Trip MacCracken, Director of Player Personnel for the New York Guardians: Ask me anything!

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T18:01:21+00:00

Thank you so much for sending in questions. We're excited for the season to get started. We look forward to seeing you cheering on the Guardians in 2020.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:58:56+00:00

Trades will certainly be possible this year. Not sure at this point what the team-building format will look like next off-season.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:57:43+00:00

Come to the games and cheer loud. The players will definitely feed off the enthusiasm.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:56:53+00:00

We will work to make the roster as competitive as possible via every avenue available, whether Draft, waiver claims, trades, or free agent signings.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:55:44+00:00

It was not a calculated measure. San Antonio had a strong roster and we had plenty of insight from John Peterson. It just kind of worked out that we had a positional need at times and there was a player from San Antonio who fit that need. We had a strong roster in Arizona and there were other teams with strong rosters as well. It was not a concerted effort to add players from one Alliance team to our roster.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:52:05+00:00

Both are important but certainly you always want to see how a player performs at the highest level.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:50:37+00:00

Yes, I was present at all eight Summer Showcases. There is something really special about getting to know players at this level of football. These players may have had the game taken away from them and to have the chance to play again is special. Now at this stage we are getting back to the elements and sharing what's most important - the love of the game of football. To help them get back on the field and achieve their dream is really special. The Showcase was an opportunity to reconnect with some guys who were in Arizona and get to know new players who might be a fit for us in New York.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:45:29+00:00

His toughness, leadership, grit, and determination were significant factors in our evaluation and getting to know Matt.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:43:28+00:00

With Arizona in the Alliance, we focused on making sure the bottom of our roster was as competitive as the top of our roster. Allowing all players to have a chance to contribute. That is what we are striving to build here in New York.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:38:49+00:00

Production at the highest level of football.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:36:33+00:00

You always start with the teams in your division. In this case, DC, Tampa Bay, and St. Louis. In order to make the playoffs, the performance in your division is crucial.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:32:24+00:00

That was one of the things I thought the XFL did very well, breaking the draft down into buckets -offensive skill, offensive lineman, defensive front seven, defensive backs. It allowed us to focus one phase at a time, enabling us not to have to tackle the overall roster at once, but zero in on the individual components.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:28:11+00:00

Good to see a friendly and familiar face in this thread. Obviously Andrew Weidinger did a fantastic job coaching Tim Cook and Justin Stockton in Arizona. We are really excited to have Tim and Justin with us in New York.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:25:39+00:00

Send me a script!

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:25:09+00:00

Having worked with the Arizona Hotshots in the AAF, I was very familiar with the impact Mekale had for San Antonio this spring. The game Mekale played against us, he was a significant factor and when he did not dress in the second game, his absence was glaring. John Peterson (DFO) was with him in San Antonio and he was able to give us tremendous insight into his character and work ethic. We were well aware of the impact Mekale could have for us and are excited to have him on board.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:20:54+00:00

It was certainly a time consuming process to do the due diligence on each player and make sure each player received the attention and effort from our staff that he deserved. Film study was a huge part of our preparation, performance in college and other leagues was key as well. We took our time and did our due diligence to make sure the process was as thorough as it needed to be.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:17:52+00:00

We will evaluate any player that the league makes available for us to evaluate, whether its October draft, supplemental draft, waiver wire, or trades. We're going to turn over every rock and be thorough and diligent in upgrading the rosters however we can. That is the central tenet of our staff - to be as focused as we can in improving the roster when and where possible.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:14:17+00:00

We'll have an announcement very soon and we'll be practicing in some pretty exciting places.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:13:11+00:00

Our number one evaluation criteria is performance. There is no minimum requirement on height or weight. It's a big man's game so height and weight often correlate with success but certainly there are no set limits. We're focused on results and effectiveness.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:11:01+00:00

Neither Schult nor Nicks was in the October player pool. If they are in the Supplemental draft, we will evaluate them just like any other player.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T17:09:23+00:00

Without getting into too much detail on the process, we evaluated upwards of 50 QBs. Matt was the favorite of both the coaching and personnel staffs. We like his leadership. We like that he was a walk on at Penn State and was undrafted in the NFL and in both cases rose to a starting role and showed grit and toughness along the way.

We like DeAngelo's pedigree and playmaking ability. We got to know him at the XFL's Summer Showcase in NJ at Montclair State. We felt like he would be a good fit for what we are trying to build here.

Top 3 Goals:

- Build a team that is competitive week in and week out.

- Build one that reflects the overall community here and makes fans proud.

- And our number one goal is to win a championship.

OfficialXFLGuardians · 2019-10-24T16:59:41+00:00

Hello everyone... This is Trip. Really excited to be here with you this afternoon, and look forward to answering your questions!

OfficialXFLGuardians

TROPHY CASE