If the XFL is to succeed, much of the burden rests upon the shoulders of former Penn State two-way star Justin King.
King has been hired as the fledgling league’s manager of football operations, an XFL spokesman confirmed to PennLive on Thursday. He spent the past two seasons as an assistant recruiting coordinator at Penn State.
King will report to former Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley, the XFL’s vice president for football operations.
While Whaley and league commissioner Oliver Luck will map the vision for XFL 2.0, King will be charged with making that vision come to life.
A Pittsburgh native and a WPIAL Hall of Famer, King was a 5-star recruit in Penn State’s 2005 class. He played wide receiver as a true freshman on a Nittany Lions team that went 11-1, won the Big Ten and the Orange Bowl and finished No. 3 in both polls, tied with the 1991 season as the program’s highest finish since winning the 1986 national championship.
He played cornerback for his final two seasons, earning an All-Big Ten nod in 2007, before becoming a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Rams and crafting a six-year career with the Rams, Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Along with fellow 2005 signee Derrick Williams, King was one of the first two 5-star recruits to sign with Penn State during the modern era of recruiting.
The XFL is scheduled to begin play on Feb. 8, 2020.