The last time quarterback Ben DiNucci started a football game was three years ago on “Sunday Night Football” on NBC.
It has been 14 years since Jim Haslett was head coach in a football game.
Those will be their roles Sunday evening when the Seattle Sea Dragons play their first game ever in the latest version of the XFL, playing at the D.C. Defenders.
“I’m sure Saturday when we get on the plane, it will start to feel real,” DiNucci said. “It’s been since 2020 when I started the game with the Cowboys. But really, it’s been since 2019 when I really had a chance to be the guy (as a senior at James Madison) and lead a team.
“I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of different emotions leading up to it. I’m sure that’ll be the longest day of my life with an 8 o’clock kickoff (Eastern time), but I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a long time coming, so I’m excited to go out there and show what we can do.”
Haslett, the 2000 NFL coach of the year with the New Orleans Saints, was last a head coach in 2009 with the Florida Tuskers in the United Football League.
“I enjoy being around the players and the coaches, and it’s rewarding too because you can help guys grow and help get them to where they want to be,” Haslett said of his current job. “So I’m looking forward to it and we’ll see how it plays out.”
DiNucci was named starting quarterback after sharing repetitions for most of training camp with former Colorado star Steven Montez and Harrison Frost, who just completed his college career at West Georgia.
DiNucci was also named a team captain, along with linebacker Jordan Evans, who played five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals (2017-21).
This will not be the biggest game DiNucci has started. A seventh-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, he started that season against the Philadelphia Eagles on “Sunday Night Football” after Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton were injured.
DiNucci completed 21 of 40 passes for 180 yards.
“Starting on Sunday football, it probably doesn’t get much bigger than that,” said DiNucci, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area and will have about 40 family members and friends rooting for him Sunday in Washington, D.C. “So for me, in a way it feels like another game, but it’s been a few years so this will definitely be special to get to lead a group of guys.”
Haslett said DiNucci’s athleticism and mobility were key in determining the starter at quarterback, but said Montez, “is also a really good athlete who can make all the throws.”
Haslett said all 45 players on the active roster will play Sunday, including Montez (Frost will be inactive, Haslett said).
Offensive coordinator June Jones said he is confident in his offense, in large part because he is confident in his quarterbacks.
“I’ve got three quarterbacks that can really throw it,” Jones said. “Ben DiNucci is really, really good, and Stephen Montez from Colorado, his athleticism is really going to be an advantage for us. And Harrison Frost is just out of college and I’m thinking right now he might be the best rookie I’ve had maybe at any level.”
DiNucci said he is looking forward to playing in Jones’ run-and-shoot offense, which features lots and lots of passing.
DiNucci said he has picked up the offense quickly, and said it helped that he and quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison, who both live in the Dallas area, began working together before training camp started.
“I think the run-and-shoot fits perfectly for me because I am a guy who’s going be able to extend plays and make some plays with his legs,” DiNucci said. “I’ve got a big arm and can put the ball where it needs to be. June and coach Haslett have harped on me, ‘Hey, use those things. You’ve got a bunch of tools that a lot of other guys don’t.’”
DiNucci didn’t want to make any specific predictions on what the Sea Dragons offense will do Sunday, but he’s optimistic.
“I would say based on how the last month has been and how guys have been able to pick up the offense and how practices have gone, that I feel fairly confident that we’re going to pick up where we left off in practices and we’re going be able to go put some points on the board and have some fun,” he said.
Haslett said he isn’t sure what to expect after a short training camp that started in earnest about a month ago.
“The players have been into it, they’re practicing hard and we’ve got some pretty good players,” he said. “And if we just put it all together, I think we’ll be all right.”