A Winning Formula
ORLANDO SCORES BIG WITH NEW APOLLOS AAF TEAM By Diane Sears
W
hen the new Alliance of American Football announced it was starting a professional spring league team in Orlando with iconic Coach Steve Spurrier at the helm, the news sent ripples of excitement through Central Florida. In its first game, just six days after the Super Bowl, the team of 52 athletes beat the Atlanta Legends on its home turf, the Spectrum Stadium on the University of Central Florida campus. After five straight wins, it became clear the Orlando Apollos were the team to beat. Behind the excitement of a new football squad in a new league, there has been another team hard at work. The 30 people in the front office have been tasked with making sure the Orlando Apollos organization
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assimilates into the community, sells tickets, brings in sponsors, supports local causes and creates a favorable reputation for all of AAF football year-round. The man behind that tall order is Mike Waddell, president of the Orlando Apollos. Ask Waddell how a guy who worked with NASCAR in North Carolina was the one to get the call from a recruiter to be the leader of the operation in Orlando, and he shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just lucky,” he says, grinning. “I’m a fan with a really cool seat as the team president. … I could not be more thrilled to be working with General Manager Tim Ruskell and Head Coach Steve Spurrier. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to work with these guys.”
Waddell’s sports broadcasting background comes out when he recites the stats about Spurrier’s 50-year career: “We are very, very blessed to be aligned with the Head Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, a former Heisman Trophy winner, a Florida football legend as a player and as a coach. To have him as
