After facing backlash for cutting a player for the strangest of reasons before his team’s season even kicked off, Pittsburgh Maulers coach Kirby Wilson did little to quell that criticism in Week 1 of the USFL season. A rather conservative game plan and at times shoddy play calling by Wilson and his staff led to the Maulers putting up only a field goal in an uneventful 17-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Bandits on Monday night.
It was far from the start that Wilson, who was the running backs coach for eight NFL teams, including the Steelers, over 24 years, had hoped for after a documentary clip released the USFL showed him cutting running back De’Veon Smith after he wanted pizza instead of chicken salad.