USFL AUDIO VAULT Hugh Campbell Full Interview - a podcast by Mike Damergis

In the inaugural season, Express ownership looked to the CFL to hire their first coach – his name was Hugh Campbell.



Campbell just led the Edmonton Eskimos to their fifth-consecutive Grey Cup Championship in the CFL when the USFL came calling. Three teams were in the market for Campbell’s services including the Express of Los Angeles. “I liked the ideal of coaching in the off-season, this way I could scout players in the fall,” says Campbell more than 23 later. “It looked like it would be good for football at the time.”



The Express were initially set to play in San Diego, but ownership had to scrap that idea and were forced to move the franchise up the freeway to Los Angeles, because their request to use Jack Murphy Stadium was rejected.



This was a sign of things to come for the franchise. Los Angeles already had two NFL franchises with the Rams and Raiders, not to mention the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. So a fifth football team in L.A. seemed a bit sketchy.

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