019 season, leading the team to a 10-4 record with berths in the Rose Bowl and Big Ten championship game.
After sitting out 2020 due to a foot injury, Coan transferred to Notre Dame, spurring the Fighting Irish to an 11-2 season and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl. He went undrafted in 2022 and signed with the Indianapolis Colts but was released at the end of train
ing camp, leading him to pursue the XFL.
“Day to day, Jack was a little more consistent as far as his play,” Ward said. “I look for Reid to still be involved, get into the game at some point, but we're going to start off with Jack, just because of the consistent play that he's had. He had a tremendous camp all along.”
Coan said he was thankful for the months he spent with the Colts, learning from the work ethic and football IQ of NFL veterans Matt Ryan and Nick Foles.
Still, Coan said dealing with word of his release was “definitely very challenging.”
“You get in the NFL and reach all of your dreams and goals, reach what you've been working toward your whole life, and then you get released, and you almost feel like you hit rock bottom,” Coan said. “I just tried to take it one day at a time, work as hard as I could every day, and prepare for my next opportunity, whatever it was. I was extremely excited when I got the call to join the XFL. It's been a ton of fun to get to play football again.”
Ward described Coan as a “silent assassin” with a businesslike demeanor that causes the rest of the Brahmas to gravitate to him.
Where Sinnett pulls targets aside to break down the intricacies of timing and routes, Coan simply tells them to find their spot and trust the ball will be there.
“Jack is not over the top. He's not going to give you the dancing and all of that. He's going to give you talking ball 24/7,” Ward said. “He has a serious mindset. He has a purpose here. He's here to get better, work on his craft, and hopefully get back to the NFL.”
Coan said his hardworking approach has been key to earning his teammates' trust, and he prides himself on being tough, smart and accurate with his passes.
Off the field, Coan said the key to building relationships and strengthening chemistry is “just trying to be myself.” Center Luke Juriga, Coan's roommate, has found the two mesh because of their quiet natures.
“What jumps out to me is how much work he puts into watching film and the plays,” Juriga said. “Jack has been really good with learning the offense. You can see him now really visualize it in his mind of what the formations are and how it's all going to work out.”
Without the benefit of a full offseason to learn the playbook, Coan said coordinator Elizondo is “not giving us too much to deal with on offense.” The Brahmas hope to become proficient at a small group of plays and then expand through the season.
San Antonio is also entering the year with minimal knowledge of St. Louis, as the Brahmas elected to skip a preseason scrimmage, which have granted them access to scrimmage tapes from the rest of the league for the trade-off of putting their own systems on film.
“The focus is on us. That's what the coaches have been preaching all week and throughout camp,” Coan said. “We don't know exactly what we're going to get this Sunday coming up, so we have to focus on what we're doing, and adjust when we get into the game.”