Wednesday's coaching shakeup within the United Football League was not unexpected: the league appointed Joe Moglia, the Virginia Destroyers president and coach for two months, to the same positions with the Omaha franchise. Moglia lives in Omaha, which had a week-old coaching vacancy.
But the local franchise was also altered by the UFL's shuttering of the Florida Tuskers, which struggled for an audience in Orlando, Fla., despite reaching the title game in both UFL seasons. Florida coach Jay Gruden was named Destroyers coach, and he can bring with him 26 players from the Tuskers' roster.
The fallout for the UFL in Hampton Roads is dubious, though. Seven months before their first alleged game, the Destroyers have had three presidents, two head coaches and a ballyhooed lead investor who, it turns out, never actually invested.
Still today, the team has no local office and no local phone number.
But does it have a future, or are the Destroyers poised to be another minor-league misadventure in this cynical, seen-it-before marketplace?
With Wednesday's flurry, the answer might be more affirmative than is reflexively apparent.
Certainly, backing off from another blaring announcement looks terrible. First came, "Northern Virginia businessman to own Virginia team!" before Jim Speros backed out, followed by "Wall Street CEO to return to coaching in Virginia!" before Moglia stayed put in Nebraska.
There's no question this upstart operation is making up a lot of things as it goes, such as the fluctuating fees it has charged the NFL to sign UFL players. In letting Moglia stay home, the UFL gave Hampton Roads skeptics another "never mind" moment and reason for more raised eyebrows.
There is an upshot, though: the Destroyers are far closer now as a franchise to playing a real game. They ended Wednesday with a former NFL assistant coach for a head coach and a solid roster by UFL standards, akin to Triple-A in baseball.
Although former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann carried the titles of owner/president of the Tuskers, he won't be involved here except as a league consultant. Another ex-Redskins quarterback, Doug Williams, will remain Virginia's general manager.
And while the league has returned to five franchises and an eight-game schedule - four Destroyers games are slated at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex - commissioner Michael Huyghue said Wednesday's frantic movement, which could be read as desperate, proves the UFL is no folly.
"We're definitely going to play (next season) or we would not have gone through all these gymnastics to get the thing right in Virginia," Huyghue said. "If we've had some false starts, or we made choices that make sense - in the Omaha case, we hadn't planned on that - we're after the overall health of the league.
"Ultimately, I think the moves we made enhanced Virginia, enhanced Omaha and enhanced the league. If that's the outcome, to me that's a good result."
The UFL didn't believe it could overcome issues with Orlando's Citrus Bowl, so Huyghue said pulling that plug and reaffirming Virginia's fresh market was the wise course.
Similarly, there's little public faith to be gained from the UFL's bumbling, meandering start here. The league, whose organizers at times give off a you-should-be-happy-to-have-us arrogance, has sorely lacked a whiff of a plan in Hampton Roads.
The irony is, if the UFL truly is committed to existing in 2011 - thriving is too much to expect - Wednesday's flux could burn off and reveal the first real hint of local stability.
"We're making changes, but we're making changes where we think we're making the best choices," Huyghue said. "We feel strongly about Virginia or we wouldn't have made this move."
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